Toxic positivity: what it is, why it's bad, and how it tears fandoms apart [a boring but important thread]

so first what is toxic positivity? In short it's a kind of positivity that is insincere, overbearing, and harmful in the long run for everyone. The toxic positivity mentality usually is used to describe a single person but it can also be seen in fandom culture as well.

now what does it have to do with fandoms? well, it's everywhere in almost every fandom, ESPECIALLY those that have a reputation for being "nice." from what I've seen there's two types of toxic positivity within kpop fandoms:

1. Toxic positivity about the fandom. This is where you get situations where, for example, some stan acct says something transphobic and when they get rightfully called out, the majority of the fandom tries to silence those calling them out. They do this by

speaking over/silencing those who are upset, either with tl cleanses, arguing with them, ostracizing them, or sometimes even getting them get put on blocklists or s worded. Now why do they do this? Well there's many reasons but the majority of people do it because of

toxic positivity. If someone in a fandom gets called out then others panic because oh god what if this gets out! What if other fandoms think we're mean and bad!? this mentality is harmful in that it not only silences people who are hurt but also makes them not want to

be involved with the fandom or even worse, sour their feelings toward the artist that they used to love.

2. Toxic positivity towards the artist. Sure people hate on kpop idols all the time, but there are situations where an idol genuinely does something wrong, they get rightfully called out, and people in the fandom try to, again, silence people calling them out because

oh my god how dare you say anything remotely negative about my fave!?! this usually happens when an idol does CA. Nbpoc At!ny did it with Hongjoong, kl0ves did it with Ren, so on and so on. Where people were emailing to try and educate the idol and company to

keep this from happening again, there were people spamming emails and messages of fake positivity to drown out those trying to educate. Obviously this is an issue of racism but the action of speaking over people who are hurt and throwing excessive love at the

idol/company is a form of toxic positivity because it is insincere and harmful to both the artist (by not letting them learn and apologize and grow) and fans effected by what the artist did.

And yes, like I mentioned before even fandoms that have the reputation for being nice do this as well. To Moons come to the forefront of my mind (they're actually the reason I made this thread lmao heyyy!). To moons are guilty of toxic positivity type 1.

C@rats are also somewhat guilty of type 1 hiding the fact that they constantly hurt and bully d-crvnch, nv'est, and their fans while parading around their reputation of "nicest fandom," it's fake as hell but pretending like they're innocent of this to uphold their image is

toxic positive behavior.

Now after explaining all this I'm sure you can figure out for yourself why toxic positivity tears fandoms apart. It drives wedges between people, it keeps people from feeling like they're safe/welcome in a fandom, it hurts people, it makes fandoms seem

fake.
All because people can't see that a fandom cannot be constantly ups, there has to be downs as well, you have to call out bad behavior, because if you don't then a fandom will never be a good safe place for all people of all races, religions, sexualities, etc.

Also being positive is not a bad thing god knows we need more positivity in kpop fandoms!! But being postivite to the extent that you'd silence someone just bc you don't want negativity in your fandom/on your tl is toxic.

Okay end of thread, sorry it was long and boring but I needed to say it and I hope it opened your eyes.

Stream my fancam, stan d-crunch, and shut up and let ppl talk when they say something hurt them