As of this writing, thousands of resident of northwest Los Angeles County have been displaced by a trio of massive fires raging through areas that haven’t seen wildfire damage in decades. In times past — let’s call it, “Pre-Elon” — social media has been a valuable resource for coordinating evacuations and relief efforts, as well as sharing messages of solidarity for those displaced.
While the radicalization of Twitter has put a damper on its utility, some folks are still trying to use it to uplift victims. One of those folks was Meek Mill, but his supportive tweet was marred by his signature stilted delivery. “Prayers to la,” he wrote. “I never knew about fire trauma until my house caught on fire…. I was smelling fire in my sleep jumping up for 3 years… I didnt know that type of trauma existed, so I was just dealing with it as a kid!”
Now, he’s right about the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, which can cause people to have flashbacks. And trying to empathize is almost never a negative impulse. But something about the jumbled wording of the tweet rubbed fans the wrong way. Meek’s had a long history of posting awkward or upsetting things on Twitter, so even if his intentions were good, the end result was a bit of a “Where’s Ja?” situation.
“‘Prayers to la’ was enough to tweet,” one fan reminded him. Another pointed out why Meek’s tweets — even when well-intentioned — tend to go awry: “N****s take a serious situation and make it about them just send prayers and go on about your day,” they wrote. Meanwhile, several other users merely responded with photos and memes expressing confusion and dismay.
Still, it’s endearing that Meek is making the effort. Ever since you-know-who bought Twitter, it’s been kind of a cesspool, so even one person trying to empathize can make this marginally better.