Jeremy Stangroom

Don't dog pile! Once a point has been made a hundred times you don't need to add your contribution. Don't indulge a retributive impulse even if you're convinced you are on the side of the angels.

Of course, sometimes one inadvertently joins a dog pile. If you're not following stuff closely that's easy to do. But if you know it's going on, don't join in. You're not going to further any goal by doing so, and likely the target already feels like shit.

Usually, people don't deserve to be destroyed just coz they believe & say stupid stuff. There are occasions where harsh words might be appropriate, but there's room for kindness too, & that should be at the forefront of your mind if someone is being annihilated on social media.

I actually beg to differ. Women are already silenced, marginalised, ignored. A lot of us were really worried about things and twitter connected us. When I see these comments, I feel connected. That’s why we do it.

I understand that, but can't you get the same experience via collective action around an issue or policy decision (ie., without any particular individual becoming a target)?

Some public people become conduits and I think they know what and why they are doing it. I think it’s a dog pile game now and people provoke deliberately. The rest of us stay carefully anonymous. Too many women got permanently banned by twitter- it became really risky.