fandom etiquette 101: or, how to not be a douchenozzlele

It will surprise absolutely zero people that from time to time fandom comes under the radar of the mainstream media. (They have slow news days too, you know!) As a rule, these treatments are far from multi-perspectival or nuanced. They’re more of a ‘laugh at the freaks’ kind of a deal. We all moan and groan, but when it’s our fandom that’s under scrunity, things get dicey. 

A similar thing went down in my own fandom recently, and while it could have been handled differently, here are some thoughts (*my own, I claim to speak for no one BUT MYSELF, yo*) on how to be a decent citizen of fandom, and, by extension, the internet at large. 

• PLAY BY FIGHT CLUB RULES:

Until vetted, everyone is an outsider. Be suspect. Don’t overshare. 

• USE COMMON SENSE:

Wrote an awesome RPF? Good for you! Want to talk about it on your public Twitter? Use code names or initials. Don’t @ message anyone even tangentially involved in the scenario. Put your fic under f-lock on LiveJournal or make it members-only on AO3.

• BE RESPECTFUL

We all know fandom can be a little (or a lot) unhinged, the same as we know that everything on the internet is findable, if you know where to look. Even if you’ve taken precautions, stuff gets around. People make mean memes, they liveblog, they do totally stupid things like email tabloids or send books of slash to actors or send tweets to people with links. These are gross and stupid. Don’t do them. 

• ACT LIKE YOU’RE PART OF A COLLECTIVE

Fandom is one of the few places where real, collective, communal action takes place. Even if you’re not a contributing member of a fandom, you’re just as responsible for its perception and representation. Don’t troll. Don’t leave anon hate. 

• IT WILL BLOW OVER

Let it go. The shit happens. Life moves fast on the web. Tomorrow some other story will take its place. 

• FANDOM MATTERS

Fandom is genuinely fucking cool. We get to radically remake cultural artifacts. It’s dynamic, it’s emergent, it’s constantly evolving. That shit is awesome. Remember that when anyone tells you it’s “just fandom.” They might as well say it’s just culture. It’s the shit that makes us human. Honor it, respect it. 

• DON’T BE A DICK

If it’s all voluntary, there’s literally no reason to be spiteful or malicious. Don’t like a pairing? Don’t read it. Dislike a BNF? Talk about it in DMs, not in public. Take your hate elsewhere. We don’t need it. 

• HAVE FUN

For fuck’s sake, enjoy yourself. 

3 months ago  /  10 notes