For a while now, I’ve been syndicating my posts to MSN. You can see Werd I/O’s profile over there. In some ways, this is my normiest network: whereas my Mastodon community is more technical, my Bluesky community is more political and my newsletter subscribers tend to be a mix of people from the tech and media worlds alongside people I otherwise know, MSN encompasses Windows users who the algorithm thinks should be sent my stuff.

The comments have long fascinated me: they’re incredibly right-wing. I’d initially dismissed them as being part of some influence campaign on the network, but I now see them as an important barometer of a cross-section of what the American public thinks. It’s not good news.

For example, here’s a selection of comments on the MSN version of my link blog post for The 19th’s article about USAID’s lifesaving reproductive healthcare. There’s a lot of this kind of thing:

“Women need to be responsible for their own behaviors. If they become pregnant then they need to seek and pay for their care to ensure the baby is born healthy. Just another waste of taxpayer money.”

And:

“It takes two to tango, where are all these dead beat dads? Why is the American taxpayer responsible for the entire planet? Have any of you women ever heard the word no? Not in your language? Then cross your legs. MSN doesn't like the truth. Communist sensors.”

And, bafflingly:

“How do contraceptives prevent STDs and HIV? They don’t.”

And the absolutely nihilistic but also inherently counterproductive:

“worlds overpopulated as it is.”

As well as the top-rated comment at the time of writing:

“USAID has only used a small portion of the funds for humanitarian purposes. The vast majority has been used for crazy liberal agendas that have nothing to do with humanitarian purposes. Corrupt Democrats have been caught red handed that's why they are trying to cover up what the taxpayers' funds have really been used for.”

My fear is that this is America. These comments are ill-informed, occasionally wildly racist, and light years away from the debate I’d expect to have in other forums. It’s easy to dismiss most of these people as being idiots (something I can’t easily avoid). There are almost no tolerant or left-wing voices in the mix; instead, we’re left with the kind of rhetoric you might otherwise expect to see in communities that have dismissed Fox News as being too soft.

If I’m right, which I’d prefer not to be, it doesn’t say great things about our prospects over the next four years, or for the future of the country. If this is where normie discourse is at, it’s going to be rough.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with two more comments, from other posts:

“Thank you President Trump for putting America and Americans first. When the far left crooks scream loud we know we are on target. FEAR !”

And:

“what maga when both parties just care more about a foreign country while democrats just engage in h ate speech toward the majority and republicans dont care and wont call them ra cists as they are being called that for everything.”

Oof.