The Godspeed Gospel: Prologue

Recent events have put into perspective how toxic online communities can be; my neck of the woods included. I know this will sound like a rant that you've heard many times by many people, but hear me out. 

The fact of the matter of is, especially for people like me, there is nothing you can be passionate about that everyone else will try to ruin for you. Whether it's video games, professional wrestling, comics, or animation, there will always be that vocal minority that will go out of their way to make you feel uncomfortable. Except it's never the "vocal minority"; it's the preverbal bad apples that may have already spoiled the broth. Some people will tell you those bad apples don't reflect the feelings of everyone else. Those people may have already been spoiled and they don't even know it; desensitized to crap that shouldn't be OK and behavior that should be called out on. 

Outside of my neck of the woods, all fandoms are the same. A cesspit of stupidity that should just be ignored. It's a waste of time to name drop "the usual suspects", but as far as video games go, let's just say it's weird to think of the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom as the worst of the bunch nowadays. By contrast, an online community is supposed to be a smaller, more neighborly gathering of people with similar interests. Above all else, however, a community is supposed to be a safe space where people can feel welcome. A community that fails to do that much is no different to any given toxic fandom. 

So what do you do if you find yourself burned by a bad fandom and can't even find refuge in a community? You put yourself and your feelings above everything and everyone else. Don't let anything ruin the things you love and never let anyone taint the things you're passionate about. If you're as anti-social as I am, keep those passions to yourself and only share them with your circle of friends (if any). 

Popular Posts