Why TF Do We Put Up With This Sh!t?

Social media is a complete dumpster fire, and we all know it

Jul 04, 2026

Reading comprehension neither required nor expected

I recently had a very unpleasant experience. A bunch of right-wing bigoted ignoramuses thought that Disability Pride is somehow related to Pride Month, apparently meaning celebrating disability pride equates to advocating only for disabled people who are also 2s+LGBTQIA, and not for straight disabled people. Notwithstanding the fact that many of us hold complex, intersecting identities and can indeed be both disabled and queer, the homophobes and transphobes got very upset about this non-existent issue which they entirely made up themselves.

I recently wrote an article about how disability pride is not about glamorizing disability, or in any way about minimizing the struggles disabled people face on a daily basis. Instead, disability pride is a socio-political movement fighting for disability justice, and advocating for the rights of disabled people. That’s where I thought we were at with this: People have begun to understand intersectionality, and are thinking critically about deeper systemic issues which impact marginalized groups.

Apparently I was wrong.

The bigot brigade which flooded my social media was most certainly nowhere near that level of discourse or comprehension. I posted a reel based on the article I’d written, with a brief summary of the history of disability pride month and what it means. What I got in response were a bunch of angry, hateful comments about “pride taking over everything”, along with a barrage of homophobic and transphobic slurs. It was disgusting. Some folx tried to explain that, despite including the word “pride”, this movement isn’t specifically about the 2s+LGBTQIA community, and our advocacy is on behalf of anyone who is disabled. It didn’t matter. The pitchforks were already out, and the mob had already decided that disability pride was only for queer disabled people.

FFS.

Social media is absolutely toxic

On most posts, especially those which are actually about 2s+LGBTQIA-related issues, I will get the odd ignorant comment. I generally make a smart-ass response, let people drag them a little, then block and delete. Simple as taking out the trash. Unfortunately, this time someone shared my reel in a hate group, and the odd annoying comment turned into an absolute shitstorm of hate. At least it felt like that for me, someone whose page is relatively small, and who typically doesn’t receive that level of unwanted attention.

Well, fuck. So why am I only caring about this now, only after it has directly impacted me? White fucking privilege. That’s my own ignorance and self-centredness to unpack.

Have you seen the comments sections on any BIPOC creator’s social media posts, especially if they have a larger following, and especially if they speak out against injustice and advocate for marginalized communities?! Holy deluge of degenerates, batman. It’s absolutely horrendous. And while plenty of us do hop into those comment sections to try to shut down the vitriol and stand up for those creators, it doesn’t have much of an effect. The hateful cretins have way too much time on their hands, and spend so much time online, they’ve created entire groups dedicated to being assholes to marginalized people, especially people of colour.

So, why are we putting up with this shit? Seriously.

I recently wrote a post about how the big social media platforms will hop right on it if a creator uses any kind of copyrighted material in their content, including copyrighted music in reels. Their algorithm will immediately mute the video, and any earnings will go to the copyright holder.

Yet hundreds, even thousands, of horrible bigoted, homophobic, transphobic, ableist hateful comments will regularly go unchecked. These platforms make billions of dollars off our posts, comments, and interactions, yet do absolutely nothing to protect its users against bullying, hate speech, harassment, and worse. We know they can do more, because when it comes down to financial gains they don’t miss a beat. They’re entirely capable of cracking down when a corporation might get upset over a creator earning a few pennies which should have gone their way. Meanwhile hate speech is rampant, but these massive social media companies act as though their hands are tied.

They’re really not.

Capitalism is even more toxic

The priority is, of course, money for themselves and for their advertisers. They give exactly zero fucks about the users, except when it comes to having them to do their work for them by creating content for free, and bringing in revenue for their shareholders. They make little to no effort to address the vitriol, racism, and other disgusting behaviour, nor to protect the people who are impacted by it. Why would they? Controversial content and online arguments bring more users to their platform, gain more views, and earn more revenue… for them.

This is not news to anyone, yet we continue using this platform and allowing them to profit off our free labour and off of the abuse we endure. In particular, we permit them to maintain the infrastructure and online environment which enables and encourages the bigots to assemble in order to attack marginalized people — again, primarily people of colour. How do we permit this? By continuing to use the platform, to create content for them, and to engage with that content, we give social media the power and money it needs to flourish. Mine is comparatively a very small page, and none of these platforms would care if I left today — or if any of us left individually. But their entire business requires users and creators. It requires us to log on, interact, and post. It also requires advertisers to want to pay to have their company promoted on their platforms.

Meta, for example, is so goddamn huge that it would require millions of people, as well as a significant portion of its advertisers, to all leave at once in protest over how it allows its most vulnerable users to be consistently harassed and abused.

Since I don’t have even a fraction of the kind of power necessary to influence such a massive number of people, all I can do is try to behave in ways that align with my values, and to minimize the harm I inflict on the world around me. This is a long way of saying I am taking a significant break from all social media from July 8 until September 9. It’s my small form of protest, but mostly a way of prioritizing my family and enjoying the summer. I will schedule a couple of posts per week while I’m gone, but I won’t be active to respond to comments or messages.

I want to end by acknowledging that being able to take this break in itself is a privilege. Some people need social media to stay connected to their communities, as they are not able to get out in person due to disability, social and economic barriers, among other reasons. Some people need to stay active on social media to earn an income. As little as these platforms pay, some people who may be otherwise unable to work can turn their online presence into a business for themselves. I am fortunate to be able to take this break, and I know this isn’t a privilege to which everyone has access.

I appreciate all of you who have supported me with my online advocacy and education, and plan to return to that work more regularly in the Fall.

For clients who wish to reach me, please contact me by email.

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy summer!

-Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB

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