I Had To Check Myself Recently Because I'm So Used To Being In Discord Servers With Vent Channels, That

I had to check myself recently because I'm so used to being in discord servers with vent channels, that when I ended up joining one *without* a vent channel, I realized Holy shit, where can I go to complain about the day-to-day things that piss me off? And I thought of your post & took a step back, like You know what? I can complain on my own time, on my own blog, or in private to a close friend who offers to listen. I can just let this server be fun.

Anyway, I think people are still furious over your post because (and forgive me if someone's said this before) the availability and reach of the internet has conditioned ppl to believe that it's acceptable/required/encouraged to vent in any space, at any time, to anyone, and that the audience should willingly receive it. It's like a form of brainwashing.

Honestly, the single major response I've gotten is people screaming that I'm an evil racist white bitch oppressing people of color because I'm asking them not to talk about genocide or police brutality in fandom spaces.

There is a huge, huge difference between stopping someone who is actually, actively being racist within a public space and asking people not to force others to constantly engage with and expose themselves to the horrors of the world, especially in spaces where they have retreated specifically to recover from those things.

Its basically like going to a wellness and recovery retreat and forcing everyone there to watch the news and read articles and watch videos about world horrors.

Almost everyone in a Discord server has profiles on other social medias. Everyone on the internet sees, willingly or not, what is happening in the world right now. We all know these things happen. We are not blind. We are not ignoring it.

When I go onto Discord and go into my silly little fandom servers, its after I've spent an hour on Tumblr on my main blog reblogging aid posts. Circulating information. Doing my best to connect people to people who can help them. Its after I've spent my lunch break at work listening to my colleagues talking about the latest knifing or child kidnapping. Its after checking Snapchat only to see headlines like MAN BRUTALLY STABS DOG IN PUBLIC PARK.

When I go into those servers, its because I need to get away from all of that. I need to have that time away where I can recover and recharge or I simply won't go online because I know there is absolutely nowhere online where I can simply enjoy something without other people grabbing me by the head and forcing me to look elsewhere at things that are horrific and upsetting.

And the thing about those spaces is they themselves need protection and moderation in order to remain safe. And you know what that means?

It means preventing racism and homophobia. It means if someone is being unpleasant, they get shut down. If someone is being bigoted, they get removed. Because they are making that space unsafe.

Literally nobody except these idiots screaming about racism are suggesting that we just outright allow racism to keep happening.

Can I steal that victim card picture that is so funny

By all means, its just a free-use image off the internet. There are plenty of them and plenty of memes available on the same basis.

@through-thick-and-quinn

That's so many words for; "I didn't read a fucking thing this person said and aren't capable of media literacy and critical thinking!"

https://www.tumblr.com/myfandomrealitea/753096686405124096/ao3-was-our-site-the-site-of-scamming-people-out

Damn Anon, before speaking you must learn to read a website's TOS. AO3 does not host this kind of content. It's literally written:

The Archive of Our Own is a place for fanworks. Content may not be uploaded to OTW's servers if it contains or links to child pornography (images of real children); warez, cracks, hacks or other executable files and their associated utilities; trade secrets, restricted technologies, or classified information; or if it consists entirely of actual instruction manuals, technical data, recipes, or other non-fanwork content, including non-fanwork creative work

Unless, of course, they're talking about fanfictions with fictional characters who experience fictional events…

You and I both know very well they were talking about fictional characters who experience fictional events within fictional literature. We also both know very well they cannot read.

Anyway. Death to Wattpad and long live AO3.

Virtue signalling becomes "bad" when it becomes weaponised or used in place of actual activism. There's absolutely nothing wrong with signalling your stances, virtues and morals to other people or expressing support for something or someone.

Unfortunately, a lot of people use virtue signalling as a means of pressure, targeting, and other unpleasant behaviors.

For example; "if you don't use this Facebook profile frame you're clearly a horrible person who doesn't give a fuck about veterans and can't be bothered to do one tiny thing to show support!"

Or; "if you're too lazy to tell everyone all the time that you're not a pedophile I'm going to automatically assume you're a pedophile."

When people use virtue signalling to harass others, apply pressure to them to conform to expectations or to be awarded basic decency is when virtue signalling becomes something that is harmful rather than something that is beneficial.

Virtue signalling in terms of things like profile frames and window stickers is a fun, sweet way of showing support and raising awareness, but it isn't a moral obligation nor is it paramount activism. Especially when it becomes a consistent expectation that you absolutely must participate in every single public signalling trend or be condemned.

Am I the only person who doesn’t think ‘virtue signaling’ is inherently bad/useless? That post talking about FB frames is so bizarre to me because to me that’s like. Walking past a business with a rainbow flag flying. That was genuinely incredibly important to me as a terrified closeted teen! And someone having a Facebook frame for the same reasons is like - hey that’s one person who doesn’t want me to change or die! I don’t think that’s ’doing nothing’.

.

Thanks for answering my question re: red flags. I've been silently checking the fandom discord since then, and I'm now seeing buzzwords like "fiction that makes abuse look sexy deserves to be called out", "certain relationship tropes are a danger to young girls", "HEA in romance can be harmful as it sets too high standards"...I understand everyone has their opinions, and when worded as personal preference it doesn't alarm me, but I shudder to think what would happen if these ppl found out I write taboo ships with a happy ending. I don't think it's worth the stress for me to stay. And I never considered that the "media literacy" argument could be thrown back at the people who aim to overcompensate for society's lack of critical thinking skills by themselves not engaging in critical thinking.

Once you start noticing it, its impossible not to see/ignore it. Unfortunately you'll find those kinds of slogans and gotcha buzzwords everywhere in fandom and even in real life. TikTok at the moment is just a breeding ground for it, especially as TikTok's ridiculous content policies will allow it as long as its generating income.

Re; the latter part, almost every argument can be reversed. So many people these days are twisting themselves ass backwards to not be A Bad Person that they're just blindly white knighting and waging war without actually stopping and considering if they need to. Or even if they're wielding the right weapon.