(no subject)
spnpermanon. You want to know where the Anon Meme is? There you go. I won't stick to this "I'm not going to link you because I want to protect you," mentality of silence that's going around. That attitude is useless -- 75% of us know it's there, know what's been said on it, and have probably scanned the contents.
And here's the thing -- I don't care. I don't care if you post there. I don't care if you're the most active poster on there. I don't care if you throw up a little bit in your mouth every time it's mentioned (I apologize for this post, if that's the case). I get that, all of it. Threatening to defriend people if you find out they've participated, that doesn't strike me as helping the situation any.
Okay, there's some show discussion going on over there. That's what I read the most from people who own up to posting on the meme. They're there for the discussion in order to avoid any arguments or conflict on their flist. I can see the appeal. I think you all know that I pretty much say whatever I want, if not here then on Twitter and in emails. Y'all don't scare me, and I'm not an idiot thinking I'm too popular that no one will take offense with what I say.
So, you want to own up to posting there? Good for you. It's one more little factoid I can add to my knowledge of you. Same if you never want to speak of it ever again. I'll know something else about you, if that's the case.
But here's the trouble with the Anon Meme: If you're going to own up to participating, you have to own the entire thing. You have to own the parts that shone during the victim!blaming issues that came up weeks ago, and the parts when the meme is nothing more than an outlet for jealously, whining, and bitchiness. By nature, the entire thing is anonymous and you can't pick and choose which parts you're going to support and which parts you can distance yourselves from. Your comments and participation are unidentified and therefore everything blends together. Ever read up on mob-violence? It's so difficult to prosecute any one person because it's hard to single out one person's behavior from another. It's no wonder people often use a single brush to paint the entire Anon Meme. Can you really blame them?
Y'all know I like CSI, correct? Well, I can give you two episodes to watch. The first, where a "mob" tramples and kills a man on an airplane and every person involved had a hand in his death. One individual couldn't blame the rest of the group, they all contributed. The second, a "mob" of angry men (singing the song of angry men! It is the music of a...sorry) tramples and beats to death a man who they thought ran over a child with his taxi-cab. No one in the group could claim innocence, or that it wasn't them who dealt the killing blow. Everyone was held accountable because their actions were indistinguishable from the others in the mob.
Before this week, I've had a live-and-let-live relationship with the Anon Meme. It exists, I can't stop it, there's occasionally some worthwhile discussion that I read, but don't participate in. I learned the error of participation when I tried to post a comment there and promptly anon-failed much to my chagrin at the time, but my amusement now.
The entire issue with Big Bang, though, and posting every story for anonymous commenters to either praise or tear-down, that's not sitting so well with me. On the one hand, everyone should have the opportunity to say what they'd like to say about a story, but you know -- you all know -- that there's going to be some extremely negative things said, whether it's about the story or a personal grudge against the author or artist. I completely understand anyone who's hesitant to post their Big Bangs because of the inevitable Anon thread about it. As far as I understand, no story is exempt. Unwillingly mandatory participation, I suppose.
And it's not nothing. If it's stressing someone out, that's perfectly valid. Same with the other way around. If you're excited about the prospect of anonymous feedback, good for you, but don't use that as an excuse to shove the concept down someone else's throat.
Of course discussion is going to happen whether or not the Anon Meme exists. I've talked about stories in private because sometimes you need that back-and-forth if a story rubbed you the wrong way. It's better to let it out than to stew about it. But that doesn't mean I approve of the Anon Meme as that kind of forum.
Drama brings all the girls to the yard. And that's right, the negative kind is more noticeable. Saying something nice might get you a pat on the head, but saying something spiteful is going to get more attention, even if it's of the anonymous sort. If that's how you roll, there's no way to stop it. Just because one person leaves an honest piece of unflattering concrit, that doesn't mean that the ten other negative comments aren't lies, made-up from people who haven't even read the story in question. Ganging up on someone is fun and entertaining -- if that's the way you think...I don't know what to say.
Writing is personal. Getting feedback is personal, which is why we allow it or disallow it in our own spaces and journals. You're not going to sell me on using the Anon Meme as a forum for feedback, so you don't need to try.
Live and let live. We may not be able to stop what the anonymice are doing to the spirit of Big Bang, but we're free to disapprove and speak up about it, and call them on this bullshit.