#also why is tma trending I feel like there might be a reason behind that tho I haven't checked yet

[famdommcfanface]

Okay what the fuck is up with this

[agnesmontague]

im gonna try to keep this brief and also in a more neutral tone than other posts ive seen today but ive noticed a surge of people @-ing and pinging the actual real life creators of their favorite shows and bands, notably in the tma fandom and the mechs fandom (my frame of reference), and it occurred to me that people who have basically known entertainment primarily as an Online Thing may not know why it’s not super appropriate to ping smaller creators for their attention the same way it is ok to @ really huge celeb accounts like taylor swift or something. the short answer is that smaller creators don’t have a huge PR team or anything managing their accounts. it’s just them behind there, trying to manage their lives like you are, and while that might make it even more tempting to get their attention directly via twitter or discord, to them you’re basically a stranger? a really loud stranger who is suddenly in their mentions and wanting your attention for no reason other than they are familiar with your work? 

and while that might be really flattering to some (i do know other creators take this very much in stride), others might find it annoying at best and just uncomfortable at worst, especially if they feel like you’re putting them on the spot. and when you don’t know what someone’s boundaries are, it’s always best to play it safe. and it’s not so much the content of what you say, so much as how you’re choosing to get their attention--even if you’re asking for something as harmless as their opinion on something mundane, if you keep pinging them until you get your answer or slide into their DMs suddenly, it shows more that you’re unwilling to respect their time and general boundaries for a joke, or an issue that ultimately doesn’t even really matter that much. and it can be an uncomfortable spot to put a creator in, no matter how good your intentions are. you don’t actually know what the creator is comfortable seeing--maybe they don’t want to see fics featuring their character, maybe they’re not into talking about sexuality hcs at all--so, again, best to play it safe unless they’ve shown themselves to be open to discussing such topics with fans.

i know this all sounds really obvious when written out and it can be harder to put into practice (it differs case by case too!), but it’s a trend that i find has been on the rise and i thought a reminder might be nice to put out there :)