It is amazing to me that a handful of people on twitter can get people cancelled, while thousands of people can march in the streets (such as in many parts of Europe, or in New York City) and be completely ignored.
It’s because it is less about the size of the mob and more about the institutions where they have infiltrated or have sympathizers. MIT could have just ignored the loud minority of voices here but they didn’t because some decision maker happens to be on their political side. It’s the “long march through the institutions”, where professional positions of power are subverted slowly to support an ideological cause (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_march_through_the_insti...).
People marching down a street make for boring news until the crowd is truly massive and/or violent… baseless and/or partisan quips that can be cut and pasted are easier to broadcast and amplify, for whatever reason. And apparently there’s is a never ending supply of the latter.
I agree but would extend it by saying boring news is not news. It's doesn't get covered because it's boring. There isn't a boring news section on papers, or blogs. Except for the mining and civil engineering broadsheets!