Sluggardo Profile picture
Jun 24, 2018 12 tweets 4 min read Read on X
THREAD: The mistake Oliver Norgrove makes here is assuming that ppl like Chloe Westley from the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance are attempting, in good faith, to “aid understanding of complex issues”. #AltShite #LeaveLiars #BrexitShambles #twats
2/
They are of course doing nothing of the sort. What Chloe (and the rest of the pro-Brexit politico-media complex) are doing is following the Trump/Breitbart playbook on how to win political arguments when you have little evidence but can appeal to a sizeable aggrieved minority.
3/
She muddies the waters, distracts, generates outrage from opponents, and panders to the prejudices of hardcore supporters (who thereby feel empowered to dismiss unwelcome evidence of experts and of real-world developments, in this case on Brexit).
4/
It is important when encountering these bad-faith shysters to understand what their game is. Once you realise that they are not arguing in good faith, you can adapt your behaviour accordingly...
5/
If you’re on the other side of the argument, they *want* your outrage and anger (they thrive when political debate is polarised). So don’t give them what they want. My own preference is to ignore them. If you have to react: cold, withering contempt, not the anger they seek.
6/
It’s tempting to respond by answering their tweets or (even worse) by snarkily retweeting them and letting rip with your anger. But remember that every time you do this, you boost their influence on Twitter (algorithms). More detail in this thread
👇
7/
Far better (if you don’t want to amplify their hateful, divisive and destructive voices) is to screenshot their ridiculous outburst and then use the images to forensically dismantle their bullshit. Don’t name them using their twitter handles. #UseScreenshots #UseHashtags.
8/
Try not to respond at length to what they say. They are trying to set the agenda & get you onto terrain they have chosen. They want the debate off subjects that are disadvantageous to them- usually this is the real-life impact of Brexit. So dismiss and then pivot back to this.
9/
Be wise to their tricks. People like Chloe Westley say extremely stupid things but they are not stupid: on the contrary...
10/
they are part of an extremely sophisticated political communications operation that is running rings round us because it understands how social media works and how the modern-day media works.

11/
And if you don’t believe me, pay attention to what Chris Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower does. He’s somebody who knows a thing or two about IT, social media and political communication.
//
PS
And although Oliver has reinvented himself, and everybody now agrees that he’s a good egg despite being a Brexiter, I’m surprised that he is baffled by this modus operandi. After all, he worked for Vote Leave so will have witnessed it first hand./

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More from @eurosluggard

Aug 7, 2018
THREAD: Ahead of my semi-retirement from Twitter tomorrow, I’m going to be self-indulgent & re-up some of the stuff I’m proudest of from these past 3 years. (Spoiler: nearly all about Brexit: a mix of analysis, advice & scathing, sweary invective). [1/x]
2/
My time on Twitter has been a journey. I started out naively arguing for what I believed in, assuming our opponents were similarly acting in good faith. I’ve learnt a lot. Along the way, I’ve had fun, made friends, & valued the sense of community here when things felt bad.
3/
There’s not much to say about my first 18 months on Twitter. For the first year, I was living in Japan so it was my way of feeling connected with the politics of my home country. I felt the looming EUref was big. I argued with Leavers, including Julia H-B & Louise Mensch.
Read 25 tweets
Aug 7, 2018
THREAD: Ahead of my semi-retirement from Twitter tomorrow, I’m going to be self-indulgent & re-up some of the stuff I’m proudest of from these past 3 years. (Spoiler: nearly all about Brexit: a mix of observation, analysis, advice & scathing invective). [1/x]
2/
My time on Twitter has been a journey. I started out naively arguing for what I believed in, assuming our opponents were similarly acting in good faith. I’ve learnt a lot. Along the way, I’ve had fun, made friends, & valued the sense of community here when things felt bad.
3/
There’s not much to say about my first 18 months on Twitter. For the first year, I was living in Japan so it was my way of feeling connected with the politics of my home country. I felt the looming EUref was big. I argued with Leavers, including Julia H-B & Louise Mensch.
Read 14 tweets
Aug 3, 2018
Announcing my Twitter semi-retirement as of 8 August. Holiday, then a demanding new job; so I’m deleting Twitter from my phone. I’ll observe/like/retweet a bit & may tweet occasionally, but after 3 years it’s time for me to cut back. Thanks & best wishes to all you lovely people!
For avoidance of doubt, my views on Brexit remain unchanged: it’s a terrible idea for all the reasons I listed in this thread back in April 2017.
Ideally, it should be stopped for the sake of the country. And if it can no longer be stopped because of the scorched-earth tactics used by the zealots who promoted it to lock in their narrow EUref victory, it should be softened a) to limit the damage & b) to teach them a lesson.
Read 5 tweets
Aug 2, 2018
Tearing my hair out at well-meaning people who keep saying Alt-Right controversialists & Brexit advocates are “stupid” because they say factually wrong, obtuse or offensive things. They are *not* stupid; they are part of a highly sophisticated network running rings around us👇
We keep making the mistake of applying our standards and our rules to them. They are NOT trying to win a fact-based argument. They are not trying to convince most people that what they’re saying is true. Here’s what they are (successfully) doing:👇
- dominating news cycle & setting theme of national conversation

- generating outrage (authoritarianism, or fascism if you prefer, thrives in a climate of anger, polarisation & shouting)

- dogwhistling to a tiny radicalised minority

- grooming another susceptible minority
Read 9 tweets
Aug 2, 2018
Big problem with BBC’s justification for giving a platform to the Alt-Shite (“we don’t agree with them but they speak for a significant minority; we must let consensus be challenged”): after EUref, BBC shut down the views of those who still thought leaving the EU was a bad idea.
BBC clearly decides that *some* views which are held by a significant minority of the population, and which challenge whatever right-thinking people have decided is the new consensus are just too inconvenient and divisive to be heard. But others are not.
I just find it a bit weird that the minority view that gets frantically shut down is the one in favour of international cooperation & upholding the (admittedly shaky) consensus of the past 40 years while the one that gets airtime is the one that rests on sowing polarisation.
Read 4 tweets
Jul 30, 2018
THREAD: We are now well & truly past the stage of Brexit where satire has any meaning. There’s nothing we can do to make Brexiters’ words & ideas more ridiculous than they already are. You simply need to quote them as they are presented in supposedly pro-Brexit newspapers. (1/x)
Take this article: “May’s ‘no-deal’ Brexit stance is kamikaze say Leavers” in the ERG fanzine formerly known as the Daily Telegraph...
2/
“Brexiteers had hoped that the publication next month of dozens of documents setting out Britain’s No-Deal planning would show the impact it would have on the EU as well, giving the Prime Minister leverage in the negotiations.”
3/
Read 9 tweets

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