Re: Thoughts

Date: 2023-04-15 07:52 pm (UTC)
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
>> Ha, fujoguide! I'm in a discord server with the creators, it's a super fun concept. <<

Please tell them thanks from me. They're getting a lot of love here on DW; a bunch of my fans pounced on this and boosted the signal. I've seen other folks boosting it too.

>> I keep forgetting to check-out followfriday, too. <<

If you subscribe to either the community or my blog, then the posts will appear in your reading page. If you don't use your reading page, then maybe jot it down in whatever calendar you use. My desk calendar has all my recurring posts listed so I remember to make them.

>> I'm a bit wary of saying it was such a welcoming place for everyone <<

I didn't say it was welcoming for everyone. I said it was better than what we had now, which is rarely welcoming of anyone.

>> many people have had bad experiences in LJ-based fandom and the like, particularly related to race, <<

Some people have reported issues with race and gender as far back as the fandom community goes. But it was always patchy -- other folks observed that their groups were fine with diversity, and often far ahead of mundane society in those regards, which is part of what attracted people to fandom in the past. It was possible to create inclusive spaces, and a fair number of folks did that, even though some other places were more fricative.

>> but it's true that I also have the impression that things escalate much more quickly now. <<

Much more quickly and much more often. Fandom used to be about squeeing over the things you loved and finding other people with common interests to squee with you. We knew there were problems with canons. We just ate around the bad spots, then wrote fanfic that left out the bits we disliked and magnified what we loved most. I honestly credit Kirk/Spock slashfic with contributing to the acceptance of homosexuality. That turned "the love that dare not speak its name" into "Aww, da kyoot!" Nowadays, fandom is far more whining about things people dislike, picking on each other, and picking on creators. It has become just another branch of mundanity in elf ears.

There are still pockets of fans who are more classic, but it's getting harder to find those. Yet people say they want that -- they want spaces that are more welcoming and less violent.

>> What I think may have happened is that current social media design means you have more of a "public" persona, and so even your relationships online are more "visible" to lurkers and outsiders. <<

That is true, and it is a problem. People have forgotten that privacy is a requirement for civilization, because humans are damn irritating creatures and if they can't get away then they start eating each other. The health and safety of a platform can be measured largely by its privacy and moderation tools. People need ways to switch between public and private modes, to filter content and access, to decide who they want to associate with and what they want to see, to edit mistakes and delete spam or flames, to meet new friends in a safe public venue, and to observe before participating. DW is good at that; more recent social media platforms generally are not.

Privacy isn't a frill, it's a survival need. Any zookeeper can tell you that. The reason all the animal enclosures have shelters, even though that's boring for visitors, is because animals tend to die without them. The relentless stress of being seen all the time with no relief is enough to overburden their metabolism until it stops working. And we see the same thing in humans -- if they can't get away from surveillance, they become anxious and paranoid or depressed and unresponsive. It leads to the kind of mental and physical disorders that shorten or end lives.

One thing that really sets me apart is that I grew up near Amish territory and adopted their base rule. I don't draw the lines in the same places, but I use the same rule: "Before adopting a new piece of technology, first determine if it will do more harm than good. If so, do not adopt it." If a product doesn't do what I need it to, or it causes problems, then I won't use it; or if forced to use it, will minimize contact as much as possible. Most people don't think about that, which makes it easier for them to hurt themselves on new tech they have not assessed carefully.

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hex {he/him}

over 25yo. mostly into fandom in a meta way, nowadays, but i also like SFFH books & tv. sometimes (very rarely) I write fic. currently into digital minimalism and looking to be less on social media and more on here or on the indie web.

tags

May 2025

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