I am Al Gore of the Fediverse! 🤣
Or at least, that is what @Ciela once called me, and today, I feel that comment holds so much truth.
Al Gore was right when being right wasn't popular. Because he had the nerve to warn us that climate change was a crisis requiring massive policy shifts, the media and politicians painted him as the crazy uncle everyone should be ashamed of. Time proved him right, but the crowd preferred the mockery.
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When I pointed out how Sharkey had scammed people, I wasn't the only person who pointed this fact out, but I was the one who wouldn't just shut up and go away. It was then that the Fediverse reminded me of junior high school; it wasn't about what I or others knew or could prove, but rather who was the better storyteller.
Those people even tried to falsely claim I was homophobic and transphobic, despite a post history of over 10,000 posts on my old account promoting equality.
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When I exposed Gaza Verified as a cross-platform scam using their own staged videos as proof, people refused to believe it. It was easier for the mob to claim I hated Gaza — ignoring my long history of supporting Gaza and its people.
The social backlash was so severe that multiple communities blacklisted me, deleted my account, forcing me to start over just to stay on the Fediverse.
Special thanks to both @planet and @Vivaldi for whethering that storm. You're awesome! 😎
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Today, someone finally apologized, admitting they were scammed by a fake GoFundMe link.
I feel like Al Gore. I never wanted an apology. I needed you to listen before the storm and the damage was done. I needed people to use critical thinking instead of blindly trusting bad-faith actors.
Reality could be different if you chose evidence over narrative. But humanity prefers a comfortable lie today over a tough truth tomorrow — and by the time the crowd wakes up, the damage is done.
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After the video, I did some digging and found the exact same posts with the exact same GoFundMe URLs on Facebook (where I work).
The difference was that on Facebook they claimed to be a woman in her 30s with two small kids, but here on Mastodon they claimed they were 19 and alone with no family.
@Linux The herd mentality here is really something, sometimes. Glad you survived the trampling.
Replying to @Ciela@mastodon.ie
They now understand because they themselves were scammed. I wish more people could understand without the scammers benefiting.
But as I said in another post:
> I know exactly how fanatical people can be regarding Israel, Palestine, and Gaza. They are just as dogmatic as MAGA extremists, refusing to believe anything that contradicts their worldview. So, when you tell them, "Yes, we should help Gaza, but this specific thing is a scam," it simply doesn't compute.
Replying to @Ciela@mastodon.ie
"Joy," who they claim helps verify those accounts, was the one who posted that video of herself claiming to be walking in the rubble of a building blown up by Israel. But in the background, there was a building-sized poster of the Supreme Leader of Iran.
Anyone who tried to re-share her video after she removed it received a DMCA notice.
That is how most people realized it was a scam.
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Replying to @dianea@lgbtqia.space
Whenever you bring up UNRWA or any other credible, legitimate organization, they argue that you shouldn't trust established groups — yet they expect you to put absolute, blind faith in a complete stranger on the internet. And if you don't, they weaponize the tragedy by claiming you don't support the people of Gaza. It's a textbook manipulation tactic designed to replace logic with guilt.