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cw: This is a thread about a behavior in fandom that I don't like.
Different online communities develop their own ideas. Over time, there are so many of these ideas that the community becomes like a subculture; it has its own fanon, virtually incomprehensible to people in other communities.
You can't look at a single artifact from an insular online community out of context and draw any reasonable conclusions about an individual or group's values. An example of this is concluding kylux shippers are fascists without actually being in kylux.
If you're not in the community every day, learning the in-jokes and the meta and everything else, then you're not qualified to make value judgments about that group's creative ideas. You don't have to like them, but that doesn't mean they are "wrong". Art is subjective.
It's good to condemn bad behaviors that actually harm others. But publicly condemning an idea from a different online community doesn't help anything. It just encourages hatred for that community in your community, which likely leads to MORE disparaging public statements.
The more a group is publicly disparaged, the more likely someone will decide to target members of that community for bullying. It's "safe" and even "righteous" to target them because "good" people hate them, right?
Publicly saying "How could ANYONE think this?" about a work or idea from a different online community helps no one. It doesn't just feed the flames of meaningless rivalries. It also makes individuals nervous about sharing their own ideas. It fosters hatred and kills creativity.
I'm tired of seeing public shaming of people who think differently about art. We don't all agree. We are all different. That's something to celebrate, not destroy.
We could all be working together for the common good rather than tearing each other down and accomplishing nothing.
We could all be working together for the common good rather than tearing each other down and accomplishing nothing.
What is the common good? Tools to help fandom exist and thrive. Protections of civil liberties.
What isn't the common good? Deciding that certain creative expression is "bad" because we, personally, don't like it.
What isn't the common good? Deciding that certain creative expression is "bad" because we, personally, don't like it.
If you don't like a creative work or idea, why think about it all the time? Why comment on it? Ignore it. Spend your time enjoying the things you DO like. Live and let live. As they say, don't like, don't read.
If you absolutely MUST disparage other fans...maybe do it privately?
If you absolutely MUST disparage other fans...maybe do it privately?
/end thread about a behavior in fandom I don't like
