Recently, I decided to try Twitter. I just passed the one hundred mark on followers, and I still don't quite get it. Just like the country as a whole, the conservatives will not have conversations with liberals and vice-versa. All my tweets, therefore, are directed to people who already agree with me. Interaction between those who disagree is rarely civil debate. Rather, the two sides appear simply to snark at each other and insult the other's intelligence. My posse refers to the other side as trolls and RWNJs. I don't know much about what "they" call "us" because I'm honestly a little frightened to look.
For years now, I have been drawn to the string of hateful, bizarre, racist, homophobic, and just plain offensively ignorant comments that spring up online like poison mushrooms after every political news story. When the venom reaches a certain level, I instinctively navigate away from the page. Now, however, I find myself asking questions: "Should I continue reading? Should I engage? Am I just a coward for not speaking my mind?" On Twitter, the trolls haven't come for me yet. Perhaps it's just a matter of time. Answers will come.