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DarkArmillary wrote

The third option is to respond mockingly and dismissively to bad faith actors - in which case they then create alts to complain about how the site is authoritarian and unwelcome to anyone who doesn't conform (that part looks a lot like your post, actually, how strange... I'm sure that's just a coincidence, isn't it?).

This OP is from a different person, I only have this one acct. However, it's more than mere coincidence that this poster and myself agree on the existence of this dynamic in @ and rad-left spaces. It's because we both see it for what it is.

When I read comments like yours, I think you must not have been in radical spaces all that long, or else you would have some sense of what we're talking about, considering we are not the first people to recognize such a dynamic and be critical of it. This toxic dynamic goes back at least to the 80s or late 70s, and it finds new forms on the internet.

If you can't figure out if someone is engaging in good faith or bad faith, give them the benefit of the doubt until it is obvious to you. It's not that difficult tbh. The first things you can look for is length of reply — someone who wants to be understood and have a productive discussion is more likely to explain themselves. Someone who wants to troll isn't engaging in substance to begin with, so they will not have a detailed or direct response to what has been said. They will leave short pointless replies, often filled with snark or some other sarcastic attitude which is generally obvious.

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