How activism actually works...
Dec. 14th, 2018 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
diandrahollman I've been thinking a lot about the extreme responses I've seen to literally anything on Tumblr. Specifically, ways to respond to the NSFW ban and one post screaming at people to stop eating Oreos because palm oil. I had never heard the thing about Oreos, but it just so happens that days later I got an email from Greenpeace regarding this very problem. The deal is: the company that makes Oreos gets their "vegetable" palm oil from a shady business that is driving orangutans extinct by destroying their habitat (used to make the oil).
I used to just assume anything with palm oil in it was bad and avoid it (this is difficult given that it is in A LOT of things and not always clearly labeled), but the post about refusing to buy Oreos noted that there is such a thing as responsible, sustainable sourced palm oil and the makers of Nutella are amazing in their insistence on only getting their palm oil from these sources. I wondered how that could be, given that I remembered hearing years ago that the world addiction to Nutella was one of the biggest factors driving orangutans extinct, but the recent article about Oreos gave me my answer.
It's because simply refusing to buy a product without suggesting that you might start buying it again if the company stops being assholes and does the right thing DOESN'T WORK.
Greenpeace sent people to pressure the company making Oreos to stop buying their palm oil from the shady business and the company making Oreos responded by demanding that their supplier adopt better practices. The supplier, faced with the prospect of losing a fuck ton of business if the maker of one of the best selling cookies in the country decides to take their business elsewhere, agreed.
See, the company doesn't give a flying fuck if you stop buying their product UNLESS THEY THINK THEY CAN GET YOU BACK.
This is why veganism as a response to shitty farming practices doesn't work. People who go vegan are basically admitting that there is absolutely nothing those shitty farms can do to change their ways that will win back their business. So why should they bother trying? Just write off the loss and continue their animal cruelty. Nothing changes because they only respond to the THREAT of lost business. They will NEVER try to win back the ones they have already lost.
So how does this apply to Tumblr? I don't know. It probably doesn't because they aren't making any money off of their users - the ones they are trying to censor. But the most sensible thing I saw noted that the best way to get their attention would be to force a sudden major dip in usage on the day they officially institute the ban. They are probably cleaning house for the company that IS affecting their actual revenue stream and if that company sees a drastic reduction in users they are no longer that attractive to advertisers. Be very active and LOUD on as many other social media platforms as possible. Get it trending on Twitter. Post rants on Facebook. Make it clear that you would love to go back to Tumblr once they stop being shitty puritans.
It might not work. And if it doesn't, I'll still be here and posting recaps on my website and fic on AO3. Because fuck censorship. It's never a good thing.
I used to just assume anything with palm oil in it was bad and avoid it (this is difficult given that it is in A LOT of things and not always clearly labeled), but the post about refusing to buy Oreos noted that there is such a thing as responsible, sustainable sourced palm oil and the makers of Nutella are amazing in their insistence on only getting their palm oil from these sources. I wondered how that could be, given that I remembered hearing years ago that the world addiction to Nutella was one of the biggest factors driving orangutans extinct, but the recent article about Oreos gave me my answer.
It's because simply refusing to buy a product without suggesting that you might start buying it again if the company stops being assholes and does the right thing DOESN'T WORK.
Greenpeace sent people to pressure the company making Oreos to stop buying their palm oil from the shady business and the company making Oreos responded by demanding that their supplier adopt better practices. The supplier, faced with the prospect of losing a fuck ton of business if the maker of one of the best selling cookies in the country decides to take their business elsewhere, agreed.
See, the company doesn't give a flying fuck if you stop buying their product UNLESS THEY THINK THEY CAN GET YOU BACK.
This is why veganism as a response to shitty farming practices doesn't work. People who go vegan are basically admitting that there is absolutely nothing those shitty farms can do to change their ways that will win back their business. So why should they bother trying? Just write off the loss and continue their animal cruelty. Nothing changes because they only respond to the THREAT of lost business. They will NEVER try to win back the ones they have already lost.
So how does this apply to Tumblr? I don't know. It probably doesn't because they aren't making any money off of their users - the ones they are trying to censor. But the most sensible thing I saw noted that the best way to get their attention would be to force a sudden major dip in usage on the day they officially institute the ban. They are probably cleaning house for the company that IS affecting their actual revenue stream and if that company sees a drastic reduction in users they are no longer that attractive to advertisers. Be very active and LOUD on as many other social media platforms as possible. Get it trending on Twitter. Post rants on Facebook. Make it clear that you would love to go back to Tumblr once they stop being shitty puritans.
It might not work. And if it doesn't, I'll still be here and posting recaps on my website and fic on AO3. Because fuck censorship. It's never a good thing.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-12-15 08:10 pm (UTC)Also, added you to my circle; hope that was okay.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-12-16 12:00 am (UTC)