Posts by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
(DIR) Post #9ikgsGevpuq9sjHGCG by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-12T17:38:03Z
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Thank you! For cwing! Your family posts!
(DIR) Post #9isoo5BfYbAaXkWRWK by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-16T23:06:47Z
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banksy is such a fuckin Radical Centrist fuck banksy, both as an artist and as a humanitarian
(DIR) Post #9j0rjuqXupheRP1gZs by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-20T20:09:53Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
Men, have you considered:Not raising your voice for anything short of fucking death?Haha thanks!
(DIR) Post #9j2RcUY755JSMW7iiW by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-21T14:25:08Z
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Ya ever think about how we, us, specifically, have a decade to end capitalism before it kills everyone?
(DIR) Post #9jCvJnPlejNNZkovvU by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T15:30:50Z
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Hello friends, neighbors, parasocial aquaintances.The fediverse is gaining attention, not just by the mainstream, but by fascists. Counter.social is now one of the bigger instances with 22k users, and the librem/purism project is getting a lot of structural support and funding.Now, I'm not going to get into the details of how to prevent the fascist creep, I'm not going to shit talk Eugen (for once). I want to focus on one thing and one thing only:Irony. This includes satire and sarcasm.Because while we as a community have unlearned a lot of toxicity we developed on corporate platforms, we seem to be reluctant to remove our irony poisoning.This is not a new battle. This is not a new tactic. Fash have been using irony as a sheild ever since being outright fascist went out of vogue.So, let's sit down, have some tea, and really talk about why we use and what to do with irony.
(DIR) Post #9jCvaF1En7ovp3BkIq by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:18:46Z
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@a_breakin_glass hello, stranger, have you actually read my thread or did you just see my thesis post and decide you disagree? I'm gonna go with the latter, because I literally Just Wrote that Irony is not, in fact, Fascist.Would you like to have a real conversation about this, or would you rather enjoy a mutual block?
(DIR) Post #9jCwh33BmwAEgSuXc8 by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:31:12Z
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@a_breakin_glass so, I ask again, have you read the entire thread? Because this conversation is not gonna go anywhere productive if you haven't, and also, I'm not even done writing the thread. I really would like to speak about this in good faith, and without the anomisity you are assuming I have towards humor you obviously enjoy.
(DIR) Post #9jCxqFqlfWXmwS3Si0 by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:44:01Z
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@a_breakin_glass don't answer if you wish not, but I'm wondering if you are on the spectrum?I did just cover the barriers for entry around humor and how that interacts with trauma and neurodivergency, and these concerns are all things shared with me by people on the spectrum and dealing with trauma. So, again, this has a lot of nuance to it, and, again, I just don't think you're reading my thread in good faith.Are there concerns you have about points I've addressed here? Please share any different perspectives you have about what I've said. I'm wrapping up the thread, so if I miss anything, please wait until I finish to point it out.
(DIR) Post #9jD0HwdqsVUzNvLRom by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T17:11:22Z
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@a_breakin_glass that sounds like a good point, if I may attempt to clarify what you mean:I have stated the best satire comes from people that understand the inner workings of what they're satirizing. But so often people will trybtonthrow irony or satire at something they don't have a conplete understanding of, and end up falling on their ass. Is this the social context around using irony you are implying? Or something different?
(DIR) Post #9jD0fNPvUght5V0LL6 by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T17:15:42Z
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@a_breakin_glass ah, the detwrmination of whether sarcasm is correct in a given situation.I can see that being very sticky and subjective. Again, if your joke is decontextualized because it pops up on someone else's timeline, that's basically gonna ruin it anyway.And then, if they know the context, and still don't agree withnyour method of humor, that end up just being a personal difference in opinion. I intentionally didn't cover all the situations in which satire/sarcasm are okay, because that's a huge shifting goalpost depending on who and what we're talking about.
(DIR) Post #9jD5v6VWdBhX2zwTKq by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T15:39:39Z
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So let's define our parameters, here, shall we?Today, I'm focusing on text-based humor. Irony, sarcasm, and satire, obviously, are easier to translate when you have more than one medium to communicate it with. Verbal sarcasm is words + tone + body language. Satirical videos or performances use staging + scripting + the other ways I listed to communicate the humor of what they're presenting.Irony is the act of saying something you clearly don't believe in, with the expectation that the audience you are talking to understands that.Sarcasm is often the same, the statement of something you don't actually think, in a tone and context that lead the person you're being sarcastic to to think you're a conplete asshole (if you think sarcasm is funny, you haven't been subjected to sarcasm enough. anyway).Satire is even more complex. Presenting a concept/person you don't like in such a way they are rendered absolutely ridiculous. A tricky artform.
(DIR) Post #9jD5v728fvmyg9CWAa by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T15:46:15Z
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So the entire reason I am gracing your TL with a thread about shit y'all already know is actually because of the attached screencap.SnakeBoy @ godforsaken.website toots: This machine disapproves of fascists, but if we silence them then who are the *real* fascists?But the main thing I'd like to point out is who boosted that toot for me to see. MissLavender is a purism instance user, and a pretty obvious chud. Someone who would make -exactly- this argument without a hint of sarcasm. And, honestly? The only reason I didn't immediately disregard OP as yet more cryptofash is because I've seen them around the fediverse, hangin with the other lefties. This person was, given the context of my familiarity with them, being Very Ironic here.Which, to the untrained eye of this chud, was indistinguishable from the real actual statements this real actual person believes.This. Right here. Is terrifying to me. And here's why.
(DIR) Post #9jD5v7Z6hMA0KOcqYa by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T15:59:05Z
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When someone is trying on beliefs, especially someone who hails from the Chan Place, they will often adopt the affectations and beliefs they want to explore, and move through the network in this way, to gauge others reactions to it. Children do this, by saying something they heard, and seeing how adults react and why. This is how humans change their minds.So when you put on the mind of a fascist/centrist/conservative, you are doing all the same mental and social work of someone that believes silencing fascists is fascism. You are, functionally, for however long you keep that bit, giving fascism free propaganda."But I don't mean it! It's a joke! My friends know I'm kidding!"1. That doesn't matter. 2. That doesn't matter. 3. If your post was public, that doesn't. Matter.If your irony or satire is indistinguishable from the real thing, what's the fucking joke?
(DIR) Post #9jDABogIYs2eV3CogS by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:05:45Z
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Another example: a user I enjoy but do not follow made a joke that went something like "#women be #shopping". I then heard that exact same joke come out of a stand up comedian only days after that, in all seriousness.The jokes were basically indistiguishable from each other. One got laughs from a group that knew the OP was riffing off the line overused by comedians all the time, the other didn't get laughs because it was on stage in front of a camera and really, you should do better.So let's talk about the arguments for irony.When defending satire/irony/sarcasm, people will say it steals power away from those words, symbols or people. It makes the scary or evil into humor. It shows people why they shouldn't take it seriously. And if done right, that's all correct. The Producers (original) was a fantastic display of satirizing nazi symbology. Because it was done by someone who understood the mechanisms fash depend on.
(DIR) Post #9jDABp2zCWBpdPow2y by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:14:13Z
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So we covered the pitfalls of irony and satire when amateurs are speaking in general public space to people that have no context around theirnposts. We've covered the argument that satire and irony can actually help dismantle harmful ideologies. I'll even go so far as to say I have nonreal problem with irony or satire.If. Done. Correctly.But that's the sticking point isn't it? If only the funny people, the people that understand what they are satirizing, did so, we wouldn't be sitting here having this tea about it, would we?So let's talk about barriers to entry for humor.All jokes, and all communication, really, need context in order to make sense. This barrier of understanding, however small it seems, is there. Context, body language, and past reference are all important for understanding a joke. And the internet deprives you of all three of those things.When we're talking about barriers for entry, we need to center people with trauma and neurodivergencies.
(DIR) Post #9jDABpHWKToeMUcXhY by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:28:52Z
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A lot of humor methods derive their power from creating an in-group. This in-group is privy to the allignment of the comedian, the humor the joke is being built upon, and the general theme of the show. This is why so many comedians get upset when their jokes are taken out of the context of their show. A good comedian will take the audience on a journey, based on trust earned through the progression of their jokes. This is where irony, satire, sarcasm belong.But if you are someone who has been traumatized by flat-earthers, george soros conspiracy theorists, free speechers, and mysoginists, your willingness to go on that journey is severely stunted. And if you are on the autistic spectrum, or if you are extra tired, or have basically any processing problems, you're not going to pick up on context clues as easily. So if there's zero context, because they saw your post pop up randomly on the tl? How are they supposed to know what you meant?
(DIR) Post #9jDABpYtHti7EMkPmC by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:37:49Z
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Now that we've established the barriers to entry around understanding ironic jokes, let's look at the harm done when irony lands wrong.I've already shown how fash can adopt something said ironically by a well-meaning person. Fash cannot actually create anything themselves, and will find crevices of good intentions to live in.We've covered how lack of context often ruins the effect of the joke. And how the higher barrier to entry around sarcasm and satire will more steeply affect marginalized people the most.So what happens when someone is hurt by this? What happens when someone makes an ableist, elitist statement that, at first, is completely indistinguishable from a real opinion, and gives nonindicators that they're joking?Well, like I mentioned before, it has the exact same effect as if you meant it. Sarcasm is a conversation killer. Irony is falsifying your beliefs. None of this encourages people to reach out and share that pain with the OP.
(DIR) Post #9jDABps28j1UBjhhc8 by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:49:57Z
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Now, I'm not gonna talk about how fash use irony as a sheild. "I'm just joking" is an old and familiar backpedal and asshole mantra. I want to talk about us. Lefties, people that want to grow and improve.If you like irony? That's great. Photoshop dinosaurs falling off a flat earth in a comical fashion, let everyone who gives a shit about it laugh it out and pat each other on the back for totally pwning those chuds.But be careful. I would personally encourage the use of cw's to indicate irony and sarcasm. But I know that's not for everyone. My next suggestion? Try to overshoot. Don't just say the same shit the serious people are saying, and try to rely on familiarity to imply tone. When it comes to text based humor, subtlety is not your friend.I'm an incredibly sacastic person (not proud). But my online humor has become completely different from how I make jokes in meatspace. Because I'm dealing with a different set of tools and restrictions.
(DIR) Post #9jDABq4nNHEOpJftVQ by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2019-05-26T16:55:31Z
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In conclusion: irony/sarcasm/satire are really powerful and precise tools. The internet has created a culture of irony poisoning, where every passing John thinks he can try his hand at it. Often, it comes outnlooking as painful as a baby weilding a scalpel.Treat these humorous forms with respect. There are huge swaths of people this humor is inherently exclusionary to. It's incredibly easy to be appropriated by fash, and to harm marginalized folks, without having those intentions.If we're going to build a better community over here, we need to learn how to have fun in a way that everyone, or at least most people can enjoy. We need to listen when people say they were hurt bybyour sarcastic remarks about poetry, or when they ask you to cw even your most ironic flat earther takes.In an age where emotional vulnerability and open communication are actively being shut down, we need to work even harder to make our spaces as radically accessible as possible.
(DIR) Post #9sCTszGuaQYdfRyFcW by Wewereseeds@sunbeam.city
2020-02-19T15:31:43Z
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Put your pronouns in your bio. Put your age in your bio.