Are 'Toxic Twitter Wars' Killing Online Feminism?

The Internet is abuzz about a lengthy piece The Nation published on "feminism's toxic Twitter wars." This is a subject near and dear to my heart, because I think the whole online outrage cycle is the worst. It was with great hope that I went into Michelle Goldberg's piece for The Nation — finally, was someone going to speak truth to the social media mob? Indeed, Goldberg offers some perspective on what's wrong (or right, depending on your view) with online feminism in 2014.

The thesis, insofar as there is one, can be found in this line: "Even as online feminism has proved itself a real force for change, many of the most avid digital feminists will tell you that it’s become toxic." Though Goldberg clearly has an angle, the piece isn't entirely polemical, relying instead on interviews with Mikki Kendall, Anna Holmes, Courtney Martin, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, and other women active in the online feminist sphere.

Suffice to say, the piece is not terribly popular on Twitter. Here's a sampling of critiques:

But there were also many positive comments from feminist writers and activists:

It looks like an article about feminists disagreeing on Twitter has resulted in feminists disagreeing on Twitter. Shocking.