Lets talk about how horrible the internet is

Twitter is a hellscape.  That much is an undeniable fact.  As someone who has been active on that app since 2018, I can attest to the fact that it has no shortage of insane takes, crazy opinions, and straight-up death threats.  Though these characteristics are quite common, Twitter was created with the intention of it to be a safe space for internet communities to socialize on a single platform online.  The app's algorithm very much promotes niche subgroups, so that an individual with a specific interest (say, a video game player) receives tweets for which they are the target audience (such as video game hacks, news, memes, etc.)  

Gimmick Accounts

However, there also exists bigger and more influential accounts, whose tweets get pushed out more often, and to more people.  Gimmick accounts are a perfect example of this.  Gimmick accounts create very specific content, usually serving as archives for funny internet moments pertaining to a specific niche.  These often follow the format of "[Instert group of people] Posting Their L's" or "Posting Their W's."  These initials refer to wins and losses.

The emergence of novelty accounts like "shirts that go hard," "Dudes Posting Their W's," and "No Context Brits" are only a handful of examples that have amassed millions of followers in their very short period of existence.  In fact, accounts like these have become so commonplace, gimmick accounts have even been made to archive content created by other gimmick accounts.  For example, "Gimmick Accounts Breaking Character," "People Whining About Gimmick Accounts," and "Gimmick Accounts being annoying/posting L's" have all skyrocketed to fame, with each account garnering tens of thousands of followers.

Although these accounts seem innocent at first glance, one must remember that this is all going down on Twitter, which, as was previously established, is a hellscape.  Accounts promoting misogyny and sexism soon became prevalent (ie. "Women Posting Their L's Online"), and other accounts soon began to join the bandwagon of hate and purposeful bullying.  This leads us to the emergence of "ValidLs."

ValidLs is a gimmick account that was created with the sole intent to bully and berate the LGBT community.  Deriving its name from the queer community's "you are valid" motto, the account is an obvious and grotesque form of spreading hate.  This account became suddenly propelled to fame due to certain comments it made about the transgender community (which I will soon get to), and this is how I came to be aware of the account's existence. Honestly, it feels like this case study fell out of the sky and right into my lap.  I became aware of this account just as we were drafting our storyline, and I noticed how many parallels can be drawn to our protagonists' own social media account.  I'd like to make it clear that I am in no way, shape, or form endorsing ValidLs, but instead, I am simply analyzing the account's tweets to demonstrate how a need for shock value can lead one to the most disgusting, and depraved places.

On February 11th, 2023, a 16-year-old trans girl named Brianna Ghey was brutally murdered by two teenage classmates.  Brianna's tragic death has been classified by police as a hate crime, and the heartbreaking event has led to vigils celebrating her life and protests advocating for trans rights all over the world.

While the world saw this as a horrible tragedy that only furthers the problem of violence against trans individuals, ValidLs saw this as an opportunity to continue to taunt and ridicule a mourning community.  In the following days, ValidLs posted comments making fun of Brianna, posting celebratory sentiments regarding her death, retweeting her old tweets expressing suicidal ideology, and even posting a photograph of her gravestone.  This behaviour is, inarguably, horrific.  Regardless of one's personal ideologies surrounding trans people, the fact that this individual is so openly and shamelessly able to celebrate the murder of an innocent 16-year-old is beyond disgusting.

However, ValidLs isn't alone in this.  Aside from the thousands of people desperately attempting to get him banned off the platform, there are also hundreds of supporters.  People with similar ideologies comment their thoughts online, creating a community with a strong "us vs. them" mentality.  These people push the individual running the account to go to farther extremes, to the point that the account posted a photo of Brianna's headstone as an example of a "trans person taking an L."  

This complete loss of morality is something that I want to create with our protagonists' social media account, although to a lesser extent.  The entire film surrounds the effects of shock value and depravity in online spheres, and I feel like this account is a perfect example of someone so far gone, that they become a real-life villain.

Another example of this phenomenon is the story of Chris Chan, a 40-year-old autistic and mentally ill individual who was pushed to horrific extents due to the bullying he received online.  People online would comment on his behaviours in a way which would only encourage Chris, and ultimately ended with him sexually assaulting his mother and landing himself in prison.  Like I said, the internet is a horrible place.  Can't wait to see where it gets us in this production.