"This is so disrespectful. You’ve lost my
follow."
I spend a good 50% of each day laughing at
The Inertia and Stab. Maybe not 50% but at least
5%. I laugh at the safe space, big tent,
quick-to-apologize-with-tears-in-eyes-but-slow-to-ever-do-anything-even-remotely-meaningful
of The Inertia. I laugh at the
trying-super-hard-to-be-edgy-but-constantly-missing-the-mark-because-it-takes-a-little-spine-to-actually-be-edgy
of Stab.
I laugh mostly looking at their social medias. Both The
Inertia and Stab grew in the digital age where robust
followings could be bought/built and those numbers sold to
advertisers. It’s a nice model, if you launched forever ago/have
money, but there is so much strange hurt feelings and
misunderstandings in robust social media followings and these
regularly spill into the comments on Facebook or Instagram.
I look and laugh and think, “It’s a good thing we never had
money to build a robust social media following. Who needs that sort
of headache?” I assumed that those who followed BeachGrit
came organically and were in on the joke or at least understood the
joke.
That assumption was shattered this morning. Apparently our
Instagram account is a sleeper cell of easily triggered social
justice warriors even more full-throated than any that populate
The Inertia or Stab.
I posted a little ditty about Surf Snowdonia
building a Nazi-esque hotel that was causing some consternation
when I woke up and advertised the story on our Instagram with a
little screen grab from the cult classic Surf Nazis Must Die then
went about my business.
When I checked in a few hours later, though, all hell had broken
loose. Message after message declaring:
cassellpeter You have 109K followers and you
post someone with a Nazi symbol? Irresponsible. You’ve lost a
follower. Thought you were better.
d1242w Go fuck yourself you fucking white boy
racist.
kbskaleidoscope This is so disrespectful.
You’ve lost my follow.
lalhavali This symbol should not be used .
That’s not funny!
k8beauchene WTF?!
sllewhsa On remembrance day, really?
danielvaie Hate this picture😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡SHAME
SHAME STUPID STUPID
hindiana530 Whoops…this was an awkward post
noprogress 😮
ralphteriitaohia Bulshit 😢😠
dr_portugez_4_ 👎👎👎
jcvsolari Unfollow!!
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Now I know how those boys at The Inertia and
Stab feel. They feel good! Triggering the easily triggered
is like riding a good rollercoaster. All the thrill, none of the
danger. I now wish BeachGrit had a robust social media
following but it appears everyone unfollowed.
Maybe next year!