Angry Twitter Replies?
I recently posted on Twitter what I thought were a couple of fairly innocuous Tweets concerning how social media was handling the Eric Garner hashtags.
I had posted a blog that I wrote without doing a lot of Twitter research, because it was about how I felt. I ended with the comment that All Lives Matter, only to find out on Twitter that a whole lot of people agreed. My ending line was popular and I wasn't the first to think of it. Duh, not so brilliant after all.
But there was A SHIT LOAD of controversy about changing the hashtags. It seems that it was taken as an insult by some when it was changed from #BlackLivesMatter to #AllLivesMatter.
I clearly missed the memo based on my Tweet, but I meant well.
My first tweet asked "So am I wrong to think that #AllLivesMatter is ok to use? #BlacksLivesMatter is inclusive.What's wrong w/ working together? ".
I received no response to that one, at all. In a way I am glad, because I obviously missed the boat.
My second tweet was regarding the tagline I Can't Breathe. These were Eric Garner's last words and has been taken up as a rallying cry and in some cases changed to We Can't Breathe.
My tweet regarding that subject was, "Would never consider changing #ICantBreathe to WeCantBreathe. It is an acknowledgment of the man lost. Change of that is disrespect "
That one received a couple of responses from people that DID NOT like what I said. I was sent a link to a site which was very pro-police.
Which I tend to be.
Usually. But I am pro good police. The people running this site saw nothing wrong in what happened. I was appalled.
But that had nothing to do with my posts.
I was simply pointing out I felt changing one hashtag was allowable and not a racial statement or taking anything away from African Americans and their struggle to be heard. (Duh, already said I blew that one.)
I did not feel that way about the hashtag built from Eric Garner's last words. I felt and still do feel the #ICantBreathe statement is too personal to be preempted by a group of protesters.
Yes, we can wear it, use it on signs, hashtag it and chant it. But do not change the I to WE in an attempt to make us more a part of the experience.
Eric Garner died. We did not.
 |
| Evil Tweety |
The people who posted on my Tweets were against my concern over a criminal. One claimed to be a police officer from Connecticut. The other suggested I needed to get my morals in order. Then he suggested that the dead man had committed a crime that I won't repeat here because I cannot find any proof of it even being alluded to elsewhere.
The website claims many horrible police reports but no charges filed against him. But there is nothing in the mainstream media like it. The tabloids are covering it though
My response to the morals tweet was simple. "My morals are fine. MYOB. You don't know me."
He replied but I won't repeat it because it libels Eric Garner and I basically called him a rude ass and blocked him.
I thanked the guy who sent me the link. He wasn't rude, but the website was not exactly confirmable information.
So how should I have handled that? I am new to Twitter, blogging and all this fun.
I have already posted my feelings regarding Eric Garner. But I did not feel the need to share them with a random Twitter person. If they had come at me differently, I might have, but they were rude.
Should I have ignored?
Fought back?
Opinions?
No comments:
Post a Comment