I know that a fandom shouldn't be wholly defined by "a few bad apples." So when people say "The OP fandom" or "The Haikyu!! fandom", I'm not talking about every single person in those fandoms.

But when it comes to prominent social media fandoms like OP or Haikyu!!, the visibility of their actions matters. Unfortunately, the loudest folks in the OP fandom tend to be the bad apples. When it comes to Haikyu!!, the most vocal tend to be the kindest and supportive.

Does this mean the OP fandom is trash? NO. Does this mean the Haikyu!! fandom is the kindest? NO. It means that visibility matters. You can't ignore that and then wonder why people try to avoid the OP fandom and praise the Haikyu!! fandom. You've gotta be accountable.

I think it comes down to how fandoms deal with their bad apples on social media. I think the best fandoms are great about admonishing their most toxic members whenever they do something that is actually toxic. And the worst either let the awful stuff go unchecked or uplift it.

Every fandom has toxic folks in them. ALL OF THEM. But there are reasons why certain fandoms have the reputations they do, and that comes down to visibility. How do you visibly deal with the toxic folks in your communities? How safe do people seem to feel in those communities?

This stuff is important. People deserve to feel safe, heard, and generally supported in a fandom. And it's up to the folks in those fandoms to foster those types of environments. I used OP and Haikyu!! because I'm familiar with them and because they are visibly different.

It's really important to me that a fandom not exhibit racist, homophobic, transphobic, fatphobic, abelist, misogynistic, and xenophobic views, and I think a lot of people feel that way. So if your community visibly exhibits these things, you can bet I'm gonna keep my distance.

And if I see that a community isn't active in speaking out against those things when they happen, I'm going to form an opinion based on that lack of activity. So I encourage all fandoms to work to be better. Otherwise, you're going to be seen as toxic whether you like it or not.