No, DNI Lists arent "stupid."

i already know this will upset some people but... its not that serious that someone has a DNI list. a DNI list is (quite literally) just a list of boundaries. if you are more mad at people telling racists not to interact with them than you are at (i dunno) the racists in question... thats kinda weird, aint it??

i know that some people reading this have their own claims about DNI lists, and im just gonna explain my thoughts on some of the common ones there are.

"well some of them just randomly add fandoms, you cant get mad at people over interests...?" well... yeah you can. often times, the phrase "feath of the author" has been wildly misinterpreted to mean "it doesnt matter i the creator of this content was a bigot or abuser, i can enjoy the content without defending their actions!" im gonna be honest. as long as the creator of that content is still alive, they will continue to profit off of your engagement, if not your indirect promotion of their content through conversation. queer people are not obligated to engage with people who will happily consume media made by queerphobes. people of color are not obligated to engage with people who will happily consume media made by racists. if youre more mad at me for saying that i, a trans person, will not allow harry potter enthusiasts to engage with my content than you are with JKR using her funds from the franchise to fund transphobic legislations, your priorities are out of wack and i refuse to let you act like thats my problem.

"well they just tell trolls how to piss them of!!" fun fact: it isnt anyone else's responsibility to prevent someone from being a dick to people than the person choosing to be a dick to people. again, a DNI list is a boundary. if youre more mad at people for making the mature decision to express boundaries than you are at the people who intentionally break them for shits and giggles, then that sounds like a you problem.

the last claim ive seen someone make is that choosing to not interact with certain people will only lead you to isolating yourself. "you cant just choose not to interact with those people irl" okay, cool! thats why i choose not to interact with them on the INTERNET... fun fact: the internet is not real life. as a matter of fact, many people use the internet as an escape from real life. the only people who are this concerned over how many people wind up on someones blocklist for shitstain behavior are people who think blocking people online actually effects someone's real life off the internet on a one-to-one scale. in addition, so many people act like they get blocked "for no reason." if i have a DNI list, and you get blocked, theres this cool thing you can do called "checking it out and finding out why," because SOME people like to come into your comments or messages to ask about it instead of moving on with life.

TL/DR: DNI lists arent stupid, the people hating on them are.