## Content More of a question than a note. Many of us have that bigoted whatsapp relative (generally an uncle, but that's not always a given). I am also guessing that some of you would have quietly chuckled to yourselves or descended into a state of despair, after reading the title, based on your history of interactions with said relative(s). Ok, my question is - ***what's the causal factor for the bigotry in the 'bigoted whatsapp relative'? Is it whatsapp or the relative themselves who had such proclivities?*** I'm making a distinction between someone being a closeted bigot (having such views and just not airing them) versus someone who doesn't (or didn't) have outright bigoted views but has (had) other traits that make them more amenable or likely to ever such hold such views. Note: I am not absolving whatsapp (+ other communication platforms) of their roles. I am basing this on the likelihood that you and I have seen the same messages and not been recruited into bigotry. The follow-up question: is the stress on whatsapp causing us to focus on the <s> wrong </s> easier part of the problem and avoiding getting into what is likely to require a large number of micro-focused interventions across generation(s) to evolve the right type of social norms? ## Related Notes ## Colophon %% title:: Looking Behind (and Beyond) The Bigoted WhatsApp Relative type:: [[output]] tags:: url:: file:: creator:: Prateek Waghre %% created:: 2022-01-26 status:: [[bean]]