Freethought Organizations Should Read Their Hate Mail and Mean Tweets as Jokes Publicly
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/07/02
There was this idea that has popped up in the show Tosh.O. The show is over. His 15 minutes of fame, obviously, is over too. But I like the concept he had: “Web Redemption.”
The idea is a funny and embarassing video happens online. Then, Daniel Tosh, the offensive and funny host of the retired show (Tosh.O.) gave a chance at redemption for those people.
It’s a Punk-form of compassion fit for the digital era. I love it. There was a similar idea, but a different form and content based off X, formerly Twitter. It was on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
My friend and colleague, Rick Rosner, wrote for this guy for a staggering 12 years or something. Celebrities read their mean tweets in front of a camera for live responses.
It’s a nice, humane way for verbal back-and-forth, sparring. As the old saying went, and many have forgotten in the era of the sensitive, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words will never hurt me.”
Daniel Tosh bringing people back online for a chance at redemption is a clever and wonderful idea. It’s a something of a spontaneous humanistic idea popping up that someone considered gutters, alleyway, bar-pub, shanty, comedy.
Same with Jimmy Kimmel and a Catholic. There’s no need to even reference a higher power. It’s good people doing good things and acting with goodwill.
Whether celebrities, in the Kimmel case, or ordinary people, in the Tosh case, there’s always a chance to rejigger the algorithms of the Internet for more positive purposes.
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