Twitter is Not IRL

I saw a couple of interesting articles about the Democratic primary election this week, one from the NY Times and one from the Atlantic.  Both papers are struggling to understand the Democratic electorate in the Twitter Age. That’s no easy task.  Bottom line, though, the Young Left of Twitter (YLT) has decided that it hates Mayor Pete Buttigeg of South Bend, Indiana, with an abiding passion.  Apparently, this is because he is either too successful personally or else he’s not far enough left.  Or perhaps both.

My message to those I meet is simple: "este país es tu país."

This country is your country. Everyone who has made the United States their home deserves to participate fully and freely in their communities.https://t.co/sMRkVfwFwF

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) December 17, 2019

Why Is the Young Left Out to Get Buttigieg? Here Are Four Theories. (The Atlantic)

Young progressives on the internet don’t seem to like Pete Buttigieg very much. They’ve called him “the most obnoxious type of Millennial” and “a Boomer wrapped up in a Millennial’s clothing”; a “Build-a-Bear for middling Democrats” and “a candidate seemingly dreamed up by some Democratic National Committee algorithm”; a “baggie full of uncut special interest talking points” and a “grab bag of gifted-and-talented party tricks.” Buttigieg is a young person’s idea of an old person—and, evidently, some sort of bag.

How the Internet Came to Loathe Pete Buttigieg (NY Times)

Buttigieg, like Barack Obama before him, speaks in orderly paragraphs that seem to exist primarily to advertise a calm, deliberate temperament. But as his campaign has become an unexpected obstacle to the left’s favored candidates, these deliberate paragraphs have become reliable rage objects. Excoriating Buttigieg’s comments, a Vice headline cried that “Buttigieg’s Version of America Is Basically a Caste System.” Days later, addressing students at Grinnell College, Buttigieg was assailed for his higher-education plan and accused of “spreading lies.” Activists unfurled banners reading “Wall Street Pete” and “Youth to Pete: You will kill us.” (“ ‘You will kill us’?” Buttigieg said. “That’s really mean.”)

Mayor Pete is essentially competing in the Joe Biden/Corey Booker lane of Democratic moderates while the YLT prefers the full-on Socialism of Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. It’s weird, though, because Buttigeg is a young gay man, so I guess folks need him to be a fire-breathing revolutionary when, in fact, he’s actually a politically moderate combat veteran with an Ivy League education.

For whatever it’s worth, we live in an era that could really use a little reconciliation.  Alas, it feels like the folks on both sides would rather throw up barricades and brace for war.  Any candidate who could perhaps bridge the gap is anathema to the primary process, though the country as a whole could probably use more of that overall.  That’s doubly true online.

Thankfully, Twitter is not real life, as both the NYT and the Atlantic are discovering.  Buttigeg’s numbers are rising right alongside the online vitriol. Biden is still very much in play for the nomination— in fact, he’s probably the IRL favorite— though I dare you to find someone online who’ll admit that they like him. That’s not important except for the fact that it’s actually real and dozens of people who make so much noise on Twitter mostly aren’t.

We learned this again over the weekend at the Army-Navy Game. There we were, me and Rob, walking through a literal ocean of fanatical Army Football supporters, and I’d have to estimate that no less than 75% of the folks we met had no idea what As For Football is or does.  We have a reasonably strong online social media following, but most of the folks we met just aren’t online.

I spent the afternoon drinking beer, shaking hands, and handing out cards, and I enjoyed it.

Rob with my wife Sally and my daughter Emma at a tailgate before the Army-Navy Game.

I love Twitter, but there will never be a substitute for seeing something with one’s own eyes and deciding for oneself what to believe. That’s half the reason why I like actually going to football games, though you can’t necessarily see the action as closely from the stands as you can on TV. Even with that, it’s still usually better to watch and think for myself before catching the commentary of others, even when it’s good.  Sure, there are things you’ll miss in person through lack of color commentary and every-play replay, but you gain so much more by feeling the energy in the stadium that it’s always a worthwhile tradeoff.

I don’t know how the election will play out, but it’s worth remembering that Twitter is a crappy news source.  It has its moments, sure, but then, so does real life.  And folks, if you know an Army Football fan, do us a favor and actually tell them about AFF.

Thanks!

* IRL = "In Real Life"