Feeling some kind of way

While the phrase "silent majority" was used before Nixon (even as far back as Coolidge), that is probably the best-known use and it was used in a specific way.

What was known of public opinion indicated that most people were against the war in Vietnam, but Nixon invoked an image of a country where most people (the good people) were not so loud. They were the moral nad patriotic people.

That meant you could always look down on protesters, who were just being loud troublemakers. 

I don't know if he really believed that was the majority view, but I am not sure if he would have cared; truth was kind of a tricky area for him. 

With the bot farms and trolling and all, it affects different people differently.

There are some people who are going to feel encouraged; I was right all along. 

That encouragement is probably going to take place along racist and sexist, ignorant and hateful lines, but that's how it goes.

Linehan probably enjoys getting the bot likes, even if that is encouraging him to act like absolute garbage.

People who love that are not super-likely to be reading my blog, though. I am more concerned about the other side.

All the hate being spewed can make you feel like you are surrounded by horrible people. 

Remember that a lot of it is manufactured and fake.

It can make you feel less like speaking out, because even the most reasonable thing you say will draw abuse.

I still post my regular posts, but I do engage less with stupid comments. Often it's not a real person there. 

That is more of a factor with Twitter; when people on Facebook are saying stupid stuff, I know them and have some idea whether it's worth trying.

I do see a lot of people engaging with logic even when it might be a bot. While they do not have an effect on the posters, there may be people watching who do pay attention to the logic. That's why I do still engage sometimes, but it's not an easy call.

If you are feeling like you can't say what you want, it may make sense to block or find another outlet. 

I definitely see people becoming cynical. There is such a thing as a healthy amount of skepticism, but not believing anything -- including any possibility of good -- is also destructive.

While still not being able to say there are easy answers, there are things we can do.

Connect to facts.

How do you find facts? Maybe start with where you are. 

There should be some things that you know through experience and study. Build upon that. Sometimes the thing that gets people out of conspiracy theories is that there was something that they confidently knew that let them know that that the theory was false. With one person, it was that he worked in radio and knew about transmitting signals, and one of the theories was blatantly wrong. That brought the other information from that source into question.

Connect to people.

Don't stay scrolling and passively accepting the flow of information the algorithm gives you. Talk to people. Hear their voices. 

Maybe hug them.

Things don't have to be this way. It is a matter of choice.

It may not be conscious choice, but that can be changed.