Tall, Dark and Derpy

I was talking with a friend yesterday about how dog-piling can disincentivize people from doing what is ostensibly being asked for (taking accountability, apologizing, promising to make changes to future behaviour, etc). which sucks, because there are probably well intentioned people out there who deserve all three of those things, but any sort of Statement just ends up dumping gasoline on the fire.

this is because: you are giving the worst people involved the attention they want, you're giving them Fresh Drama Content, and you're letting them know that you can be made to do things. it's not in their interest to say "alright, you've worded things a bit clumsily, but you're on the right track and we think you mean well," because that ends the party.

and if you're thinking, who cares about what randos on tumblr say, your main concern should be acting in accordance to your morals – WELL! if you're a creative whose income is tied to your online reputation, these sorts of campaigns can directly impact your ability to pay bills. which can be very, very scary. and if you're any flavour of marginalized, you probably came onto a site like tumblr seeking community, and the thought of losing that community can be painful. in these cases, the best way to survive a dog-piling is "grey-rocking", or making yourself as boring and non-reactive as possible until their attention shifts to other targets. which means no statements.