kennahijja | Fandom and the Mob: a Rant

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Fandom and the Mob: a Rant

As much as I'm often proud of fandom – its collective creativity, courage and subversiveness – there are a few things about it I dislike. There's extreme shipping, which fills me with scared amusement and confusion; there's writers deleting their stories for other but serious RL reasons, which pains me almost as much as the random destruction of historical artefacts. Those are minor wibbles. There is, however, one thing that above all else that just plain disgusts me – and that is the rabid mob mentality fandom can exhibit from time to time.

I'm talking of the attack dog mentality that stampedes braying after a leading opinion, hurling insults and mindless approval without pausing to spare an individual thought or a shred of consideration that the 'other side' might have feelings, or reasons, or might on some level be acting in good faith. Perhaps there's something liberating about feeling in the right and being edged on by a crowd of others feeling the same way; maybe that provides the sort of anonymity that allows one to behave like an utter arse which one wouldn't get away with in any other situation. I don't know. I only know that it's perfectly disgusting to watch.

I'm by no means saying that there can't be disagreement, or strong disagreement, or even sharp arguments worth falling out over. But if there are no arguments, not the flimsiest attempt of questioning one's own point of view rationally before starting to scream, and not the tiniest bit of respect for other people and opinions – nothing but a virtual mob, yelling – then it's truly fandom at its very lowest.

I'm only talking about mob mentality here, not about right or wrong. This rant has been brought on, of course, by recent events, but I've been in fandom for a few years now and have seen it happen again and again. Sometimes over an opinion I agreed with, sometimes over one I disagreed with. Truth be told, it sickens me even more if I happen to agree with the side the mob is on, because it makes me want to be able to change my mind, or yell the old "get off of my side, you're making me look bad (and feel sick!)." But then I've always believed that it's preferable to lose well than win badly.

It just makes no difference whether you (or I) think the cause is a bad one or the most worthy of all or anything in between: if in order to make your point, you have to incite, or pander to, or rely on the mob (or, if you happen to stir it up by accident and fail to try and slap it down again), you've already damaged even the very best of causes beyond salvaging. Yeah, it means you can be right and still be made of fail.

Most of the time, fandom is a great place to be, but at times like this, it sickens me. I honestly wish we could be better people, a better community than that, but sometimes, it seems we can't. And that's a bloody shame!

Won't make a habit of ranting for sure, but this has been festering inside me for a very long time.

ETA: Apologies if I'm owing any of you replies still, but I won't be getting around to it. It's time for War, not Wank.

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Whatyou ask for, my dear, is impossible. Unfortunately.

It's easy to fly off, not as easy to stop, think, rephrase and then go.

Fandom won't change... doesn't seem like it anyway :(

Word. Mob mentality is one of the scariest sides of humanity.

I know :(. It felt good to vent, though. And I like impossible causes ;).

You know, this is one of the best commentaries to have come out of recent events. Regardless of who is right or wrong, and what one's opinion is and how one's opinion is formed, the very vehement hatred and disgust that people seem to be displaying lately is something I find quite revolting. Thank you for talking about this.

This isn't a fandom thing. It's human nature.

Yes, yes, yes. I feel what you are saying so much.

Sadly, I've seen this happen in most online communities, not just fandom. It boggles my mind and shows a really disturbing side of human nature.

Yep. It scares me even more in Real Life, but there's still something sickening about encountering it in my 'safe place' :(.

Thanks. Maybe it's naive to expect fandomers to be a touch more 'enlightened' than others (at least sometimes they seem, about a handful of things), but it still hurts to see them behave as bad as everybody else.

I know. I still can't help but flip out over it when it happens in fandom. So much for 'us' being more enlightened (in some small ways, that is...).

Yes. Thank you. I couldn't agree more.

Yes, I know - it's by no means just fandom. But fandom is the place I tend to obsess with/recreate, so it just infuriates me when it rears its ugly head there :(.

I am not sure what event brought this on exactly -- lol . I can imagine though, but you make very good points. It seems easier to get into a mob mentality on line than in real life -- for once "we" don't have to face each other. Most of us don't personally know each other, and we all hide behind a screen name and an actual screen. I doubt that some of the things "we" (as in all of us)say on line, we would actually repeat to the persons face if given a chance. It it sooo much easier being mean/hurtful in cyberspace than in real time. Not to mention safer.
And yes, it is human nature to fall into a "mob mentality". I hate mobs, they are uncontrollable and way to easily guided into violent behavior (may that be on line or in life)-- is that a contradicting statement or what??? Maybe I need to re-word that... lol ;-P

Most of us don't personally know each other, and we all hide behind a screen name and an actual screen. I doubt that some of the things "we" (as in all of us)say on line, we would actually repeat to the persons face if given a chance.

I agree; lj has a very strange mixture of anonymity and pseudo-intimacy to it. We communicate through the medium (sometimes for years) with "friends" and I think this causes people to drop their guard and express things in ways that they ordinarily wouldn't.

And when influential people in the broader "community" lead the charge on one side or another, other people follow and a mob is born. It's almost like the rabble-rousers are getting better organised with each new wanksplosion. It's all getting a bit boring and off-putting, IMO.

Thank you for this. I've been feeling very uncomfortable about recent events and couldn't quite put my finger on it (apart from the obvious stuff). I was thinking yesterday, "What if I was close friends with the person who said this?" and "What if I was close friends with the person who responded that way?" I think it's a good exercise to humanize the person at the other end of the tube, and a good way to foster discussion and keep from being too hurtful. But then again, what do I know? Some people may be awful to their friends. The whole thing has been pretty depressing in any case.

... And once again, a fandom storm sails unnoticed over my head. I'm not sure whether to be alarmed at being so out of it, or relieved that my flist is relatively mob-mentality free. I tend towards the latter. (Though if we end up living in the city I may be asking you to fill me in on the gossip over coffee...

Speaking of which, I just asked my letting agent to serve notice on my tenants. It still hasn't sunk in - it feels almost crazy to take that on when I'll have no income and precious little savings. And to go back... to what? But then taking these steps always feels bloody scary - at least it shows there's life in it.

(I've been trying to reply to your e-mail but hotmail won't let me open any emails for some reason.)

Yeah. Makes me glad that I've had no energy for anything but lurking and posting an occasional rec recently. When I have more time, I follow things more and get thoroughly misanthropic.

)

(oops)

Fans can be especially ridiculous sometimes. I'm glad you have a clear head about it. My own personal problem was ... while I was reading Deathly Hallows, I was on pins and needles every time Harry and Draco looked at each other or if Draco was mentioned, I kept hoping he wouldn't die. LOL, I had a way of resurrecting Harry for a naughty future tale, but Draco? Bwahaha, and the two girls reading the book with me suffered every minute of the way. You should have heard me when Draco grabbed hold of Harry on the back of the broomstick. It was maniacal. Anyway, hope my madness cheered you up. I would never say anything against anyone's fantasies.

Impossible? Why so?

On an individual level it does take time and self-discipline to learn to recognise the signs of unreasonableness in oneself, but if loud empty nasty arguments (or whatever else has been going on) are seen as normal or inevitable, no one will have an incentive to learn to practice basic civility.

I'd have hoped we'd have a stronger grounding than most online communities, though, from so many people knowing each other offline. (Though perhaps that makes it worse in some cases.)

Are we talking the kerfuffle relating to a certain HP comm here? I was uneasy with that, but preferred to mostly stay out of it.

I've always believed that it's preferable to lose well than win badly

Welllll ... sometimes. :)

I know what you mean. The mob mentality mode of fandom (or in real life too, of course, because it's certainly not exclusive to fandom) is scary, and there really isn't anything to justify it, because it's always mindless, unthinking and blows thing out of proportion. I think it's worse when "the mob" is on my side, too, because if it's the other side, it's easier to just dismiss them, but if it's on yours it's not that simple.

In short nothing to add, other than yeah, WORD.

This is the best, most brilliant thing I've heard in days.

Thank you for saying this. I couldn't agree more, to be honest.

I think humans are primarily social creatures.

Everyone wants to be accepted, even the most independent minded of us, deep down. I try to fight it myself, with awareness, because awareness is a great way to fight things, and your post is great.

I did have opinions on this event (*if it is what you are referring to??), and I did express it on someone's journal. That's about the extent of it, and I don't think that was wrong. But constant attacks, obsessing over something, is wrong.

-BB

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Fandom and the Mob: a Rant

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