The internet has the potential to be an extraordinary space for connection, growth, and creativity. Yet, for many users, particularly those from marginalized communities, digital platforms are often landscapes of violence. Capitalist structures that underpin these platforms exploit our interactions, subject us to harmful imagery, steal our data, and silence us through unjust moderation. They amplify anger, create fertile ground for trolling, and facilitate racist, sexist, ableist, and other forms of verbal violence. In these environments, the experience of being online often feels like a constant negotiation of harm.
But amidst this digital violence, there is a countercurrent of hope: digital compersion. Rooted in the concept of compersion—the joy felt when someone else experiences happiness or success—digital compersion reimagines online spaces as places of mutual care, collective joy, and affirmation. It is a radical departure from the predatory dynamics of mainstream platforms, offering a model of digital interaction grounded in choice, agency, and compassion.
The Violence of Digital Platforms
To understand the necessity of digital compersion, we must first reckon with the systemic harms perpetuated by digital platforms. These platforms are driven by algorithms that prioritize engagement above all else, often to the detriment of users’ well-being. Troubling images appear in our feeds without warning, forcing us to confront violence and suffering without consent. Our personal data is extracted and commodified, turning our digital presence into a product sold to the highest bidder.
Even the mechanisms meant to protect us—community guidelines and moderation systems—are weaponized against vulnerable users. False violations of these guidelines disproportionately target Black users, disabled users, and other marginalized groups, silencing voices that challenge the status quo. Meanwhile, those same systems often fail to address the real threats of harassment and abuse, allowing trolls and bad actors to thrive.
This environment fosters a culture of hostility and scarcity. The platforms encourage angry discourse and outrage, framing success as a zero-sum game where someone else’s visibility or achievement is a threat to your own. It is a landscape designed to isolate us, pit us against one another, and perpetuate harm.
The Emergence of Digital Compersion
In response to these oppressive dynamics, marginalized communities have built their own digital affinity spaces—gardens of safety, care, and creativity. Disabled folks and Black folks, in particular, have pioneered alternative spaces such as “Garden” and “CripCreate.” These spaces reject the capitalist logic of extraction and competition, offering instead a model of mutual support and affirmation.
Digital compersion thrives in these spaces. It is evident when community members celebrate each other’s successes, attend live streams to show solidarity, or moderate spaces to ensure safety. Unlike the broader internet, where trolls weaponize anonymity to sow harm, these spaces are built on trust and shared values. They foster an environment where joy is contagious, and success is collective.
Crucially, digital compersion is about agency and consent. In these spaces, users are not subjected to harm without warning or coerced into interactions they do not want. Instead, they are empowered to engage on their own terms, knowing that their boundaries will be respected and their contributions valued. Compassion is the guiding principle, ensuring that no one is gaslit, dismissed, or attacked.
The Radical Potential of Digital Compersion
Digital compersion is more than just a rejection of digital violence; it is a radical act of care and resistance. It asserts that our online interactions can be rooted in joy rather than jealousy, in connection rather than competition. It challenges the capitalist logics of mainstream platforms by demonstrating that another way is possible—a way where success is shared, not hoarded, and where happiness is amplified, not exploited.
This model is particularly powerful for marginalized communities, who have long understood the importance of creating spaces of refuge and solidarity. Black communities, disabled communities, queer communities, and others have historically built networks of care in the face of systemic oppression. Digital compersion extends this tradition into the online realm, offering a blueprint for how we might collectively reclaim the internet as a site of liberation.
Building a Future of Digital Compersion
To build a future of digital compersion, we must actively invest in alternative platforms and practices that center care, consent, and community. This means supporting spaces like Garden and CripCreate, where the values of digital compersion are already being practiced. It means holding mainstream platforms accountable for the harm they perpetuate and advocating for systemic change that prioritizes user well-being over profit.
On an individual level, we can cultivate digital compersion by choosing to celebrate the successes of others, moderating our spaces with compassion, and rejecting the culture of outrage and competition that digital violence thrives on. By embodying the principles of digital compersion in our own online interactions, we can begin to transform the internet from a site of harm into a site of healing.
In the end, digital compersion is about reclaiming our collective power. It reminds us that the internet does not have to be a tool of exploitation—it can be a tool of connection, joy, and liberation. Together, we can build an online world where we lift each other up, celebrate each other’s happiness, and find joy in our shared humanity.