hate reading: C/D

hate reading. u know, ilx posters that u find disgusting, twitter feeds, websites + op-eds by reprehensible figures, checking in on NRO daily, reading ppl with abhorrent political/social/aesthetic views, etc.

on one hand it doesn't seem like it's good for personal psychology to be actively seeking out things to read by ppl you hate. it takes time that could be better used reading things that you might love and also it probably has a deleterious effect on yr personality to be constantly exposing yourself to hateful things.

on the other hand, there's a joy when you read something spectacularly dumb or inept by someone you hate that just fills the blood w/ gleeful loathing + it's hard to get that elsewhere. also i've found that if you follow someone you hate long enough, there are ample opportunities to feel glorious schadenfreude when they write something either particularly terrible, or they confide about how their horrible lives are going.

i know i'm not alone in this. ilx's most popular threads are hate-read threads!

I'm wary of the practice (at least in my own life) because the internet provides too many outlets for it. I mean, I could spend all day cursing Thought Catalog's "editors," but why bother, and why give them the page hits?

I have more or less stopped hate-reading NRO et al since becoming a parent. I like to know what the broader themes/attack strategies of the far right are gonna be, what they're pushing, but actually indulging it feels like a pretty sad waste of time. I am not above happy and good-feeling wastes of time but the time wasted hate-reading far-righty stuff feels sad to me, like...there are books to read. good ones. read all those first, then hate read the Corner.

I'm imperfect on this but my goal is "don't read shit you know is garbage"

i don't think i do this

i do this a fair bit. used to spend a lot of time reading extreme-libertarian stuff that i violently disagreed with, partly out of fascination with the far reaches of what seemingly smart ppl can talk themselves into believing, and maybe partly because it was just more interesting than spending all my time reading liberal blogs and articles that i already knew i agreed with. these days most of my hate-reading consists of click-baiting stuff on slate or buzzfeed.

there are plenty of conservatives i follow or will check for, but it's either because they have certain angles that are still interesting to me even if opposed, or because they talk about things that i wouldn't hear otherwise.

sometimes i think the endless directionless ilxor threadclicking or idly flipping thru the feedly blog grind is more 'hateful' and anti-life

i want to make sure i clarify that it's not just reading conservatives, tho that might be the most common version of this. sometimes it's just reading individuals whose oeuvre disgusts you.

just in case you hate a wider range of people and would like to talk about it?
hate reading is for the birds

nah I don't do that, waste of time. once I know I don't like somebody's work I try to keep it away from me

i don't see the point of dealing with someone like armond white, but i'm more into politics than i am movies so i'm not driven to keep up w/ discourse of that world

lol well i guess i meant to clarify that there are disgusting human beings out there from all kinds of political perspectives!

i think the real hate read for me would be people who are very caught up in the performance of partisan battle on a daily basis. to be real, i get a kick out of insane and brutal people but have zero tolerance for point-scoring or bad faith shit talking (and that goes for liberals too)

i think the main left-wing site i sometimes hate-read is counterpunch, though over the last year or two it's pretty much been turned over to libertarians and militia types.

I Hate Reading

Football Club?

A lot of ilx can be hate reading, idk is hate too strong a word, but yknow the site wouldnt exist or have lasted without one relatively bright and entertaining poster hate reading and responding to another at various levels over the years.

hate reading is for the birds

― we slowly invented brains (La Lechera), Thursday, March 20, 2014 1:05 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark

there is always something better to do than inflame my distaste for someone or something or whatever
why do people still do this?

I still do it sometimes as an effort to try to understand a different perspective and to see what people with that perspective are talking about. But only in moderation

if people enjoy doing this hey it's their life i guess

Seeking out other people to judge can provide a really great respite from one's own self-loathing.

apart from the occasional WaPo editorial column (Krauthammer, George Will) I don't really do this. And mostly I just read those for the hilariously tortured prose and general oppo research.

i view it as experiencing a part of the world in an attempt to increase understanding and empathy. like, some people out there like this stuff, what does that mean, and what is it like?

totally get that
there's a huge difference between what you're describing and reveling in secret judgement in order to feel better about one's own state
i just think it's a recipe for feeling even more cynical and worse than before and who needs that?!

yeah none of that stuff is hate reading imo

It's fun to read!

If the posts are any indication, interest in NRO have dropped a lot. I've down to reading it twice a week.

there are social media accounts of individuals i read, even tho i don't think they represent any movement or thought beyond the individual, primarily for the hate-lolz

HATE-FOLLOWING PEOPLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA IS THERAPEUTIC, SAYS SCIENCE
http://www.vice.com/read/joel-golby-hate-follow-is-good-for-you

who has the time or the mental energy tbh

bad enough coming across the cunts on the sites i actually use tbpfh

i like hate-visiting people on social media, wouldn't want to "live" there (you "live" at "home" on your "home page" or "feed")

I was explaining to a friend that I liked Chester Brown's Paying For It because it presents this extended argument that I could never agree with one whit, but in an engaging and fascinating way. I like reading a lot of stuff for that reason – I disagree with it, or it's culturally alien to me. Examples include primary documents from unfamiliar faiths or eras of history. However, the moment something gets reactionary or odious or actively offensive, I give up on it (if I am being wise). I loathe punditry and smugness of any ideological stripe. That is why I don't understand hate reading.

I'm weirdly addicted to Amazon's politics forum, since amazon.com was one of the only even semi-amusing sites that the job I held for five years didn't block, and there were (and are!) some crazy motherfuckers there. I mean, some are so over-the-top stupid that I'm hoping they're just really dedicated poes, but one in particular, a lady named M. Martin [name redacted a little for politeness' sake] was just so compellingly bugshit insane. She thought- and spent hours and hours a day trying to convince the rest of us- that Obama a) had secret brain surgery to lobotomize him or implant a mind control device or some shit, b) was secretly Osama bin Laden after plastic surgery and, I guess, losing like six inches in height and becoming completely different in every other conceivable way but the names are similar don't you see, c) had been taken to a secret moon base as a child for Nefarious Reasons, d) had been shot and killed and replaced with an Indonesian body double...just an incredible bounty of screaming, paranoid right-wing conspiracy madness, day in, day out. She was eventually banned- I'm not sure why- and moved over to the UK forums before they finally had enough of her as well.

Now we just have these idiots:
http://www.amazon.com/forum/politics/ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1S3QSZRUL93V8&cdThread=Tx1E1MKWBYJ30OZ

This is the true 'looking for things to get offended about' isn't it?

Seriously, every time some troll accuses An Internet Feminist of 'looking for things to get offended about' my reaction is always: who the hell *does* that?

But this thread is the answer. This is what it actually looks like when people go ~looking for things to get offended about~.

So apparently it is a real thing in the world. Who knew.

this is definitely a thing but mostly I'm happy to let others do the legwork

Is it really "hate-reading" when it's wack conspiracy theory, or just entertainment? The thing to "hate" in that case would be tea party demogogues who exploit conspiracy nuts. As far as the nuts, it's like, "I hope none of them hurt someone."

I "hate read" history books, they help me catalog every sin committed against me and my peeps by my enemies. Because ultimately what ticks me off is a lack of literacy in history.

I guess it's been useful in that it has, finally, explained to me, a phenomenon of which I've been aware of for a long time, but found absolutely mystifying.

Like, at first, I did not understand what the linked article had to do with hate-reading - it just seemed to be confirmation of that phenomenon which has been known since the days of antiquity, i.e. 'making yourself feel better about your own situation by contemplating those less fortunate than yourself.' Like, what the hell does that have to do with hate-reading, with that purposeful seeking out of people or opinions or situations to feel outraged by?

I have long been aware of the phenomenon of what I call 'watch-boys' on the internet. It's hard not to be aware of them, existing in a space marked female, and speaking often with other women about it. The phenomenon of the person (usually, but not exclusively male) who gets kinda obsessed with you, and follows you from thread to thread on a messageboard - and if you leave the messageboard, will follow you down to your social media or your blog, for the purpose of observing you, tutting at you, and it seems to be really important to these guys that they want you to *know* that they are observing you and disapproving of you.

I never, ever understood the *why*. If one truly doesn't like someone, surely the best thing to do is avoid them! Like, in some cases, it's very obviously a blatant attempt at exercising control. But in others, it is about the observation and the tut. And they get obsessed. In my case, I always want to say to them: "Dude. We have already established that I am execrable, I am terrible, I am the lowest of the low, the worst of the worst and I am a deeply flawed human being - but if that is all true, then what the hell does it say about *you*, that you cannot stop yourself from watching and pursuing such a terrible creature?"

But I guess that article explains what they *think* they get out of it - it's not just about control and observation. It's about their attempts to make themselves feel better by viewing someone they see as contemptible and less than human. Which makes me laugh!

Because there are two possibly outcomes from that kind of behaviour. There is the sense of being made aware of the ways in which you are fortunate, to express gratitude for your own blessings and relief at the burdens you do not have to bear. And that, I believe, is good for your soul (or your character or your personality or your psychological state or however you want to express it.) But there is the other outcome - which is to become smug and superior and allow yourself to become consumed with hatred for the Other one sees as less than human. Which is incredibly corrosive to one's soul.

So I guess that it is helpful, partly as explanation of behaviour I find not just curious and inexplicable but also scary, but again as *warning*. I generally don't hate-read. I mean, for a start, who has the time. I get enough hatefulness put in my path without seeking out any more. But it's also good to remember why to avoid hate and hate-reading, not because of what it says about the other person, but what it says about you. The correct response is pity, not fear. Pity can lead to compassion. Fear leads only to hatred. And there's enough misery to go round without seeking it out.

not clicking that cause it's vice & I try not to hate-read

Huh, had no idea about the non-product related Amazon forums.

feel like vice-guy is addressing two kinds of hate reading. hate reading to make sure that this asshole is still wrong, and then schadenfreude reading when you read of the misfortunes of someone you dislike - esp if it's clear that the person's odious behavior is the cause of their woes. it's not just the fleeting joy of watching a bad person get just desserts, but i think more lasting - the confirmation that you were right about that person and that reality confirms your initial reaction. idk i often feel unsure about interactions online. is this person really as bad as they appear, or is this shtick for the internet? they can't possibly act this way in real life, can they? but then you note that they do and you realize that their poor personality has nothing to do w/ you. that can be a nice feeling, to note that it's not personal. they act that way everywhere.

jeez I'm right fuckin here man

Branwell, I think that is stalking behavior. "Hate reading" isn't supposed to be personal, I think. I might "hate read" anti-abortion or anti-AA opinions - I hope it wouldn't be about an individual or personality.

I am feeling very frustrated because I am working on something and it will. just. not. fucking. work. I spent 15 hours on it yesterday and the same the day before. Today I am looking at a similar day

Today i understand the urge to hate read. I understand the urge to comment. I am feeling incredibly frustrated and irritated. I'm too frustrated to switch off, to watch something else, to do anything nice. Because until ive cracked this thing I cant enjoy anything else. And the feeling wont go away. Ive read something i dont care about, ive commented. Its not hate reading, but it sort of is. All i have at this minute is annoyance and theres nowhere for it to go until i make this thing work

What im angry at is myself, why cant i do it? why is it so hard

Hate Reads By the Numbers

I've found something meaty to "hate read": Obama impeachment advocates. Because I don't think these people should be raising children if they have such a casual attitude toward government.

guess i should say i don't even "hate-visit," i'm just morbidly curious about what other people are capable of believing or "being" in a voyeuristic way, the thrill wears off when the normality / banality of a relative "checking in" on their home page appears or w/e.

i have a private twitter list of hate-follows. i enjoy it greatly. i don't follow any of them, in the twitter sense, so i can dip into this separate pool of discourse and maybe learn something, maybe laugh, maybe just reconfirm that i picked these people well. they are not all conservative but that is the through-line of the list, plus a certain uniqueness, idiosyncrasy, not being a standard anything, so out of the crowd of them you can kind of get the picture of MOR antiliberalism. the other criteria is that they not tweet too much. plenty of people are hate worthy but just smothering and boring.

what is always alarming and fun is when these *very* disparate people start speaking the same language, who retweets whom, how ideas percolate around in various interlocking interests and oppositions.

that sounds like a twilight zone episode waiting to happen

what is always alarming and fun is when these *very* disparate people start speaking the same language

― goole, Monday, September 14, 2015 8:37 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sounds like a particular message board

well, right! people are all the same, in a lot of ways.

sounds like particular threads on a particular message board

sounds like particular users on particular threads on a particular message board

h8 when disparate people speak the same language

that sounds like a twilight zone episode waiting to happen

sounds like particular users on particular subjects in particular threads on a particular message board

h8 when disparate people speak the same language

feel like you guys are SO close to some serious revelations

we're just giving interested parties a thread which delivers

what are you doing in the h8 reading thread outic seems u ...... h8 reading it....

well, right!

I have a love/hate reading relationship

people are all the same

just reminded myself of one of my worst threads, which I just hate-read

women's football?

EH, DRAT: THE RAD THREAD of HATRED fo' DEARTH of RED HAT (fo' HE-TARD)

blah blah first response hall of fame blah that's offensive

it's okay, pal. just close all the windows and shut down. we all have our days

xp :)