Confession

It has come to my attention that something I have done might shock or offend some of you. Indeed, if you are in the literary world, especially if you are a literary agent, these actions of mine may cause you to question whether you would ever want to represent me or have anything to do with me.

What have I done?

I created a Gab account. AND… before it was taken down, I was on Parler. 😲

How could I do such a thing? What kind of nasty, hate-filled, fill-in-the-blank-phobe must I be to be on these platforms? After all, according to Wikipedia, “Gab is an American alt-tech social networking service known for its far-right userbase. Widely described as a haven for extremists including neo-Nazis, white supremacists, white nationalists, and the alt-right…”

(Bear in mind, of course, that Wikipedia is the resource educators tell you NOT to use as your only source of information.)

So why would I have a Gab account? After all, I’m not far-right (though, being a Christian is probably enough to consign me to the outer reaches of rightdom for some people), and I’m certainly not a neo-Nazi, a white supremacist, a white nationalist, nor do I have anything to do with the alt-right.

The reason is simple. If you haven’t noticed, Twitter is currently purging itself of accounts it deems unacceptable. It happens that many, if not all of these accounts belong to people who are on the political or social right. Some of these people, no doubt, have said things that are morally reprehensible. Many of them, however, have merely expressed points of view that offend Twitter. I know because I’ve seen them on Gab. I don’t necessarily agree with what they say, but I can tell you their comments don’t break any laws.

I have not deleted my Twitter account, but I’ve basically abandoned the platform. At least until it starts respecting free speech again. I joined Gab because I can speak my mind there without feeling as if the Sword of Damocles is hovering over my head. Now, I’m not at all a high-profile person, so it might be years before the Twitter algorithm gets around to me, but why wait?

But isn’t Gab a haven for the alt-right and, essentially, a conservative bubble?

Wikipedia goes on to say, “… [Gab] has attracted users and groups who have been banned from other social media and users seeking alternatives to mainstream social media platforms.” Of course! Imagine you have a box of red and yellow blocks. If you throw out all the yellow blocks, you shouldn’t be surprised to find that all the blocks outside the box are… yellow! But what about the blocks that are in the box? Yes, they’re all red. This is similar to a thing that happened in the 60s called “segregation,” where one group of people told another group of people “we don’t like the way you look, talk, or think, so go find yourself your own places to meet, drink, eat, and worship.” Here in the US, we don’t look back very fondly at that time in our history. And yet, here we are. Not so much racial segregation anymore, but ideological segregation. “You don’t think like us, and you like things we don’t like and say things we don’t agree with, so begone!”

Gab has a “terms of service.” You can’t post anything illegal (no doxing, no harrassment, no death threats, no illicit pictures, and so on), but other than that you can say what you want. That doesn’t mean Gab likes or approves of everything that’s said. I believe the underlying principle is one of combating bad speech with good speech. Of defeating bad ideas with good ideas. Engaging in conversation to cultivate understanding and, perhaps, even changing minds. It seems on Twitter, the underlying principle is “if we don’t like what you say, rather than reasoning with you, we’d sooner just ban you.” This is both anti-intellectual and anti-liberty.

I would love to see a greater variety of people on Gab, regardless of politics or ideology. Sure, there are a lot of people there at the moment who are conservative and politically vocal. But you don’t have to follow them. You can look for people you want to follow, and if they aren’t there, go find those people (perhaps on Twitter or Facebook) and persuade them to join. If Gab truly is the free speech platform it claims to be, people from the left, center, right, and from all walks of life should be able to find a home there.

I challenge you to test this.

One last thing: you may be wondering what this has to do with literary agents and publishing. It seems that a literary agent was fired because she had both a Gab and a Parler account. On January 25, 2021, it came to the attention of Jennifer DeChiara that one of the agents at her literary agency, Colleen Oefelein, had opened accounts on both Gab and Parler. On November 12, 2020, Oefelein posted a tweet about her Parler account. While she didn’t mention her Gab account, the accusation against her (made by “YA Whispers” on January 25) mentioned that she’s on Gab. I can confirm this since, after reading this article, I immediately found her on Gab and followed her. 😀

Note, in none of the reporting of this so far has there been any reference to Ms. Oefelein’s character, work ethic, job performance, or any of the usual metrics by which an employer would judge someone’s suitability for work. She simply signed up to the “wrong” social media accounts. After all, why would a literary agent advertise her services on Gab? Surely no writer worth their salt would be caught dead on Gab…! 🤔

This situation with Twitter, Facebook, and other censorious social media sites, is not healthy for humanity. It creates bubbles when we should be learning to tolerate people and ideas we don’t like. Instead of closing our minds to ideas that “offend,” we should be sharpening our thinking and reasoning skills by interacting with those ideas and being challenged by them.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments.