Stay Safe Out There: Navigating the Negatives on Twitter

This excerpt from Using Twitter For Professional Growth will help keep you and your career safe.
Fadeke Adegbuyi (Marketing Manager, Doist)
▪︎ 36 minutes read time

Photo by Hari Nandakumar on Unsplash.

This post is an excerpt from the upcoming Holloway mini-Guide, Using Twitter for Professional Growth. The Guide covers how to use Twitter to meet collaborators, build your brand, find jobs or employees, and more. To build this Guide, author Fadeke Adegbuyi conducted deep research and interviewed Twitter power users (and successful professionals), including Visakan Veerasamy, Jackie Luo, Kevin Simler. Sign up for the Good Work Newsletter to know when the mini-Guide comes out, or follow Holloway on Twitter @holloway!

Twitter can be an amazing tool for professional growth, but it can be a dangerous place, too, and we know that the risks keep a lot of people off the platform altogether. We’re releasing this excerpt first because it’s important to recognize that it isn’t all upside. The platform is getting increasingly polarizing with more people finding themselves on the receiving end of harsh criticism, personal attacks, and harassment. This resource can help ensure that your time on the platform is as safe as possible, for your own physical and mental health, that of your followers, and for your career.

This post will answer questions like:

  • “Is it safe to engage with your critics on Twitter?”
  • “Will I not get hired if I talk about politics online?”
  • “Should I contact my harasser’s employer?”
  • “What do I do if I’m attacked by a Twitter mob? Is my career over?”
  • “What are the mechanics and ramifications of blocking and muting? Are there risks?”
  • “What is online harassment and what do I do about it?”
  • “How can I make my Twitter experience less hellish?”

Responding to criticism

Putting your thoughts and ideas out into the Twitterverse can yield many positive benefits (which you can read about when the rest of the mini-Guide is released!).

However, it can also lead to unproductive disagreements and even condemnation. As you post more and gain more followers, your tweets will be seen by more people in your industry, including more people who disagree with you—some of whom are not afraid to let you know it. Your peers, and potentially your future collaborators, employees, or employers are looking on. It’s important to act professionally while responding to feedback and show your openness to critical feedback.

story Clive Thompson (@pomeranian99), a New York Times journalist, addressed a correction about an article he wrote directly to Twitter after receiving criticism on the platform.

story Tracy Chou (@triketora), the founder of Block Party and prominent tech industry figure, responded with a clarification and apology when critiqued about a view she expressed about participants of the cryptocurrency field.

When engaging with criticism, remember the following:

  • Most people are well-intentioned and don’t have the desire to personally attack you.
  • You are not your individual ideas. Critiques of your ideas should not be taken as critiques of you as a person. Don’t take anything personally and launch into attack-mode as a result.
  • Nuance can be lost in 280 characters. Someone engaging with your ideas may come off as rude due to these limitations.
  • It’s perfectly OK to change your views, admit you were wrong, or note that you hadn’t considered a particular angle.
  • While it’s helpful in the long-run to consider objections to your ideas, you don’t need to respond. Sometimes liking a tweet can be a way of acknowledging a critique without fully engaging.

Despite feeling attacked, it’s key to differentiate between critical feedback and valid criticism versus ad-hominem attacks and bad faith denunciations. Listen and respond thoughtfully to the former, block people who engage in the latter two.

important There’s a big difference between “blocking people who disagree with you” and “blocking people who are intentionally rude and hurtful.” Blocking people to protect both your headspace and tweet mentions does not mean you live in a bubble or reject all criticism. It means you’re preserving space for people who can engage respectfully with what you post.

Legitimate critical feedback is an opportunity to grow professionally and should be treated as such. Responding in a way that’s negative or overly sensitive is easily observed by your followers and can signal that you’re not receptive to growth.

Responding to mobs

“Our crowds are online and our Colosseum is Twitter,” writes Michael Fontaine, a professor of classics at Cornell University, in an article on mob mentality. If a tweet receives enough criticism, warranted or not, it can snowball into a full fledged mob. An unpopular tweet can be ratioed and receive hundreds or thousands of quote tweets, often with deeply personal attacks. A wave of DMs or emails can follow and even attempts at having your account hacked or calls to your employer to fire you.

It’s a deeply unpleasant experience that more and more people are going through, because it can be genuinely difficult to know when a form of public shaming will occur and what might trigger it.

story Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) shared a view on hiring for his company that led to days of disproportionate response and culminated in a clarification and apology.

story Marc Hemeon (@hemeon), a prominent product designer, shared a viewpoint about the use of fonts that led to widespread disagreement. Industry peers voiced their support for him after his response.

Jon Ronson, author of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, notes: “When we deployed shame, we were utilizing an immensely powerful tool. It was coercive, borderless, and increasing in speed and influence.”

While such incidents are increasingly common, you shouldn’t spend much time fearing this outcome. However, there are a handful of precautions and actions you can take:

  • Old tweets are increasingly becoming fodder for online mobbing. As a precautionary measure, there are advocates for automatically deleting old tweets. Taylor Lorenz, Internet Culture Reporter at The New York Times who has experienced multiple online mobbings, has all her tweets auto-delete.
  • Mobs can be become extremely vitriolic and lead to attempts at hacking your public accounts. Set up two-factor authentication on all your social media accounts to avoid being hacked.
  • Protect your home address and cell phone number. Work to remove both from any online directories to avoid being doxxed.

Unfortunately, even with precautions, these pile-ons can be difficult to weather and represent a hazard of the platform. While Twitter mobs have common similarities, what to do in each individual situation can vary dramatically. While some people choose to fight back against accusations they feel are unfair, others apologize, or, depending on prominence, contract reputation management or PR firms to seek advice on how to move forward.

While downsides to Twitter are very real, it shouldn’t deter you from using the platform. The negatives are outweighed by what you have to gain in finding a community of people you can learn from and grow with.

Recognizing harassment on Twitter

Despite strong suggestions of how Twitter could combat bad behavior on its platform, the platform has failed to adequately address the harassment that occurs on a daily basis. This includes widespread and targeted mobbing campaigns, lewd comments and messages, and death threats.

In 2017, Pew Research found that around 41% of Americans have experienced online harassment, including the following: offensive name-calling, purposeful embarrassment, physical threats, sustained harassment, stalking, and sexual harassment.*

All of this occurs on Twitter.

Unfortunately, harassment on Twitter can arise from any number of things and can extend into your professional use of the platform.

  • Industry competitors may join in on harassment and work to diminish your professional reputation.
  • Your professional work or views can come under attack.
  • Harassment unrelated to your work can lead to people contacting or tagging your employer.
  • DMs are a common place where sexual harassment can occur—often under the guise of professional engagement.

Holding others accountable

With Twitter’s less than perfect reporting system, users seek other ways to hold people accountable for harassment. Depending on the severity and scale of abuse, different routes can be taken. Unfortunately, all of these come with some level of personal and professional risk. Rather than solutions, they’re options with their own potential and realized consequences.

There are no real routes to winning when it comes to addressing abusive behavior. Bearing the brunt of harassment can be embarrassing and temporary and traumatic and lasting.

danger At its extreme, it can leave individuals having to flee their homes, opt for burner phones, and permanently change the way they interact with the world, as The New York Times reported in a series on the topic. Holding people accountable can be incredibly challenging or impossible. It can also have professional implications:

  • Calling out bad behavior can have you labelled a “trouble maker” and lead to ostracization.
  • Calling out someone in your industry who is more prominent than you are can result in abuse from their followers and professional fallout (i.e. blacklisting).

Direct public outreach: If abusive or mean-spirited comments are coming from someone you may know or have familiarity with, one route is speaking to them directly. Responding directly to a tweet they’ve written can be a route to asking them to stop their behavior, be more considerate, or explain a point of contention. Unfortunately, in these situations, they may respond with more of the same or simply block you. Your response may even fuel further abuse.

Direct private outreach: Again, if vitriol is coming from someone you’re familiar with, reaching out to them through a DM or private channels like email can be a potential route to a civil conversation without onlookers. However, they may be unwilling to have this dialogue. They may simply ignore you, or worse, screen capture and post your DM to their followers.

Sharing widely: People are generally sympathetic of people experiencing harassment and abuse and may be willing to help or broadcast the issues you’re facing. Quote tweeting, screen capturing, or discussing the abuse you’re experiencing can sometimes get individual attackers to stop. You can also encourage your followers to help report abuse, making it more likely that Twitter will act.

caution Unfortunately, sharing the abuse you’re experiencing is far less likely to work in the case of mob attacks and may actually fuel additional mobbing.

Reporting to a workplace: Companies are increasingly protective of their brand and public perception, including the individuals who work for them and the content they choose to post on Twitter.

story After Jonathan Weisman, a deputy Washington editor of The New York Times engaged in Twitter behavior that his employer said showed “serious lapses in judgment,” he was demoted.

story A developer advocate at Auth0 was fired after offensive tweets were shared with his employer directly on Twitter.

If you’re experiencing harassment by someone whose identity and workplace is known, making their actions known to their employer is a tactic for holding them accountable for bad behavior.

caution However, this is an increasingly polarizing action that may lead to personal escalation and additional mobbing. Often a workplace won’t act, but may notify the employer that they were reported, which could give them further ammo.

Utilizing whisper networks and backchannels: Experiencing abuse can be an isolating experience. While speaking up can cause revictimization or retaliation, not saying anything means abusers can continue abusing others without consequence. Finding individuals and groups you trust to discuss these incidents can be a less dangerous route for revealing abuse and warning community members. Often this can be done anonymously.

caution Again, this is not without risk. Moira Donegan started a google spreadsheet of “Shitty Media Men” intended to be anonymous and “protect its users from retaliation.” It spread like wildfire and cost the creator her job and resulted in a lawsuit, despite being widely viewed by activists as a benefit to the #MeToo movement.

Personally dealing with abuse

I’ve made really close friends on Twitter. I got my first job through Twitter. Obviously, that’s all great, but then there’s the other side, too. People have harassed me on Twitter. I’ve dealt with a lot of abuse on Twitter. Twitter has made me much more cautious about who has access to my personal information. I try to be pretty careful to never post a picture or mention a location while I’m still there. All of that is important, too, even if it’s not as fun.Jackie Luo*

Dealing with online harassment and abuse can take a personal toll.

In an article for Wired, Robyn Kanner (@robynkanner) discusses the feeling of being publicly shamed: “It’s a lonely experience to feel like the most hated person alive for just saying what was on my mind.”

Even high profile figures who are routinely at the receiving end of this abuse can find particular events extremely concerning.

Issuing a statement: Issuing a response may not halt harassment and may even provide fodder for more. However, it can be personally helpful to speak on a tough situation and issue any clarification or points of contention.

Taking a hiatus: Often the best way to deal with harassment is time and space. It’s become commonplace for people to opt of Twitter permanently or for an extended period of time in a response to harassment and toxicity. Choosing to step away and focus on other aspects of life can be helpful in easing some of the suffering associated with being a target on Twitter.

story Susan Fowler (@susanthesquark), an editor at The New York Times and the author of the widely read post, “Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber,” took nearly a four-month break from the platform after weathering abuse on Twitter that turned into hate mail.

story Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT), a White House correspondent for The New York Times, opted to use Twitter in a limited capacity and wrote an article on why, noting, “The viciousness, toxic partisan anger, intellectual dishonesty, motive-questioning and sexism are at all-time highs, with no end in sight.”

Reporting and documenting Twitter abuse

Unfortunately, while there are Twitter rules, they are frequently broken and that breaking can go unaddressed. These are a few Twitter rules that are commonly broken and relate closely to online harassment:

  • “Abuse/harassment: You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. This includes wishing or hoping that someone experiences physical harm.”
  • “Hateful conduct: You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”
  • “Violence: You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also prohibit the glorification of violence.”
  • “Sensitive media, including graphic violence and adult content: You may not post media that is excessively gory or share violent or adult content within live video or in profile or header images. Media depicting sexual violence and/or assault is also not permitted.”

Experiencing abuse and harassment under these categories can look a few different ways:

  • Abuse and harassment can ensue from a single individual, or become more widespread if you experience some form of exposure, either off the platform and/or on Twitter.
  • Often abuse and harassment spawned by your work or opinions can quickly go from criticism to much more: lewd comments, inciting violence, death threats, and more.

danger If you’ve fallen victim to any of these actions, report it directly to Twitter.

Unfortunately, this often is not an adequate way to deal with harassment:

  1. Twitter may not respond in a timely manner due to a high volume of submissions.
  2. Twitter may claim abuse has not occurred for actions that clearly break their rules.
  3. Reporting can be time consuming and overwhelming if you’re sustaining a mob attack.

As an extra layer of protection, you may take the following actions:

  • Documentation: Make notes and keep records (screenshots, messages) of any threats you receive or harassment you encounter. Screenshots are especially important for documentation, because inappropriate or abusive tweets may be deleted by the original poster.
  • Reporting to authorities: If you fear harm or threats to your safety, contact local, state, or federal law enforcement.

On discussing politics

A Gallup poll concluded that “although the U.S. is divided politically, most Americans do not commonly discuss politics or public affairs with other people,” after finding that “34% of Americans talked about public affairs—including politics, issues and news.”* “Don’t talk about politics” is a mantra many uphold offline.

However, political conversations run rampant on Twitter, which has a heavy presence of politicians and political journalists. It’s commonly known that politically motivated aggression can be some of the most negative content taking up your Twitter feed. According to 2019 Pew Research, heavy Twitter users frequently discuss politics while light users are less likely to get political:

  • “Heavy users spend more of their time tweeting about politics. 22% report discussing politics on Twitter within the last 30 days, compared with just 6% of light users.”
  • “For comparison, 42% of those in the top 10% of tweeters say they have tweeted about politics in the last 30 days.”
  • “74% of those in the light user group say they never tweet about politics, compared with 46% for heavy users.”
  • “28% of users in the top 10% of tweeters say they never tweet about politics.”*

Of course, conversations about politics extend beyond politicians and journalists whose jobs are dependent on their political commentary and analysis. Academics, technologists, and everyone in between can use Twitter to discuss politics and adjacent topics, and should consider the impact of doing so. The expanded definition of politics has come to mean wildly different things to different people. A narrow, more traditional definition might refer to electoral and political processes, political parties, and political and elected public servants.

On Twitter, discussing politics directly might look like this:

  • Endorsing a particular candidate (i.e. #YangGang, #ImWithHer)
  • Condemning a particular law, ruling, or piece of legislation (i.e. #MuslimBan, #TransBan)
  • Revealing a political affiliation (i.e. “Republican vs. Democrat,” “Right vs. Left”)

However, politics—who makes the rules, what laws get passed, which issues get addressed—impacts people and the natural environment. Politics have become inextricably bound to a host of social and environmental issues including human rights, homelessness, global warming, immigration, green energy, mass shootings, and much more. These matters, which are impacted by politics, have come to be seen as politics (or a part of political ideology), and have become equally as polarizing online as traditional party alignments.

As a consequence, these important subjects are often relegated to the “Don’t talk about politics” pile. People are routinely accused of “getting political” on Twitter in simply addressing or discussing these topics—even if they’re directly related to professional matters.

story Dan Abramov (@dan_abramov), a prominent software engineer, co-creator of redux and co-author of the Create React App, posted a tweet condemning “misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, and white supremacy” in the React community as a response to #Reactgate. While the reception to this was largely positive, a sizable number of people accused him of making a “political declaration” or “bringing politics into this.” Others pondered “Can’t we just focus on technology?” or suggested “keep YOUR politics away from me.”

This level of polarization and this contention between “politics” and “social issues” is extremely commonplace on Twitter. People often choose not to discuss politics because they feel it can’t be done constructively under 240 characters. They’re on to something. An article in The Atlantic suggests that “political discussions online are perceived as less respectful, less likely to be resolved, less civil, and more angry than discussions in other forums.” It’s important to understand what they can yield and what they can displace. If you’re using Twitter for professional growth, there are pros and cons to discussing politics on the medium, and, if you choose to engage, guidelines to help keep you safe, personally and professionally.

Pros

Personal dimension: Often, people want to “bring their whole selves to work,” and when you’re using Twitter for professional growth, that means the political beliefs you hold or conversations you want to have can extend to your online life. Limiting yourself to only talking about work can mean you’re actively omitting topics you’re passionate about and interested in, including political ones. With a 24-hour news cycle, for some it can feel like an omission to only discuss issues within their single industry. For some, representing yourself as a whole person, beyond your professional interests, means discussing political and social issues. Often (and some might say always), political and social issues are inextricable from business or industry.

Impact: The impact that tweeting about social issues has or does not have is hard to quantify. On one hand, people often reside in filtered bubbles, tweeting to their online acquaintances and friends, who largely agree with them already or share the same views. Furthermore, it’s been observed that people only become more polarized when exposed to opposing views.

So what might the impact of discussing politics on Twitter be? Is Twitter legitimate activism or just a form of “Slacktivism”? While opinions are mixed, a Pew Research study titled “Activism in the Social Media Age” found that a majority of Americans note social media is “important for getting politicians to pay attention to issues, creating long-lasting social movements.” It’s also been noted that online activism can spawn real-life action.

Finding like-minded people: Posting about certain political and social issues can act as a magnet to draw in like-minded people. Often politics and profession collide and you can find subcommunities like “Ethics in AI” or “Diversity in Tech” that open conversations about how we work and live, and that emphasize the ethical and political responsibilities of companies. Additionally, as founders and companies are increasingly taking social stances, having politics aligned with somewhere you might want to work for, and expressing this through your account, could be helpful for showing that you share a company’s values.

Cons

Polarization: Politics, or perhaps the discussion of politics, is polarizing. A New York Times article notes that “Americans are open to people with all sorts of political and partisan opinions, our research shows—as long as they keep those opinions to themselves.” Sharing about politics on Twitter doesn’t meet this criteria. Unfortunately, this can cause people to view your feed as polarizing. This may stop people from following you (people routinely note not following or unfollowing based on political tweets). Alternately, they discount or diminish your professional contributions.

Leaves you open to discrimination: Publicly sharing your political views can make you an easier target for hiring discrimination if you’re searching for your next role. Companies whose leadership or culture have a particular political affiliation may show a bias against those whose views don’t align.

Can make you a target of harassment: Discussing politics on Twitter can make you a target. Responses to tweets about politics can become abusive and turn into wide-scale harassment.

Guidelines for discussing politics

If you opt to discuss politics and social issues on Twitter, use the following guidelines:

Attack ideas and actions, not people: Despite the existence of bad actors, try to criticize and discuss ideas rather than individuals like politicians or other public figures. Don’t resort to ad hominem attacks which can diminish your arguments and flood your followers with negative content.

Go to the source: Clickbait headlines and out of context quotes and videos can spread like fire. Not to mention, the era of deep fakes may be upon us. When tweeting about politics and social issues, always do your best to look for primary sources or trusted secondary sources. If something sounds incredibly inflammatory, it might be designed that way. If people are sharing something that sounds too ridiculous to be true, that could be the case.

caution Routinely getting hoaxed can damage your trustworthiness when it comes to discussing politics and, by extension, your credibility as a professional.

Go beyond words: Twitter users are increasingly starting and participate in charity matching initiatives, leveraging their following to raise money for causes like family separation, gun violence, and women’s reproductive health. For example, Ashley Mayer (@ashmleymayer), Head of Communications at Glossier, frequently starts Twitter charity campaigns including the charities Everytown and YellowFund.

Many people decide to post about these collections of topics and issues, while some choose to opt out. Neither choice is really right or wrong—one doesn’t imply virtue while the other suggests callousness. Rather, it’s key to recognize that people have different ways of addressing and reacting to issues, some public and on Twitter, some private and off the platform.

Removing negativity

Alongside Twitter’s hallways of positivity and endless learning are alleyways of negativity, ad hominem attacks, and pile-ons. Following people who engage in these activities, or magnify people who do, can leave your feed barren of knowledge and laden with toxicity.

Liberally remove people from your Twitter experience who attack you or others personally or are overly negative or critical of others work.

Unfollow: Stop following individuals who are frequently negative or tweet about subjects you find irritating or non-productive. Reserve your attention for individuals whose tweets you find interesting, funny, or informative.

If you’re following the wrong people, your timeline can become polluted. Don’t underestimate how negativity can trickle into your mind, inform your thinking, and generate low-level anxiety. If your feed is filled with gloom and cynicism, remove the likely culprits—news accounts that lean on dramatization for clicks and pessimists who bring everyone down are a good start.

Audit your list: Regularly prune your list. You can do this on the fly when you notice someone you follow who makes arguments in bad faith, attacks others, or is generally a source of negativity. Unfollow them. Additionally, in regular intervals (every few months), sit down and shave your list manually or with tools like Tokimeki Unfollow.

Block, don’t mute: While muting caustic individuals can help you avoid negativity, if they interact with your tweets on a regular basis, their negativity is viewed by your followers and can make your mentions a negative space.

Blocking jerks is a service to the world. When you allow people to be jerks in your Twitter threads, you’re not just unnecessarily subjecting yourself to vitriol, you’re subjecting all your followers to it as well. Which makes their lives a little more unpleasant.Julia Galef*

Here’s how to block someone:

People are not notified when you block them. However, if they navigate to your Twitter profile, they will be unable to see your tweets and instead see a message that reads, “You are blocked from following @username and viewing @username’s Tweets.”

caution Please note that blocking someone comes with some risk and and the following can ensue:

  • They may take a screen capture your profile, showing they were blocked by you, and announce this to your followers generally in an unkind manner.
  • They will still be able to access your tweets by accessing your profile while logged out of their account or using a different account.
  • In some cases, blocking may lead to escalation with people attempting to contact you through other social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram), email, or through a different Twitter account.

Muting can be a good option for people who you generally like but whose tweets you may not enjoy. Here’s how to mute someone:

Twitter also offers some advanced muting options.

Turn off retweets: Seeing other people’s retweets can help you discover new people and ideas. However, not everyone is discerning with what they RT, and engagement on negative tweets is often high. (This is part of the reason you see the phrase, “RTs are not endorsements” in a lot of bios.) This can fill your feed with unwelcome content. If you find this to be a continuous issue, turn off retweets on Twitter.

  • How to do it: Go to someone’s profile, navigate to the setting menu above their bio, and select “Turn off Retweets.”
  • Twitter notes that “It is not possible to turn off ALL Retweets from ALL accounts.” This is not the case. To turn off retweets for everyone, follow Luca Hammer’s tip and enter “RT @” as a muted phrase under the advanced muting options field.

De-follow: This is a lesser known hackstrategy that doesn’t have much of a use case. If you block and unblock someone, they no longer follow you. If someone is unhelpful in your replies or negatively quote-tweets (a retweet with a comment) you with negativity, the de-follow is a low-conflict way to get them to stop following you, making it more difficult for them to see your tweets in their timeline, without the risks of keeping them blocked.

Mute keywords: Often, you may not want to block individuals but are tired of hearing about a specific subject or certain keywords that are tied to a broader discussion. In these cases, you can mute keywords or hashtags. This can also be helpful during live events where your feed may be cluttered with keywords like “Game of Thrones” and “#GoT” or or “MMVAS” and “#MMVAs,” and all you’re there for is to reply to C++ threads. Go to Setting → Content preferences → Muted → Muted words, to silence certain words from your timeline.

Get perspective: What you see in your timeline is a microcosm of reality. Remember, Twitter as a whole, but especially your corner of Twitter, isn’t reflective of the world. Among lots of other interesting data collected by Pew in 2018, the research center found: “The 10% of users who are most active in terms of tweeting are responsible for 80% of all tweets created by U.S. users.” This is a version of reality where a few voices—usually negative ones—are amplified and the majority of people and opinions are lost in the noise.

That might sound a lot like the rest of life, and like the rest of life, making Twitter better is all about: 1. exposing yourself to opinions and perspectives that make you more well-rounded and empathetic 2. recognizing which opinions will do nothing of the kind, and 3. carving out a supportive community of people who share your interests, passions, and questions.

The rest of this mini-Guide will show you how to accomplish exactly those things. And in the meantime, remember that adding your own voice to the mix has the potential to make other people’s experience of the medium better. Tweet the kind of tweet that you want to see.

Fadeke Adegbuyi works on Marketing at Doist. Her interests lie at the intersection of humans, technology, and culture. She’s passionate about telling stories of better ways to live and work.

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