the thing about being in a public space is that you are in a public space.
one of the advantages of online public spaces is that you can usually block and/or silence people, which is a physical impossibility in non-online spaces. that's pretty neat! but it doesn't get around the fact that you are in a public space. people will do things that you often do not like in a public space.
cohost is a public space. you should act, react, and protect yourself accordingly. this is not "a community" and I sure as hell hope you, reader, never think it is
A really big advantage to Cohost that was bandied about by people (myself included) excited to get going around here was "now I can post what I want without worrying about some weirdo coming after me."
The reality is that everyone's a weirdo and everyone has different takes and feels various levels of audacity from the above toward expressing their weirdo takes.
Cultural and structural work here puts everyone at very low to minimum risk of being harassed by your textbook villains.
That doesn't mean that everyone's your friend or agrees with you or is responsible for holding any benefit of the doubt. You're not protected from someone paragliding into your replies to weaponize the worst faith interpretations of your post into their own agenda.
Cohost is a cool space that I like a lot but everyone's allowed to be weirdos here. When you make a loud public broadcast, it's not that shocking I guess that someone who you didn't expect or intend to hear it might respond rudely.



