Hello everyone - deluded turds included! Thanks for the new thread.
I’m sorry to all those who are dealing with the heartbreak of family with dementia and of fertility issues and of anything else for that matter! To make something like that up (the father dementia jokes) suggests SH is a bit more damaged than I imagined. It’s a real reach and it’s deeply unfair.
I have a theory about the whole thing! I have sensed the tide turning re. SH for a while. Friends I’ve spoken with have rolled their eyes and there have been a good few critical comments in the guardian piece each week and it began to need stringent modding.
This may have caused some people to send her rude messages, but I really have no idea. I have never contacted her directly, I have only ever left (one or two) relevant comments on her public social media and I’ve always been very gentle and polite as I believe that’s the only way to make a point.
I think she’s CONFLATED the two things and blames her less enthusiastic audience on Tattle rather than looking to herself to see why her formula has started to wear thin and why a tattle thread even started in the first place.
The magic mix is ban free conversation on your SM, be rude to the very followers who pay your bills, tell lies, be a bully and act evasive about brand relationships. But I really think the main one is being rude. She sometimes says she doesn’t have to reply to comments and she’s really busy and does it for free, and other variations on that theme. But the more comments she gets, the more she can monetise her account if she needs to. Her followers are literally scattering valuable currency into her feed and she’s like oooooo Thank Me! And excuse you!
When I read the comments below her IG vid I feel absolutely disgusted with myself for ever posting here. Then I go away and think about it and wonder what the options are. Obviously voting with my follows is one clear answer. But what about the people who don’t have time to look into the reality behind the people who populate our screens? Is that fine for them to just have half the info? And what is the future if it just goes unchecked? It doesn’t look healthy, especially if influencers are this ruthless and literally lie to gain support and everyone trots out the exact same lines by rote: poor sali, anyone who criticises you must not have a life! They must be losers! Goblins! Evil! Poos! Wees! If you disagree then you’re a miserable and nasty cow!
It’s like living in a dystopian world written by Margaret Atwood. That image on SH grid of her grinning and holding the Handmaids Tale sequel is extremely uncomfortable
.
It isn’t sensible for a handful of people who lets face it, must be narcissistic (at least a little smidge, at least a weak dilute of narcissism running through their veins) to have such a gigantic platform. Obviously they are doing what is best for themselves. What are the chances that’s also what’s best for lots of other people? I almost feel I have a responsibility to push back against it.
Here are some of the signs which suggest the SH situation is unhealthy:
Censored debate (even mumsnet ffs)
Lies
Same handful of media spokespeople
Edited history (deleted tweets and false claims)
Emotive language and manipulative use of distress
Calculated burying of the lead (ie releasing video to overshadow EL stories)
These things are as old as time but if social media has given us something good, it’s the opportunity to get educated, be critical and push the issue of transparency. I’m not talking about bullying anyone, I’m just talking about quietly demanding certain standards for the media we consume. And until I know how to do that in an effective way, I will talk to all of you about it, and that’s my right.
I am so grateful there is a group of people who have the same perspective as me. I know I’ve gone on a bit too long now!!!