Stay the F home
by Dries De Roeck on March 12, 2020
I posted this as an impuslive post in LinkedIn, just copy pasting it here for future reference. Unsure why I posted it on LinkedIn actually, but I think it was something to do with the hidden slap in the face to capitalism at the end of the message.
An interesting observation. When the Belgian health minister states [translated] ‘stay the fuck home’ it turns into a joke (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idc2mkS-QLk). However, when a grassroots initiative states ‘stay the fuck home’ the message powerfully resonates in online communities (staythefuckhome.com).
I wonder what mechanisms are at play here, for sure it has to do with who brings the message and what is in each context percieved as ‘acceptable’ language. Online community mechanics versus top down dominance.
Additionally, staythefuckhome.com manages to deliver a well argumented message in a very clear way. The choice of words is used to provoke, but they immediatley show there is reasoning and deeper thinking behind it (basically clickbait, but in a good way?).All in all, it did get me thinking about how the initial momentum created by the Belgian minister could have been used differently. Unfortunately, the blijfinuwkot [dot] be domain has meanwhile been claimed by capitalist thinkers … which is a shame and a missed opportunity.
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