There’s Apparently An ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ And The Internet Heaves A Collective Sigh

https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/993840431040487424

Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web.” So begins a New York Times op-ed about an “alliance of heretics” of the alt-right who aren’t present in the “mainstream conversation.” The author gave this mayonnaise collective a platform in the Paper of Record then subtitled the op-ed, “Should we be listening?” All of which suggests nobody is listening to people with lucrative pundit careers who are very much in the mainstream conversation, getting profiled in The New York Times and elsewhere.

So let’s get the obvious statements out of the way. Well-to-do pundits with speaking tours and national platforms (like the New York freaking Times) are not being “silenced.” Being ignored by some instead of being paid handsomely by all to give PowerPoint presentations is not a First Amendment violation. Spreading white supremacist nonsense isn’t edgy, and lovingly propping up an outmoded status quo isn’t brave, unique, or intellectual. It’s boring. They’re boring.

Folks on Twitter reacted to the op-ed with a fitting amount of mockery:

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/993834752045146112

People also took an opportunity to introduce some other renegades of the intellectual dark web:

https://twitter.com/shujaxhaider/status/993856017887846400
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/993842747806244864
https://twitter.com/MrBrandonStroud/status/993857373981700102
https://twitter.com/briangaar/status/993862268235345920

https://twitter.com/HelloCullen/status/993869126526529537

Many people pointed out that having a huge platform like The New York Times isn’t very “dark web” of them:

https://twitter.com/markpopham/status/993840318515728384
https://twitter.com/Buttockus/status/993859597659131904

https://twitter.com/historyinflicks/status/993958188851564545
https://twitter.com/ugh_who_cares/status/993861156833058817

Some people roasted the op-ed’s author, Bari Weiss:

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/993830158103703552

And others pointed out some glaring omissions in the article or poked fun at some of the details or the people involved in it.

https://twitter.com/olivebrinker/status/993904946142699521
https://twitter.com/ugh_who_cares/status/993863798363688960

https://twitter.com/Buttockus/status/993862347881037824

And others poked fun by making up fake quotes that aren’t much sillier than some of the real ones:

Some people were understandably perturbed about tired reactionary ideas being portrayed as “intellectual” and cool.

https://twitter.com/historyinflicks/status/993848689897689088
https://twitter.com/fivefifths/status/993832452820004865

https://twitter.com/timcarvell/status/993907595009241089

While others found this whole dark web disappointing:

https://twitter.com/aRobertsg/status/993854951125286913

Nonetheless, some people could still see how this intellectual dark web could be used for their own benefit:

https://twitter.com/sheckyyoungman/status/993939550949916672