Doing A Digital Ethnography Project On The Term "SJW"

[Silvanus]

As an aside, what the hell is social justice anyway? It seems like a buzzword meant to give something a vague sense of being a good thing.

Similarly, "social justice warrior" is intended to give something a vague sense of being a bad thing. The term exists primarily as a pejorative.

 

[Skatologist]

Guess I'll give my 2 cents that ain't worth a plug nickel as my grandpa would say it.

Have you heard/scene the term "Social Justice Warrior"?

Yes

Where and when have you heard/scene it?

You usually don't notice the first time a word is used when it is just said and you don't really care what it means. I suppose I first found it in early summer of this year, but probably somehow heard it earlier.

How would you define its meaning and its origins?

It is a word that seems no different than "asshole who thinks highly of themselves" but with the added bonus of[footnote] or at least claiming to being[/footnote] being against bigotries[footnote] or at least bigotries effecting those not apart of a societal norm[/footnote].

What is your personal opinion on the term?

Personally I wouldn't find the label useful and see a lot of other people being assholes for many other reasons that are equally self righteous and dumb.[footnote] See my opinions of anyone who believes in such things as the Gay Agenda, Anti-White media, or Atheist science[/footnote]

How long have you been a member of this forum?

You know you can check? Anyways, January of this year.

What brought you to make an account?

Friend recommended, wasn't too active until early summer. He said site was one of the most progressive and accepting ones there was, and for internet standards, he was correct.

What other "online communities" have you been/ are you currently a part of?

The UN chat here is pretty active, I watch a lot of YouTube and channelawesome and I am in sort of a small corner of the YouTube atheist community that is more progressive that have opinions on feminism and other progressive issues. For feminism specifically, their opinions are from mixed to not wanting to discuss it to positive. I wouldn't regard too many as "SJW"s though, I've been commenting there and I may hopefully one day, make a sort of presence there. Can't say I was too much more into anything else, unless you count being a fan of a few things with an occasional comment or two on some channels or sites.

Where are you from physically? How old are you? What?s your gender? Ect (obviously only if you feel comfortable answering that stuff)

California, US. 17 years of age going on 18. Biological male[footnote] gender & sexuality questioning[/footnote]. Multiracial, but I just say "none" or "doesn't need to matter" when people ask.

Do you know people in real life who are members of the same online communities as you?

That one person who recommended the site I know IRL. No one else though.

What are you political and religious affiliations?

I am an agnostic atheist, but prefer to be called a skeptic or ignostic. I have some anti-theistic tendencies from watching some of the more irreverent YouTube atheist community, but that is dying down with that community I mentioned prior because they view religion as more of a mixed bag than inherently evil. And although I think I may be farther to the left and maybe higher up based on what people call me, I am about right here on the political compass for most tests:

I could always change regarding government or economic issues, but things regarding social issues probably will not change.

 

[WhiteNachos]

As an aside, what the hell is social justice anyway? It seems like a buzzword meant to give something a vague sense of being a good thing.

Similarly, "social justice warrior" is intended to give something a vague sense of being a bad thing. The term exists primarily as a pejorative.

Wait if we agree that social justice is a meaningless term then sarcastically calling someone a social justice warrior does mean something. It means they go on self righteous crusades for a very ill-defined set of goals.

And I wasn't trying to say that social justice is meaningless, I just could never figure out what it meant and I was just curious. Sorry if I sounded hostile in asking for a definition.

 

[Silvanus]

Wait if we agree that social justice is a meaningless term then sarcastically calling someone a social justice warrior does mean something. It means they go on self righteous crusades for a very ill-defined set of goals.

The term is often applied to people who talk about representation regardless of their goals and behaviour, and I've seen it applied to people who were just talking about a minority, not even advocating anything. Mostly, though, it's just used as a boogie-man. As far as I can tell, there are far more threads decrying "SJWs" than there are people who actually fit that definition.

And I wasn't trying to say that social justice is meaningless, I just could never figure out what it meant and I was just curious. Sorry if I sounded hostile in asking for a definition.

Not at all, I didn't mean to sound dismissive either.

As far as I can tell, the term sounds a lot more noble in a political sense, talking about political issues. Applying it to video gamers implies that they think they're being more noble than they really are, and that issues of representation in video games aren't particularly important.

 

[WhiteNachos]

Wait if we agree that social justice is a meaningless term then sarcastically calling someone a social justice warrior does mean something. It means they go on self righteous crusades for a very ill-defined set of goals.

The term is often applied to people who talk about representation regardless of their goals and behaviour, and I've seen it applied to people who were just talking about a minority, not even advocating anything. Mostly, though, it's just used as a boogie-man. As far as I can tell, there are far more threads decrying "SJWs" than there are people who actually fit that definition.

For the record, I was saying that would be the definition if we agreed social justice was a meaningless term. My definition is further up.