#twitter drama is genuinely so fucking rancid i can't understand how those folks even function every day

[monstersinthecosmos]

yknow we talk a lot about like, calling fandom fascism & censorship out for what it is, instead of couching it in words like anti/proship that make it sound sillier and less abusive than it actually is, and I think we also should confront the way social media preys on anger responses for engagement and how participating in toxic fandom behavior feeds right into that.

it's not rebellious to lead fandom dogpiles and drown yourself in the mire of drama, it's playing exactly into the outrage algorithm and participating directly into capitalism in a way that is so deeply unethical, not to mention so self-harming. This isn't a situation of no ethical consumption under capitalism -- this is not shopping for groceries at Walmart because it's all you can afford or using a cable provider that endorsed MAGA because it's the only one available your area -- this is something so very easy to boycott and to refuse to participate in.

i was just peeking at some fandom drama on twitter because I am susceptible to watching the circus act just like everyone else lmao, and it genuinely astounds me the way the most abusive and petty people come online and try to cosplay as leftists who are somehow doing all of this for a righteous cause. It's just so deeply cognitively dissonant. (put a pin in this and remember everything we've learned about accountability vs shame and how often people use shame to make themselves feel better when it's entirely unproductive to the issue they claim to care about yatta yatta.)

anyway that's my thought this afternoon--framing fandom drama into more real world contexts always sounds a little bit silly, but I think if you're a person with hobbies who uses the internet as a social space, we have to stop treating it like it's silly and can't harm you, can't influence you, can't hurt your feelings. i'm sure we all have close relationships and countless GOOD things we've gained from fandoming and it's ridiculous to propose that you can't also cause harm in equal measure, and we can't spend every day reading fic, talking to other fans and making friends, hanging out in discord, and then pretend it's not an important space for you.

stop letting capitalism ruin everything. fandom is inherently anarchistic and there's nothing more anarchistic than continuing to be kind to each other when they don't want you to be!