Last week, I shared a link to my Threads account.
If you don’t know what Threads is, it’s Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s brand new answer to Twitter, which has caught fire in less than a week of existence, largely due to an immediate influx of people who loved Twitter and hate what Elon has done to it. Turns out that’s a lot of people. Yours Truly included.
I joined, and because it’s integrated with your Instagram account (also owned by Meta), I got a bit of a head start, thanks to carryover from my IG following. Already my “threads” are getting more traction than my tweets have in months, if not years, and its been fun to have a new place to crack jokes - especially since at this early stage everything is pretty light-hearted, and the bots and the bigots and the fascists and the trolls haven’t yet infiltrated the platform.
Or so I thought.
It’s probably not fair of me to categorize this person as a troll. To me, a troll is someone who is being a dick just to get a reaction, and this response seems sincere'; they don’t want to get a rise out of me, they just think I suck. Which I do! My whole thing is about how much I suck at parenting, which probably makes you look good by comparison. I’m here making you feel better about your own abilities. You shouldn’t be coming at me!
It’s also not fair of me to pretend I don’t like it when people come at me.
Trolls - and “Karens” and humorless dolts and bigots and just outright pricks - come part and parcel with social media. It would be absurd of me to complain about getting attention when I’m literally putting myself out there to try to get attention! Thankfully, I have decently thick skin, and I’ve learned how to have fun with it.
If you’ve been following me on Instagram for long enough, you’ve probably seen me post screenshots from exchanges I’ve had with people who don’t like my politics or don’t like my jokes or don’t like my face. I share those screenshots because occasionally I have a good comeback, and the people who “get” me seem to enjoy those instances when I successfully clap back. And if someone burns me or I don’t have a quick rejoinder, I just ignore and move on. It’s called self-care!
I love poking the bear - whether it’s with a well-thought out take on why America isn’t the best country in the world that riles up the MAGA types, or it’s a silly joke about why my kids are the worst kids in the world that riles up the sanctimommy types. As my old college roommate used to say, “negative attention is better than no attention!” (He also said “Jim Morrison shits things cooler than Eddie Vedder!” so he wasn’t always right.) And sometimes it’s great for writer’s block!
Occasionally, the people who “get” me are annoyed when I defend myself and give the trolls the attention they seek, but I need content, and punching back at a deluded “patriot” or a self-serious, self-righteous parent is good content! Tangling with bigots can be fun, and tripling down on jokes with people who don’t get jokes is a blast. It’s cathartic, and easy, and often provides me with good content I can screenshot and share later.
And now, with Threads, I have a new platform on which to do that! Praise be, and see you there! And be ready to tussle.
Social Media Round-Up
I sort of just did this with some of the links above, but here’s one that has been know to anger my less devoted followers. I stand by it!
Pop Culture Stuff
I made the brilliant decision to show my youngest - The Hammer - the two best Indiana Jones movies, and he loved them. He did object to the snakes-in-peril scenes in Raiders, and he probably preferred Last Crusade, and I don’t blame him. While Raiders is on my all-time top ten list, the third one is a little more modern, a little more quickly paced, a little goofier and lighter. But overall, both viewings were a great success! As evidenced by the fact that he’s now dying to see the new one, and I am just holding out hope that it’s not as bad as the last new one. I’ll report back!
Otherwise I’ve been too slammed with work and life and everything else to watch much, but I’m always open to recommendations, so feel free to comment or message me.
The third Indiana Jones movie remains one of my favourite movies of all time.