I'VE BEEN PRETENDING TO BE OFFENDED BY JOHN CAMPBELL PRETENDING TO BE DEPRESSED FOR PROFIT FOR FUN

At first, it seemed difficult to fake being offended. After all, I’m not someone who cares very much about anything, and it took a lot of effort to force myself to seem angry and hurt. Once I got the ball rolling, though, it was easy; after all, Tumblr users are already notorious for being offended by everything, so it was simple to play into that stereotype.

The thing I regret most is not confirming in the minds of many on the outside that people on Tumblr are just a bunch of hysterical humorless idiots, nor is it insulting John on Twitter (and then deleting the tweets). No, my main regret is contributing to John Campbell’s (and his friends’) delusion that he is an oppressed comedic genius. I have helped reinforce for him the conviction that any negative response to his satire comes from a place of not understanding said satire.

I’ve thought a lot about it and I believe I am the first Tumblr user to come forward and admit that my offense at so-called “offensive” humor is merely manufactured for my own shits and giggles. I hope my example will enable more of my fellow “social justice” tumblrs to come forward as well. I’ve spoken to a few (if you’re really interested, I can list their names) about it, and they’ve told me that they’ll be monitoring the response to my confession.

When I first joined Tumblr, I noticed that many of the most popular users were also the angriest. I wanted to be like them, and the easiest route seemed to be to pretend to be offended by everything. The more offended I acted, the more I was accepted. With that acceptance, however, came a certain confusion. Many people I spoke to refused to admit their anger was faked! They insisted instead that they took offense because the things that were being said were offensive. I have no choice but to believe that they thought I was genuinely angry and didn’t want to offend me by admitting they were not offended.

Looking at my posts and reactions to John Campbell from the perspective of a non-offended person, you realize they are really about the perils of assuming that just because you are offended, you are in the right.

I am extremely sorry and I hope you will forgive me.