This week in SearchHistory we're DMing with Ben Ditto, the brains behind Ditto_Nation, a purveyor of nihilistic memes and breaking news focused on the unfolding crisis in Ukraine.
@BEN_DITTO2.0: Make coffee, feed the cat, pray, have a bath.@BEN_DITTO2.0: My account used to just be a load of dumb domestic shit, and years ago my assistant said, “Why don’t you delete all of that nonsense and just post one thing a day that you really like?” Fast forward a few years: here we are.@BEN_DITTO2.0: Well, I’ve been working as a journalist and publishing magazines for a long time. It all kind of merges into one practice on my IG account.
@BEN_DITTO2.0: I get sent a ton. I’ll scan them, and I’m quite good at detecting bias and doing background research pretty rapidly. Then I’ll post with a caveat, if I think it’s useful. I try to maintain a constant tone of awareness that not everything I post exactly reflects my beliefs. That way, you don’t have to explain yourself every fucking five seconds. Most of my audience are smart and get it.@BEN_DITTO2.
INTERVIEW: You have a funny way of dealing with callouts in the comments. What’s your approach to haters? @BEN_DITTO2.0: I’ve never really heard anyone acknowledge that, so I don’t know if I am good at it or not. I don’t even think I’ve got very thick skin, I’m just happy with myself as a person so it doesn’t bother me very much at the end of the day. But firstly, I would say that 99% of people are nice. Even people I really disagree with can be nice—I’ve been talking to a Russian imperialist—hardcore—and they still send me pictures of their cats now and then.
@BEN_DITTO2.0: I posted an image once of a woman holding a banner at a protest against sexual violence. She held a banner saying “Teach your son not to rape, or we will teach our daughters to kill.” I thought it was a very cool image, and it went very viral. I’ve never gotten so many abusive messages from young men who took it personally. To be honest, I know what it’s like to feel personally attacked as a young man and not understand the broader context. So that was illuminating.@BEN_DITTO2.