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A Letter to the Fandom That Saved My Life
7 years ago
Hey everyone,
I know you’ve probably never spoken with me. Heck, until recently, I never had the courage to speak to you. But this is important regardless. It has to do with the decentralization of our community, and how we, as a community, should attempt to repair it.
I’ve seen it a couple of times. “It’s hopeless,” you say. “A burning ship. Best to leave and let it sink.”
I ask you this: What will happen once this place disappears? Do you think that the people damaging this place will go away with it?
Maybe I’m wrong, but I highly doubt they’ll just disappear. No, once this place, this possible central hub of our community disappears, they will find new places. And guess what? Those places will be where you went to escape. And, because people gave up on fixing this place, our decentralized community will be incapable of fighting back.
This place hasn’t lost hope, even if some of you have. There is still a chance to fix this site, a chance to make it better. Perhaps a chance to make it better than it ever has been. Yes, there have been rough spots. The staff has been difficult to sway in fixing this place, in changing site policy, and the DDOS attack a couple of years ago was kinda frightening. But guess what?
You’ve only failed when you’ve given up. I’m not willing to give up.
Why is this so important to me?
This place is my home. Yes, there’s Twitter, and a few other sites, but it’s not the same. This place saved me. Those other places? They may be nice, but they’re not nearly as well used as this place. They didn’t give me a place to exist without fear of myself. This place did. It saved me, and so now I’d like to at least try to save it.
Maybe I’m an idiot, a foolishly loyal young adult who doesn’t know when to give up. But I can tell you this: I WONT give up. I’ve learned that good things come from trying, and I’ll put every ounce of my strength in trying to save this ship. Maybe I’ll fail, maybe there really is no hope. But, in all honesty? Hope isn’t gone until you let it go.
So here’s my plea: Don’t stop. Keep moving. Keep trying, and keep pushing, because the only way to rescue a ship is to try. Change in a community comes from within, not without. This is supposed to be a place where decent people can gather and feel welcomed. Let’s do everything in our power to change it for the better. Let’s put everything we have into saving this place, because in the end? A site like this one may never come around again. If we waste this opportunity, then we waste a huge chance to actually BE a community. We won’t ever be perfect, but we CAN be better. So let’s try. Try even harder. Because in the end, running away won’t solve our problems. Facing our issues, and coming out as a stronger community because of it?
That’s how we solve things. All other methods just damage the situation.
Thank you for your time.
I know you’ve probably never spoken with me. Heck, until recently, I never had the courage to speak to you. But this is important regardless. It has to do with the decentralization of our community, and how we, as a community, should attempt to repair it.
I’ve seen it a couple of times. “It’s hopeless,” you say. “A burning ship. Best to leave and let it sink.”
I ask you this: What will happen once this place disappears? Do you think that the people damaging this place will go away with it?
Maybe I’m wrong, but I highly doubt they’ll just disappear. No, once this place, this possible central hub of our community disappears, they will find new places. And guess what? Those places will be where you went to escape. And, because people gave up on fixing this place, our decentralized community will be incapable of fighting back.
This place hasn’t lost hope, even if some of you have. There is still a chance to fix this site, a chance to make it better. Perhaps a chance to make it better than it ever has been. Yes, there have been rough spots. The staff has been difficult to sway in fixing this place, in changing site policy, and the DDOS attack a couple of years ago was kinda frightening. But guess what?
You’ve only failed when you’ve given up. I’m not willing to give up.
Why is this so important to me?
This place is my home. Yes, there’s Twitter, and a few other sites, but it’s not the same. This place saved me. Those other places? They may be nice, but they’re not nearly as well used as this place. They didn’t give me a place to exist without fear of myself. This place did. It saved me, and so now I’d like to at least try to save it.
Maybe I’m an idiot, a foolishly loyal young adult who doesn’t know when to give up. But I can tell you this: I WONT give up. I’ve learned that good things come from trying, and I’ll put every ounce of my strength in trying to save this ship. Maybe I’ll fail, maybe there really is no hope. But, in all honesty? Hope isn’t gone until you let it go.
So here’s my plea: Don’t stop. Keep moving. Keep trying, and keep pushing, because the only way to rescue a ship is to try. Change in a community comes from within, not without. This is supposed to be a place where decent people can gather and feel welcomed. Let’s do everything in our power to change it for the better. Let’s put everything we have into saving this place, because in the end? A site like this one may never come around again. If we waste this opportunity, then we waste a huge chance to actually BE a community. We won’t ever be perfect, but we CAN be better. So let’s try. Try even harder. Because in the end, running away won’t solve our problems. Facing our issues, and coming out as a stronger community because of it?
That’s how we solve things. All other methods just damage the situation.
Thank you for your time.
While your goal noble. One might argue that its not the place that made you feel welcome, but its the people that did that. And there are good people everywhere, and unfortunately bad people everywhere.