Ethan, thank you for highlighting and writing in response to my comment- I’m honored to be a part of this piece. In fact I will print it out and tape it to the bathroom mirror and force myself to read it every morning. Then maybe I will learn to not rage scroll and internally battle with random Twitter accounts on your behalf. Thanks for all your work!
You’ve earned it for putting up with the godawful drivel from Holly and the rest of the SB Nation castoffs who wrote like they were trying to make the Gawker practice squad.
This is good advice if you run a business *and* want to best make sure to make a living: “If you’re writing or podcasting for pay, only care about your customers.”
Otherwise, the general life advice holds: determine your own value system, conform to your value system (have integrity), judge yourself primarily (bordering on exclusively) on your internal values and not on external feedback, accept that many people may disagree with you (vehemently even) and your endeavor may fail. You’ll probably be happier.
Kevin’s “bees for brains” comment really struck a nerve. I’m not on social media and can be a little naive about it, so my wife sometimes decides to ruin my day by showing me the comments section of our town’s Facebook page.
I can’t believe the level of rage over literally nothing - masking or whatever - that crops up on there. But what I really really don’t understand is that these people are GOING TO MEET. It’s a small town, eveyone has kids. You can see their names. If you call somebody a fucking murdering nazi you’re eventually going to be face to face with them, and they aren’t going to get past it.
I keep asking this question and everyone only gives vague answers. But please: when people fight like this - when they’re screaming at people they are guaranteed to interact with in person - what are they thinking? What happens when they meet? Someone here must have been involved in something like this.
Similarly, the real world doesn't care about the god-awful debate shows that Ethan and Ryan obsess over. If people can't tell the difference between disingenuous, over-the-top-content-farming and actual considered discourse, I don't know what to tell you.
I’m one of those subscribers who is never on social media. I had no idea there was blowback to the wnba piece referenced. If I had criticism of that piece it would have been that it was ‘boring’ - or perhaps better phrased - sure I agree I guess but it’s not particularly interesting to me - what’s in a name anyway?
That it led to vitriol and ad hominem attacks is both insane and yet all too believable.
This is a great piece by the way. Pernicious online ‘criticism capture’ is why I love this Substack and read very little ‘opinion’ anywhere else online. If the criticism is IRL from someone you know reasonably well- perhaps listen - if it’s online from someone you don’t know or is part of or adjacent to your media world it’s performative until proven otherwise.
Related/unrelated - I’m hoping you will have much to write or say about the many many WNBA players vs all things Caitlin Clark that has broken into full view. I have popcorn and brain cells at the ready!
56 with my only social media being LinkedIn. Used to be on Twitter, but quit two years ago and haven't missed it all, especially the part where ppl rage about the issue de jour.
Very insightful distinction between audience and criticism capture. As a teacher reading class evaluations at the end of each semester, I tend to feel the sting of criticism more so than the warmth of praise.
Do you mean student evaluations? As a former student, I laugh to think that students (as a whole) have a sense of how to evaluate the teaching and management of student groups, good or bad.
All I know is what I've seen from clips and highlights but this whole thing reminds me of when the Heatles essentially ended Linsanity when LeBron and DWade were picking up Jeremy Lin from 90 ft.
The fact that so many people in the old "IDW" turned into the exact monsters that their critics claimed they always were is so depressing to me. I remember when Dave Rubin, Bret Weinstein, Jordan Peterson et. al. burst onto the scene in 2014, 2015 or so I had some respect for them, and I thought their critics were being deeply unfair. But now they have become such warped parodies of themselves that I'm embarrassed that I ever supported them.
But what is really messing me up is this question: was I wrong to support them back in the day? Were they always this way and I just couldn't see it, or did they succumb to Criticism Capture and/or Audience Capture and fundamentally change? I don't know the answer, and it troubles me.
Ethan, thank you for highlighting and writing in response to my comment- I’m honored to be a part of this piece. In fact I will print it out and tape it to the bathroom mirror and force myself to read it every morning. Then maybe I will learn to not rage scroll and internally battle with random Twitter accounts on your behalf. Thanks for all your work!
You’ve earned it for putting up with the godawful drivel from Holly and the rest of the SB Nation castoffs who wrote like they were trying to make the Gawker practice squad.
The jerk store called. They're running out of you.
This is good advice if you run a business *and* want to best make sure to make a living: “If you’re writing or podcasting for pay, only care about your customers.”
Otherwise, the general life advice holds: determine your own value system, conform to your value system (have integrity), judge yourself primarily (bordering on exclusively) on your internal values and not on external feedback, accept that many people may disagree with you (vehemently even) and your endeavor may fail. You’ll probably be happier.
It’s a bit rich for anyone at the Bulwark to accuse someone else of succumbing to audience capture.
Beat me to it. ‘Member “Conservatism Conserved”? I ‘member.
Kevin’s “bees for brains” comment really struck a nerve. I’m not on social media and can be a little naive about it, so my wife sometimes decides to ruin my day by showing me the comments section of our town’s Facebook page.
I can’t believe the level of rage over literally nothing - masking or whatever - that crops up on there. But what I really really don’t understand is that these people are GOING TO MEET. It’s a small town, eveyone has kids. You can see their names. If you call somebody a fucking murdering nazi you’re eventually going to be face to face with them, and they aren’t going to get past it.
I keep asking this question and everyone only gives vague answers. But please: when people fight like this - when they’re screaming at people they are guaranteed to interact with in person - what are they thinking? What happens when they meet? Someone here must have been involved in something like this.
Wonder what percentage of HOS readers dont have any social media and how skewed it is by age.
I didnt see any blowback for Ethan’s wnba idea b/c i dont have social accounts. Never happened in the real world
Similarly, the real world doesn't care about the god-awful debate shows that Ethan and Ryan obsess over. If people can't tell the difference between disingenuous, over-the-top-content-farming and actual considered discourse, I don't know what to tell you.
I’m one of those subscribers who is never on social media. I had no idea there was blowback to the wnba piece referenced. If I had criticism of that piece it would have been that it was ‘boring’ - or perhaps better phrased - sure I agree I guess but it’s not particularly interesting to me - what’s in a name anyway?
That it led to vitriol and ad hominem attacks is both insane and yet all too believable.
This is a great piece by the way. Pernicious online ‘criticism capture’ is why I love this Substack and read very little ‘opinion’ anywhere else online. If the criticism is IRL from someone you know reasonably well- perhaps listen - if it’s online from someone you don’t know or is part of or adjacent to your media world it’s performative until proven otherwise.
Related/unrelated - I’m hoping you will have much to write or say about the many many WNBA players vs all things Caitlin Clark that has broken into full view. I have popcorn and brain cells at the ready!
56 with my only social media being LinkedIn. Used to be on Twitter, but quit two years ago and haven't missed it all, especially the part where ppl rage about the issue de jour.
43 and only substack if you count that.
Ethan’s team name wonderings and subsequent mean tweets were quite the black swan event given where things got to yesterday with Stephan a and mcafee
Very insightful distinction between audience and criticism capture. As a teacher reading class evaluations at the end of each semester, I tend to feel the sting of criticism more so than the warmth of praise.
Do you mean student evaluations? As a former student, I laugh to think that students (as a whole) have a sense of how to evaluate the teaching and management of student groups, good or bad.
All I know is what I've seen from clips and highlights but this whole thing reminds me of when the Heatles essentially ended Linsanity when LeBron and DWade were picking up Jeremy Lin from 90 ft.
You can end most players confidence if you do that well. No one likes that.
The fact that so many people in the old "IDW" turned into the exact monsters that their critics claimed they always were is so depressing to me. I remember when Dave Rubin, Bret Weinstein, Jordan Peterson et. al. burst onto the scene in 2014, 2015 or so I had some respect for them, and I thought their critics were being deeply unfair. But now they have become such warped parodies of themselves that I'm embarrassed that I ever supported them.
But what is really messing me up is this question: was I wrong to support them back in the day? Were they always this way and I just couldn't see it, or did they succumb to Criticism Capture and/or Audience Capture and fundamentally change? I don't know the answer, and it troubles me.
Becoming reactionary to his critics seems to be Elon Musk’s problem. Maybe he’ll read this 😂
Perhaps, but I think he treats it as a game as well.
Great mad men clip! I enjoy your frequent references to the show. Really miss it