Twitter. Some love it, some hate it, but with an average of 304 million active monthly users, one cannot deny its power in the social media landscape. And while it is nowhere near as popular as Facebook, Twitter does have the advantage of being two years younger (and quick to learn from its sibling mistakes) and more accessible for the everyday social justice warrior (SJW) stuck somewhere between 4chan and Tumblr.
Checklist time: 140 characters? check. A link for further explanation? Possible Check. And maybe, just maybe, a picture or short clip? Check if we're feeling lucky. Making that space count is like Tom trying to squeeze his way into the small-doored home of his storied rival Jerry--it never seems to come to fruition.
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Keeping in line with the mouse hole analogy, the act of social commentary on Twitter has become as futile as this GIF of Winslow from Catdog:
Image credit: Imgur
Despite all this hopelessness, I've made a list of 5 reliable Twitter handles anyone can turn to at the first sign of social justice armageddon:
1. NICK PINTO@macfathom
Image credit: Nick Pinto's Twitter
As a Brooklyn-based journalist, Nick Pinto has written for just about every major print outlet you can name--The New York Times and their Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Vice, and the list goes on. As a current staffer at the Village Voice (the famous alt-weekly whereby coincidence, one of my former professors Don Forst used to be editor-in-chief), Pinto made his bones off of social issues such as Occupy Wall Street, Orthodox sex abuse, and airport security, as catalogued on his website. More recently, he's catapulted himself into the fight against police brutality, as many have in the wake of countless nationwide police-on-black violence and their subsequent protests. But it's really with his Twitter handle that I was first introduced to Nick Pinto. On it he's cultivated a following not only through tweeting out his brilliant investigative articles, but also through choice sardonic tweets such as this one:
"Charging reporters is a bad look to be sure, but maybe not the worst thing the Ferguson police have done in the last year.
— Nick Pinto (@macfathom) August 10, 2015"
If you want serious and confrontational journalism with a slim portion of panache, it's Pinto all the way.
2. GLENN GREENWALD @ggreenwald
Image Credit: Glenn Greenwald's Twitter
If you haven't heard of this guy by now, allow me to welcome you back from your long, virtual slumber. As the reporter behind Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald assured that NSA-spying-on-all-of-us became documented fact. Whether or not that's caused dramatic change in our government's actions remains to be seen. One thing is for certain, though: because of the NSA leaks, not only has Snowden been forced to flee to Russia, but Greenwald had to as well, his destination changed to Rio de Janeiro, although that appears to be mostly contingent on his same-sex marriage status on the homeland. It's from Brazil that Greenwald helps operate The Intercept, an online news outlet that hinges on "it's fearless, adversarial journalism," and was co-founded by him, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill in 2014. Though most of his tweets continue to be links to articles about mass surveillance, once in awhile an opinionated diamond from the rough will show itself:
"The targets of police and surveillance abuses are always rather consistent.... https://t.co/7iUOFVGIpL
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 18, 2015"
For a reporter without any strings attached, Greenwald is entertaining and informative on an hour-to-hour basis.
3. JOHN FUGELSANG @JohnFugelsang
Image Credit: John Fugelsang's Twitter
An actor, TV personality, comedian, and current Sirius radio talk show host, John Fugelsang (I know, it's a mouthful) is to Liberals what Rush Limbaugh is to Conservatives. He once described his new show as "NPR with a demented sense of humor," and he fights on the same battle lines as now-former Daily Show host Jon Stewart once did. Although he preys on our funny bone, Fugelsang is a social commentator who means real business with the issues he fights for and against. Just to get a sense of how unabashed he can be:
"Non-racist George Zimmerman sells not-at-all-racist Confederate flags at racist-free Muslim Free Zone gun shop to his non-racist defenders.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) August 18, 2015"
Though he's been in the business for years, the infallible and humorous logic is what will keep this SJW going for many more.
4. CASSANDRA FAIRBANKS @CassandraRules
Image Credit: Cassandra Fairbanks's Twitter
If John Fugelsang was unabashed, then Cassandra Fairbanks might very well be the boldest person (forget woman) on Twitter. Still a baby in the limelight, Fairbanks first came to national notice through odd circumstances. Half of her about section on the handle reads, "Reasons not rules make us strong. Stop believing in authority and start believing in each other." Originally a writer for The Free Though Project, Fairbanks has now migrated to Sputnik News, and continues to cover everything from #BlackLivesMatter rallies to Bernie Sanders events. And when she's on Twitter, she's either absolutely hilarious or absolutely cynical, or a combination of both:
"Can Elizabeth Warren just run with Bernie so that we can stop even talking about Hillary Clinton? That woman makes my brain hurt.
— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) August 14, 2015"
Though that tweet is just the tip of the iceberg (and one of the only ones SFW), Fairbanks is the type of loose cannon that could feature more in the fringe-y and non-fringe-y news for years to come.
5. DAN SAVAGE @fakedansavage
Image Credit: Interview Magazine
Probably most well-known for his "Savage Love" sex advice column (started in Seattle's The Stranger, but syndicated in many papers across the country), Dan Savage is a Gay Right's force to be reckoned with. He hosts a podcast, writes op-eds for all manner of national publications, but his Twitter handle is really where it's at. He's a strong opponent of the right, and even went as far back in 2003 to directly combat the anti-LGBT Senator Rick Santorum in a horrifying yet brilliant way. He continues to be strong voice for the LGBT community, providing excellent commentary through his handle:
"You need a comma in there -- unless that guy was yelling at the guy to Walker's right. https://t.co/LUgqn8qxDV
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) August 17, 2015"
Those are my five justified SJWs. Take them or leave them, copy and paste or delete them, but keep one thing in your internet-shrunken mind: it's 140 characters a pop--not War and Peace.
