FA+
Shop
Bullying and Hatred
12 years ago
I apologize in advance for any poor grammar and spelling in the next couple paragraphs. This journal was composed at 4:00 AM just shortly after waking up. *zombie rat*
I feel compelled to write a journal this morning as I've seen and heard a lot of things going on in the last 3 to 6 months that make me quite concerned with the general mentality of our fandom. Make no mistake, this isn't an "I'm leaving the fandom" or "I'm leaving 'XYZ' website and going somewhere else" post. I just thought I'd share my thoughts and observations.
I've noticed a pattern within the community over the history of the fandom, particularly regarding those considered to be 'Popufur.' I will use the term Popufur to represent someone who has garnered the attention and adoration of more than 10-15% of the fandom at large.
Something happens. Something always happens, but more importantly something that someone does to this person happens and they end up spreading this happening to their closest friends, who then tell their closest friends, and the story starts devolving from there. Either that or someone does something that would be considered by the community to be a bad choice and a reflection upon themselves, and then a popufur points out the short-comings of said event.
In Either Case, someone gets called out directly or indirectly by the 'popufur' for being 'uncool' or is accused of being a bad person, or similar and a large group of people now have an understanding in their mind that they should be offended as well. So what do we all do? We take our grievances to the person who we're offended by. We now have the internet equivalent of a Lynch Mob.
Does it really matter if the person on the receiving end of the hate and bullying actually did anything wrong? No, not really. We're quite content to say mean things and make threats and put down this person without any research into the matter. To borrow a term from news anchors and disc jockeys, "if it bleeds, it leads" and if someone spins a tale the right way it gets a whole bunch of people whipped up into a frenzy.
Long story short: I've come to an understanding in the world that we are not perfect beings. We all have flaws and make mistakes. Some people do things that appear a bit dumber than others and I am not immune to such mistakes. There is no reason to call anyone out, put anyone down, or make threats against anyone even if it seems like a great injustice has been served.
Help fight against bullying, in real life and on the internet.
I feel compelled to write a journal this morning as I've seen and heard a lot of things going on in the last 3 to 6 months that make me quite concerned with the general mentality of our fandom. Make no mistake, this isn't an "I'm leaving the fandom" or "I'm leaving 'XYZ' website and going somewhere else" post. I just thought I'd share my thoughts and observations.
I've noticed a pattern within the community over the history of the fandom, particularly regarding those considered to be 'Popufur.' I will use the term Popufur to represent someone who has garnered the attention and adoration of more than 10-15% of the fandom at large.
Something happens. Something always happens, but more importantly something that someone does to this person happens and they end up spreading this happening to their closest friends, who then tell their closest friends, and the story starts devolving from there. Either that or someone does something that would be considered by the community to be a bad choice and a reflection upon themselves, and then a popufur points out the short-comings of said event.
In Either Case, someone gets called out directly or indirectly by the 'popufur' for being 'uncool' or is accused of being a bad person, or similar and a large group of people now have an understanding in their mind that they should be offended as well. So what do we all do? We take our grievances to the person who we're offended by. We now have the internet equivalent of a Lynch Mob.
Does it really matter if the person on the receiving end of the hate and bullying actually did anything wrong? No, not really. We're quite content to say mean things and make threats and put down this person without any research into the matter. To borrow a term from news anchors and disc jockeys, "if it bleeds, it leads" and if someone spins a tale the right way it gets a whole bunch of people whipped up into a frenzy.
Long story short: I've come to an understanding in the world that we are not perfect beings. We all have flaws and make mistakes. Some people do things that appear a bit dumber than others and I am not immune to such mistakes. There is no reason to call anyone out, put anyone down, or make threats against anyone even if it seems like a great injustice has been served.
Help fight against bullying, in real life and on the internet.
In terms of popular artists, I have personally found that there are two types of well-known furries: the type who still acts friendly, open and doesn't let being well known detract from being a decent human being. These are popular furs, no doubt, but not "popufurs". And the second is the mentality that popularity makes them a god in the fandom, and they use popularity to be manipulative and let their ego get to their head. In many cases, everything they do has to be their way and they have to be the center of attention. One does not need to be extremely popular to fit into the second category, but this is the "popufur" attitude. It's not a term of endearment, no doubt.
Now calling out people in general is wrong, I agree. People should learn that if they have grievences it doesn't need to be public. But you know - for many furries there is absolutely no sense of private and public. Plus it's the internet, and many have the mentality where they can say whatever they want and have no reprocusions in the real world. :/
I can think of a good example: the other day I read up about an instance a few years ago when a furry or furries made an appearance on a television show and were slandered and put down by MANY people. There was even a journal from a much beloved popufur who basically encouraged the hate because they didn't agree with the decision to go onto television.
This also brings around to an interesting point: sometimes you have to be careful about who you put your trust and admiration in. Most people are willing to blindly follow and befriend people through the channels of the internet only to find out later that the person they respected isn't the kind of person they want to be affiliated with. That's another trigger of drama storms!
And you know what? Usually my conclusion comes down to "Wow, the fact that this is a thing is really stupid". Either that, or I can see through benefit of doubt where situations should have been handled by the judicial system. "Really? You're telling me XYZ happened and you didn't call the police? Stupid on your part... "