Thoughts on the MEFA Situation

[dawn_felagund]

(It took me a few days to write this, off and on, but I do want to preserve my feelings on this whole incident.)

Comments

[just_jenni]

I was shocked to read about the demise of the MEFAs. I had no idea what was going on, having been out of the loop for a long time. But how sad.

I feel that volunteers, especially website owners, give up a lot of personal time in what must be the most thankless of thankless jobs. Of course I am aware of all the mudslinging, drama and wanks that go on all over the 'net and I know the guilty parties would probably be too ashamed to act that way in public if their names and faces were to be known. Some of them, anyway.

[dawn_felagund]

It must have been shocking! :) I always thought of the MEFAs as one of those mainstays that would always be around. It's still hard to believe it's over!

Yes, we both know firsthand the viciousness that can go on, especially when people are given the veil of anonymity. And the shooting off at the mouth that goes on when people don't fully understand something but act like they do. Both went on in this instance, and it's sad.

[just_jenni]

Yes, very, very sad. My heart breaks for the lovely people who maintained the site for so long and did a wonderful job, only to get blindsided so callously (at least it looked that way to me). Of course there will always be people who have issues but nothing of this sort of personal attack should ever happen to such a website and its hardworking maintainers. There are much better ways to solve problems. Okay, enough of my 2 cents - I hope that the 'new' MEFAs will be able to avoid the pitfalls that were experienced here. :/

[spiced_wine]

but I'm sure it's nice and convenient to blame Those People, those skeevy adult-writing authors, for bringing down a beloved award. Let's be frank, folks. If critique of a policy, no matter how heated, was what caused a fandom institution to close its doors, then it wasn't long for the world anyway

I completely agree. I didn't realize that people were blaming those who spoke up against the ratings, (probably they're not on my f-list) and went to the time and trouble to draft and redraft extremely professional and reasonable letters.

[dawn_felagund]

Yes, unfortunately there's been a disturbing amount of conflation of "people sending anonymous attacks" with "people who wrote an open letter of critique," with the result that the latter are now being blamed (by some, and a minority I'm sure, but nonetheless) for "bringing down the MEFAs." Bet y'all didn't know you had so much power! ;) It's ridiculous but hurtful at the same time, as many people who were criticizing the new ratings only wanted to be heard.

[spiced_wine]

It's ridiculous but hurtful at the same time, as many people who were criticizing the new ratings only wanted to be heard.While I saw a lot of strong and passionate feelings, which I am glad of, since it shows that there is still so much love for the fandom even years after it peaked, I didn't see any real nastiness. Compared to the threads and flames I have read on FF.net, it seemed like a powerful but balanced discussion. It went on over several threads, and a few days, so I didn't catch all of it, but I saw no viciousness. The anonymous hate mail is really reprehensible, but I found it really hard to equate any of the people who took part in the various threads (under their LJ names) with anonymous attacks. I think every-one was quite able to make their point without that. You sometimes get people floating around open discussions who don't take part but might have avidly followed then gone off shot hateful emails. I don't know; all I do know is that it surprised me, given the overall tone of the threads beforehand

[huinare]

I am not stupid, immature, or wankish, and I do resent the implication that my concerns came from any one of these rather than a legitimate desire to make right something perceived as gone wrong.

Well said. I'm too new to fandom to have done MEFAs yet (and was really looking forward to them), and it took me quite a bit of wading through threads to finally understand what was going on; once I did, there were a few things that troubled me, including the anonymous attacks on the MEFA admins.

But what you pointed out above troubles me a lot. It's easy for those whose stories would have been unaffected by the new ratings system to say that it's no big deal. I would strongly encourage people in that camp to reflect upon how they would have felt, had the ratings system been altered in such a way as to bar their own work. From what I've seen, the MEFAs were valued as not only an awards but a fandom-wide social event; those whose stories would have suffered under the new ratings system had more at stake than just the stories themselves.

[wheelrider]

Hey look, you typed my reply already! This is pretty much my position as well.

Although the "anonymous attacks on MEFA admins" part sticks in my craw maybe a bit more as I try to swallow all this -- I can't say I wouldn't have taken my bat and ball and gone home, too, given that.

But then there's all the people that essentially felt attacked by the new ratings system.

I still think it's too bad everyone concerned couldn't have just met in person. Obviously that's a pipe dream, but still.

[dawn_felagund]

I really appreciated the message that you posted, I think to the MEFA list, about the differences between email and in-person communication. That is so true. I remember reading a study once where people were given an email and asked to judge the tone as "positive" or "negative." They currently identified what the writer intended 50% of the time--or they might as well have just guessed! :) The "tone" of the initial letter has been subject to some criticism, where some feel it was disrespectful but where the writers maintain that they were going for professional and unheated. This definitely seems like one of those "50%" times. :)

Personal attacks are always wrong. Unfortunately, they are part of the Internet. Tolkien fandom is rather civilized in this respect, which probably makes them seem more shocking in this instance. That doesn't excuse it, but to me, they are a totally separate issue from the problems with the ratings that some members were raising, and I'm disappointed in the number of people who have been so quick to conflate

[wheelrider]

(Whoops, I tried to reply, but was not logged in or something...?) Anyway -- anonymous attacks make it easy to get paranoid, and hard to remain calm and rational in a heated discussion.

I wish my contribution to the process could be to host our own conference. Then we could hash all this out over some tea (or beer, or spring water, as the case may be).

[aearwen2]

Yes. Your article is very well-written, and you had me nodding my head all the way through

[dawn_felagund]

Well said. It was a mess, with ugliness from all sides. I think that's something that's important to keep in mind. Things like this are so rarely an issue of one person/group being to blame, and this is no exception. That the issue was so complicated--tying in to the issue with Esteliel's story--to make it hard for the average user to understand didn't help. Nor did the timing; everything felt like it was done under a rush.

Yes, I think there are many lessons to be learned. :)

[dreamflower02]

*nods* As one of those MEFA volunteers who was involved in the *whole* debacle, I have to say, you've nailed most of it square on the head.

This entire thing was made of good intentions gone awry. If the deadline for beginning the MEFAs had not been so close, if those of us in the post-mortem had only seen the pitfalls for ourselves in what we had come up with, if emotions had not been running so high, if some people (and NOT those who wrote the letter-- I know too many of them too well to believe that letter was ill-intentioned) had not taken their own anger out in an inappropriate manner, if there had been time for the MEFA admin to listen (and that was a crucial factor), if, if, if! But I have no doubt that in the beginning NO ONE intended the outcome. (Although with the tech troubles that popped up at the end, we may not have had the MEFAs anyhow. That was like the straw that broke the camel's back

[dawn_felagund]

I have so appreciated your perspectives through all of this, Barb, and especially your grace and equanimity. I think that much of what's positive to come out of this will be thanks to your ability and willingness to hear and communicate the perspectives of both sides. I wanted to thank you and say publicly that I think you're awesome! :)

It was indeed a lot of factors. Blame cannot be assigned to a single incident or person. And a lot of it was just bad timing/luck, as you've said.

I think that the move to build on the MEFAs with a new award is something positive to come from this. We could be sitting around, crying in our miruvor, pointing our fingers, and endlessly deconstructing what happened. That so many people have already poured so much energy into making something new and positive reflects the spirit of our community, I think, moreso than do personal attacks and fingerpointing.

[dreamflower02]

I think that the move to build on the MEFAs with a new award is something positive to come from this. We could be sitting around, crying in our miruvor, pointing our fingers, and endlessly deconstructing what happened. That so many people have already poured so much energy into making something new and positive reflects the spirit of our community, I think, moreso than do personal attacks and fingerpointing.

That we are doing so I think says a lot about the spirit of the Tolkien fandom in general. Many fandoms have exploded and been destroyed over far flimsier problems than this. It is the sort of thing that often descends into flamewars and wankery; but I do not think that will happen here.

I think most of us have tried our best to be gracious and to build something positive. It's just a shame that a few people tried to make things worse: but we can put them behind us now and move forward.