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Malea Meza
Com 490
Dr. Vanderhoaf
18 March 2018

Social Justice Warrior’s and Twitter

Twitter is an online news and social networking site where people communicate in short

messages called tweets. With this social media platform, it gives a voice to a person that hopes

that their message is useful and interesting to their audience (followers). In the previous years

and today, social justice warriors use twitter to spread their message on a certain social justice

topic that they feel strongly about. But in many cases social justice warriors write without a

filter, like to cause trouble, send death threats, and most have a short fuse, which makes twitter

become an unsafe network. The term “social justice warriors” commonly known as SJWs on the

internet believe that they are helping a certain cause by sharing their beliefs and views by

preaching to their audiences about open mindedness, yet most aren’t open minded themselves.

Social media like twitter has become an aggressive platform that SJWs use to voice their

opinions where this ignores grey areas by polarizing people into binary camps (you’re either with

us or against us) and the ratification of group identity over individualism.

The word duo, social justice, lacks a true definition. According to The Heritage

Foundation, social justice originated as a religious term in 1840 to, “Acknowledge the collective

nature of humanity, and our personal commitment to helping other humans.” But as time changes

so does the definition. As stated in the Merriam Webster they define social justice as, “A state or

doctrine of egalitarianism” while Dictionary.com defines it as, “The distribution of advantages

and disadvantages within a society.” Social justices’ definition varies depending on the source,

but the two definitions I defined are common themes and ideas of human rights, political,
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economic, social and other equality’s. Nailing down the social justice definition then in theory a

SJW is an arbiter of social justice. A non-reliable source defines a SJW as, “A pejorative term

for an individual who repeatedly and vehemently engages in arguments on social justice on the

Internet, often in a shallow or not well-thought-out way, for raising their own personal

reputation” (Urbandictionary.com). Wikipedia defines SJWs as, “A pejorative term for an

individual who promotes socially progressive views, including feminism, civil rights, and

multiculturalism, as well as identity politics” but then Wikipedia goes on by stating, “SJW

carries implications that she or he is pursuing personal validation rather than any deep-seated

conviction and engaging in disingenuous arguments.” Two different spectrums of the SJW

definition, but both do include that SJW engage in deceitful arguments. Reported by Google

Trends the SJWs gained traction in 2012 and became a popular acronym on the microblogging

platform Tumblr. Today Tumblr is still popular but is now over shined by the competitor media

source Twitter. Infamous SJWs use twitter to rebuttal by offering their SJW lens of view which

leads their followers to concede with them or be placed into an opposite binary view.

Jenny McDermott, 33, is an acclaimed SJW and a social justice blogger on Twitter who

promotes against microaggressions and patriarchy. According to the Daily Mail, McDermott has

suffered a social media backlash after a video she posted on all her media accounts on her

suggesting that the male species be wiped out, including babies. The Daily Mail also stated that

McDermott, “Promotes tolerance and love by sending opponents death threats due to them not

agreeing with her sentiment values.” McDermott is suspended on Twitter indefinitely and

YouTube is pursuing action by taking down her videos that obtain death threats and hate speech

towards “McDermott Haters”. Jenny McDermott is an example of many SJWs who use their

voice on the internet to dictate by having the idea of freedom of speech, but if a person does not
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agree with the SJW views than consequences/implications are placed to the non-believer. No one

wants to live in a country where their voice is not heard (as terribly offensive and grotesque as

the speech might be). Ideas need to be debated and shot down in public and not hidden away.

When an individual or group cannot speak upon a certain topic or belief, you give the opposition

more power.

Binary views can only be viewed as a one-sided debate to SJWs and that there are no

other factual views besides theirs. New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss wrote a recent

article, “We’re All Fascists Now”. Weiss defends her controversial column by commenting how

college campuses are becoming more focused on manufacturing internet activist instead of

sticking to its main goal which is promoting higher learning. Weiss goes on by stating, “Students

are being coddled and professors are taking on the role of babysitters. University used to be, and

are in a democracy, a sacred place in the pursuit of truth.” The piece, which warned the growing

danger to free speech on college campuses and goes by the philosophy, its free speech to me but

no to thee, “They’re in the truth pursuit business, and increasingly it seems, they’re in the

business of turning out social justice warriors” (We’re All Fascists Now, 2018). Twitter is s free

speech platform where most SJWs use their free speech on a social justice issue and many

altercations are disputed daily between the left (communism) and the right (classical liberalism).

Social justice and SJWS as a concept is not compatible with principles like individualism,

liberty, and equality. Social justice as an ideology is toxic due to the ratification of group identity

over individualism.

Social justice warriors do not focus on who “you” are but rather focused on what you are.

Through the lens of a SJW, the world is not made up on individuals with their own skills, back

stories, struggles, etc. Instead SJWs think society is made of distinct groups on every scenario,
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one group is the oppressor and the other group is the oppressed. Some examples are that men

oppressed women, straight people oppressed gay people, white people oppressed nonwhite

people, etc. The problem with SJWs views on group identity over individualism is that people

are placed into identity politics boxes. An example of identity politics is if one is a Caucasian

person then most likely they are racist and privileged, and if one was an African American then

most likely they are poor, a criminal, and have low education, but this is not true. SJWs on

twitter usually use the #oppressed but not solely based on the individual but rather an oppressed

community. For example, on February 1st IUIC AUSTIN TEXAS tweeted, “The blacks and

Hispanics are the same people, we are oppressed together” and Jan 22nd PLATANOSLUG

tweeted, “Women who think they have the same rights as men are stupid. Women never had the

same rights as men. #oppressed #triggered.” Oscar winner Morgan Freeman makes an argument

on why black American citizens are not oppressed nor any other American citizen. During a

CNN interview host Don Lemon asked the actors views on income and equality by asking, “Do

you think that race plays apart of distribution?” Freeman responded with a simple answer,

“No…you and I we’re proof. Why would race have anything to do with it? Put your mind to

what you want to do and go for that” (Slate.com). T.V. personality, judge, and lawyer Judy

Scheindlin states that she is not a feminist nor believes in the same views as them during an

interview with Katie Couric. Scheindlin tells Couric that she was never held back because of her

gender, “I still don’t feel as if there was any time in my life when I thought that being a woman

held me back. And you define yourself. If you let other people define you that’s a mistake”

(YouTube, The Harsh Truth). Both examples of Freeman and Scheindlin prove that identity

politics do not define us on who we are, but with hash tags like #oppressed SJWs put individuals
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into groups, and it’s important to judge an individual and not as a collective.

Ultimately, Twitter is a social network site were people can share their opinions and

beliefs. SJWs like Jenny McDermott make Twitter and other media platforms a hostile

environment due to backlashes on beliefs and short fuses. There are many notorious social media

SJWS like McDermott that don’t let others challenge their opinions or beliefs. Since SJWS

polarize people into binary camps it splits our society apart which concludes into lack of

equality, liberty, and freedom of speech. Today, different ethnicities are placed into identity

politics boxes which creates to two main groups, the oppressed or the oppressor. On Twitter the

#oppressed gives our society group identity over individualism, and thus leading to segregation

by separating people into racial groups.

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Pitch to Buzzfeed

Hi Ben Smith,

I’m Malea Meza and I was wondering if you would be interested in an unique essay on how

social justice warriors use media platforms like Twitter to harass people with their views and

beliefs. With these actions social justice warriors are segregating our society into two groups, the

oppressed and the oppressor. We are far from being equal.

I used to be an everyday Twitter user, until one day I saw a tweet, “I hate that us Mexicans are

more oppressed each day.” Then I thought to myself, “I am Mexican, and I never felt oppressed.”

Then I continued to read more tweets and it just kept getting worst. I was seeing comments like

“All cops hate black people” or “He got away with it because he was a white male.” Then it hit

me, are most of my friends acclaimed social justice warriors? Or is social media being the

scapegoat to becoming a SJW? I started researching all about the SJW community and then I

started to learn how they act aggressive to people who don’t share the same beliefs and how they

are actual going against the meaning of Social Justice.

Please take a peek. I feel that Buzzfeed would be the best place to post my article due to your

following being majority of millennials.

Thank you,

Malea Meza
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