

Sweden Twitter Experiment Goes Painfully Awry - Jagat
http://mashable.com/2012/06/12/sweden-twitter/

======
niho
I'm swedish and this is really not that strange. She's just an ordinary
Stockholm hipster with an odd sense of humor. We got a bunch of those here.
We've sort of had a tradition of that kind of very politically incorrect and
absurdist humor here at least since the mid 90s. I would even go as far as to
say that it is considered a bit chick in some circles to behave like that.

But I can see how an american/international audience wouldn't get the joke.

~~~
sequoia
<http://meloukhia.net/2009/07/hipster_racism.html>

> Hipster racism involves making derogatory comments with a racial basis in an
> attempt to seem witty and above it all. Specifically, the idea is to sound
> ironic, as in “I’m allowed to say this because of course I’m not racist, so
> it’s funny.” It’s an aspect of a larger part of the hipster culture, which
> wants to seem jaded and urbane and oh-so-witty. Using language which is
> viewed as inflammatory or not appropriate is supposed to push the boundaries
> and make someone look edgy, but it only really comes across that way to
> people who buy into that system. To everyone else, it’s just racist.

So no, this isn't some unheard of Swedish phenomenon, it's "hipster racism,"
as described above. And god help us if you are going to tell me that Swedes
just aren't racist like Americans.

~~~
donall
The linked blog post is a bit of a rant. Sounds like the author really hates
hipsters and just wishes to accuse them of being racist without actually
providing any substantial evidence to back the claim. If "hipster racism" is a
legitimate phenomenon, I'd like to read about it from another source.

On the main point, the Swedish troll isn't really saying anything overtly
racist. She is just mentioning a number of things that make people feel
uncomfortable and making some questionable remarks that are obviously designed
to be incendiary. I'm not sure this fits into the "hipster racism" model, as
described in the linked blog.

~~~
tedunangst
[http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-
racis...](http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-racism)

~~~
peterwwillis
I am tempted to believe this article is a troll. But on second thought, the
author is probably just projecting imaginary racism on at least half of the
so-called hipster racists.

The author suggests that the use of the hashtag #thuglife is racist. What kind
of moron thinks pointing out the _lack_ of behavior attributed to a "thug"
(which, by the way, _is not even racial in nature_ ) in an ironic way is
exhibiting a form of racism?

Then the author attributes the word "ghetto" with racism. News flash: ghettos
are never fun to live in, much less visit. Certainly there's racial undertones
because traditionally ghettos were populated by a single ethnic group, but
even the explanation of the example by the author disregards race and focuses
solely on the poor conditions of the area.

I won't comment on number 3 because there's no arguing with emotional
instability.

On number 4, I have to say that it is definitely racist to say any ethnic or
other group in general is bad or sucks, etc. That being said, I have lived
with white anglo-saxon protestants for most of my life, and they can
definitely be super lame. Perhaps it's an excessive amount of lameness that
forces people who deal with it on a regular basis to lash out at the whole
populous. Not good, but at the same time, I totally understand what the
hipster is saying. And is it hurting anybody? I don't think so. The least-
oppressed group can stand to take a few knocks for their flaws every so often.

~~~
MartinCron
... _behavior attributed to a "thug" (which, by the way, is not even racial in
nature)_

The denotation of "thug" may not be racial, but it has racial connotations in
many contexts.

~~~
peterwwillis
What's the racial connotation? The fact that black people refer to themselves
as thugs in music and culture in a quasi-romanticized way of expressing who
they are? The term is significantly less racial than words like "goyim" which
explicitly refer to race, yet are completely benign in everyday speech. The
only difference I see is that if a word is tangentially related to black
culture, it's racist for non-black people to use them.

The phrase in question, "thug life", is an attitude and a way of life. It
originated from 2Pac who defined it as an acronym meaning "The Hate U Give
Little Infants Fucks Everyone" as well as a code to live by (which gangs such
as the Crips and Bloods signed a peace treaty based on). It never had anything
to do with one's race. Of course the majority of the gangs that were attracted
to this phrase were african-american, but included white, latino and asian
members.

------
S_A_P
Seems to me that she has been given a platform to stir the pot and has taken
the opportunity to do so. This seems like trolling to me, plain and simple.
Use strong words/imagery that incite emotion and blind the reader from
noticing that she isn't really saying anything that bad. That said, I'm sure
the Swedish tourist board wasn't quite expecting this...

~~~
superjared
You didn't think calling a photoshopped picture of Freddie Mercury "hungry gay
with aids" _that bad_?

~~~
Tichy
What exactly is bad about it? It seems as if it should be bad, but if you
think about it, why?

~~~
chrischen
It's either because the guy died from AIDS so the comment is insensitive, or
the OP is homophobic and thinks calling people gay is always used as a
derogatory.

It's probably the former though.

------
mef
Wouldn't this mean the experiment has been a success? The experiment is "...
based around the idea that no single voice can represent the country, so a
slew of guest Swedish curators will do the best job to portray the national
character."

Take a cross section of any society and you're going to get people of all
kinds, including people like Sonja.

~~~
sheraz
Professional trolls are not part of any society

~~~
gaius
Meanwhile in Norway <http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1740707/>

~~~
MartinCron
I was trying really hard to work some sort of joke about Norwegian trolls into
this Swedish trolling story.

If anyone reading this is on the fence about watching the linked film, I would
be honored to nudge you to the "yes, watch it!" side.

------
huma
I don't see what's the big fuss here. Maybe a few edgy comments, but nothing
"painfully awry". I would say kudos to the organizers for their trust in their
fellow citizens to speak out freely without censorship.

Btw, her profile [1] on the project's page is up and straight about her agenda
(and her character, as well): "I’m gonna tweet about my thoughts and being me,
about having children and living my life and what not."

There may be a day when we become so politically-correct about everything that
we can't speak out minds anymore.

[1] <http://curatorsofsweden.com/>

~~~
sciurus
You don't think the string of tweets starting with

"Whats the fuzz with jews. You can't even see if a person is a jew, unless you
see their penises, and even if you do, you can't be sure!?"

is "painfully awry" for a twitter account intended to promote tourism to
Sweden? What about the tweet about the "hungry gay with aids"?

I doubt those encourage anyone who's jewish or homosexual to visit Sweden.

~~~
rorrr
> _twitter account intended to promote tourism to Sweden?_

Isn't it just some personal twitter account?

~~~
sciurus
Based on the news reports, I thought it was controlled by the Swedish
government's tourism ministry.

------
apdinin
Seems Sonja did a good job. We're talking about Sweden, right? How often does
that topic come up in daily conversation for non-Swedish people?

------
TomGullen
My troll-dar isn't as sharp as it used to be as I get older, but it seems
quite likely that they've just got a troll on their hands here from reading
the Tweets.

Either way, anything like this was a time bomb waiting to go off if there
wasn't any vetting process at all.

~~~
SuperChihuahua
She might be a copy cat of "hanna widerstedt" who got really "famous" in
Sweden after saying similar things on YouTube. After that she got featured in
several magazines and in Big Brothers as well and got her 5 seconds of fame!

------
smoyer
I have known a few Swedes and have owned 4 Saabs and none have them have ever
behaved like this. There's always 5% of a population that can make the other
95% hide in embarrassment.

~~~
patdennis
Really? My last Saab was a great car, but showed an odd racial insensitivity
sometimes.

~~~
smoyer
Hmmm ... there was a period when my car seemed to dislike any cars in front of
it at red-lights. Once we realized the turbo's waste gate was stuck closed, we
sent it to sensitivity training and it's behaved perfectly ever since.

------
f055
Cant blame Americans for being uptight. You'd never understand Sweden's
freedom of speech :P

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unkoman
I see nothing wrong with this.

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yesbabyyes
As a Swede, I might be biased -- but given that Stephen Colbert has asked to
be an "Artificial Swedener"[1][2], I'd say it's a roaring success!

[1] <https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome/status/212753977018810368> [2]
[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-
videos/41519...](http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-
videos/415197/june-12-2012/operation-artificial-swedener)

------
adrianb
The NY Times article was written in TROLLHATTAN. I thought that's a joke too.
It seems it's a real city.

------
peterwwillis
I think this is the funniest thing i've ever seen. Troll or not, this is
hilarious

~~~
Synaesthesia
Yeah! She's still tweeting some hilarious stuff on that account.

------
Zirro
I'm from Sweden, and I have never heard of this before.

~~~
SuperChihuahua
You must have missed "hanna widerstedt" :)

~~~
Zirro
Indeed, it seems that way. The world of bloggers is to me, as we would say in
Sweden, ointressant.

------
javajosh
Can't emphasize enough: it is remarkable for Sweden to hand real power over to
individual citizens. Totally wonderful. While she is acting like a git, she is
also not the polished PR machine that most countries feel the need to use to
present themselves. Humor or not, her words are real.

I really, really applaud Sweden and would love to see something similar in the
States. I have _no doubt_ that the USA version would put the spotlight on some
really horrible sentiments - but again, that is what is _real_. It's just like
Borat, highlighting whitewashed racism that is ever-present in the US. In the
end, it's a very good thing to just be honest.

~~~
siculars
Dunno bout you but a twitter account does not quite scream "real power" to me.

~~~
javajosh
Haha, no, but it's a start.

------
silverlake
There's a fine line between master troll and dimwitted psycho. Which is she?

~~~
smoyer
I think she actually fits into a third category ... those who perceive
themselves to be Internet personalities.

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sparknlaunch
These are so good they cannot be real (humourous).They read like a Sacha Baron
Cohen (Ali G, Borat) film script. Here I thought the Swedes were the more
intelligent inhabitants. Sonja has proved us right/wrong? Can't wait to see
this new meme go viral.

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mc32
That's just bizarre --off the rails. It's not as if she has the excuse of
being an actor and could blame this whole episode on being high or coming down
hard off of something.

Pity the kids. What a mom.

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mycodebreaks
The guy is definitely getting questioned by authorities at an airport if he
comes to the USA.

