I just stumbled upon this substack today, and found this piece incredibly interesting probably because I myself feel like an insider - though those days are mostly behind me, I engaged with 'stan twitter' for about 6 years (between 2014 and 2020). Even though it served as my main social sphere, I found it pretty frightening - I saw two seperate people fake their deaths to avoid online drama, as well as one legitimate suicide attempt after a callout post. Online and personal reputations could be smeared overnight for stuff said offhand in group chats months before; frankly, it was rare to meet someone who hadn't received at least one horrible message, and because we all constantly overshared about our home lives and insecurities, the hate was often quite personal. The idea that someone embroiled in this culture could snap, so to speak, does not seem so far outside the realm of possibility when you consider the very graphic and violent nature of the tweets my peers and I were receiving. I'm really intrigued to watch this show having been part of obsessive fandom for such a long time.
I just stumbled upon this substack today, and found this piece incredibly interesting probably because I myself feel like an insider - though those days are mostly behind me, I engaged with 'stan twitter' for about 6 years (between 2014 and 2020). Even though it served as my main social sphere, I found it pretty frightening - I saw two seperate people fake their deaths to avoid online drama, as well as one legitimate suicide attempt after a callout post. Online and personal reputations could be smeared overnight for stuff said offhand in group chats months before; frankly, it was rare to meet someone who hadn't received at least one horrible message, and because we all constantly overshared about our home lives and insecurities, the hate was often quite personal. The idea that someone embroiled in this culture could snap, so to speak, does not seem so far outside the realm of possibility when you consider the very graphic and violent nature of the tweets my peers and I were receiving. I'm really intrigued to watch this show having been part of obsessive fandom for such a long time.
So good 👌🏼