Mitch Horowitz has Some Advice to Rebel Against the System — and It May Not Be What You Think

In a time when sarcasm and humiliation are standard, there are ways to resist

“There’s this expression that you’ve all heard, Twitter is not real life,” Uncertain Places author Mitch Horowitz explains, “I’ve never dug that expression because of course, Twitter is real life. We spend more time on Twitter and other social media platforms than we do among people we love.”

As Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter begins, many are recognizing the existential dread that comes with a return to the less restricted days of Twitter. Nearly instantly, bad actors celebrated the opportunity to broadcast their bigotry on mainstream social media.

Social media platforms benefit from anger and humiliation and their algorithms amplify speech that causes outrage. The negative way we use social media ripples outward into our offline lives and we carry the stress from our screens into our homes. If negativity has become standard, what ways can we rebel against the system?

Well, Mitch Horowitz has three steps to engage with in order to be a rebel in our digital age. Speaking at the Meme in the Moment Festival on October 26, Horowitz laid out a strategy to stand out against the systems.