It has been nearly a week since Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine. Since the conflict broke out, people have been posting some of the most cringeworthy, inappropriate, strange, or hilariously out-of-touch content that I have maybe ever observed.
It was one thing when a bunch of Americans were tweeting takes about the Trump administration or other facets of US politics. At least they probably had some knowledge of what goes on in their own country. But now the news dominating the platform is a complicated geopolitical conflict that few likely understand with any real clarity or nuance. Yet the take machine must churn on, so now some people on Twitter are weighing in on US foreign policy, or crowing about how they were actually not at all shocked by the invasion.
“Some of y’all went from COVID experts to foreign policy experts on The Twitter in a week,” political commentator Bakari Sellers wrote last week.
This rush for retweets is also leading to some truly embarrassing moments. If you want some highlights, a fiction writer named Emma Berquist helpfully rounded up what she deemed the “most insane takes” on the conflict shortly after Russia invaded. From people enjoying the ~war aesthetic~ (one of them later apologized) to this woman’s bright idea, to armchair diagnoses of Putin, to whatever the hell this is. If those aren’t your cup of tea, try taking a stroll down self-promotion lane, from this guy putting a positive spin on the whole “invade” thing to notorious author Seth Abramson using the conflict to sell his book?
As the days go by, the tweets have only gotten stranger. Some people are eager to distill the conflict into the lens of their own favorite science fiction series, comparing the war to Star Wars, Marvel, and Lord of the Rings. As one response to the Star Wars tweet put it: “This tweet made me want to encase myself in carbonite forever.” Same!
Another curious phenomenon has also emerged on Twitter over the weekend: thirst for Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
