This is what I get up to when I'm bored at work.
Under the cut, you will find a long ramble about fandom, fandom etiquette, the differences between real life and fandom, and the mechanics behind some types of wankery. If you read it and end up thinking it worth being linked, feel free to link away, because I like discussion.
On the internet, everybody and everything's an abstract concept.
Seriously. Think about it. All we have to go on regarding others on the internet is their nickname, and the picture they paint of themselves. All we have to go on regarding actors and other celebrities is the image fed to us by media coverage. And anything fictional is abstract in itself.
I'm not going to start with the old claim that 'the internet isn't real'. It's very damn real, and you can get to know people - for real. But not on first glance. The first impression you get is what people want you to get as a first impression, because other than in RL, on the internet, a person creates their own environment.
First impressions are important. Knowing what sort of a person someone wants to be is so very helpful in understanding their words and actions. So if I meet LJ user XY in a discussion about the science of black holes, I will, even if I learn later on that she's a single mom with three kids and a cleaning job that barely keeps her above the water, always know that astrophysics is something close to her heart. That maybe, if she'd been allowed to decide, she'd be at Georgetown now, teaching a seminar about time-travelling quantum particles.
My point? On the internet, everybody starts out the same. What they make of themselves, what image they create for others to see, is entirely up to them.
So, am I saying that making stuff up about yourself is fair game on the internet? No, I'm not saying that. Nobody will be able to stop LJ user XY from lying to people and telling them that yes, she actually is a professor at Georgetown, but as soon as people will find out about her lie - and they will, the internet always inevitably discovers the truth about people, simply because nothing but the truth is able to maintain consistency in a medium that forgets nothing - they will lose interest and turn away. Because XY hadn't understood the one thing that's important about the internet: it doesn't matter who you are, it only matters who you want to be. In other words, your passion matters. Passion on the internet is the same thing like a MA degree in RL.
If used in the right way, the internet has a way of showing you that what you have is, in fact, enough. On the internet, there's no competition; or at least, there shouldn't be one. You can create competition with things like ficathons, art exchange, or fic matches, but it's always friendly competition. You don't lose anything if you don't win a fic match, and you never win anything but pride in your work and appreciation for it from others if you do win. What you do counts, not what you are or what you have. And as long as you treat others fairly and are honest and passionate, you can't really do anything wrong.
So if the internet is such a shiny and wonderful Garden of Eden place, then why, um, well, isn't it? Why is there so much bitching and wanking and hating and name-calling?
Well. That's what passion is, right? Not hating and bitching, specifically, but passion equals strong emotions. For the most part in most fandoms, those are positive emotions, but of course, you can't have the good without the bad. If I love and adore Mister Spock and feel a passion about his character that would equal a MA in Spock sciences in RL, if there were such a thing, it's hard to accept people criticizing him, especially when I get the feeling that they don't know half as much about him as I do.
This is where one needs to remember the abstract concept thing. Mister Spock is an abstract concept that you cannot gather evidence about the way you can gather evidence about the biochemical reactions of the human metabolism. In the end, all that you can know about him are educated guesses. And everybody's entitled to making a guess. You can argue with them if you think their guesses are less educated than yours, but it should be an argument based on your education on the subject, not your personal opinion of the person criticizing the object of your passion.
If you think about it, it's similar in RL. No mathematician will ever argue about the validity of the slope-intercept form as an accurate description of all two-dimensional linear equations, same as no Star Trek fan will ever argue about the fact that Spock is half-human, half-Vulcan in origin. But as soon as you touch a subject that's only slightly more complex, like irrational numbers in mathematics, or the question of whether or not Amanda was Sarek's second wife in Star Trek, nothing's quite as clear anymore. People start to argue, in fandom as well as in RL. One difference is that in RL matters, there are a lot more empirical facts and results of scientifically conducted research to rely on. The other difference is that in the offline world, the value of what you say depends a lot on who you are. We don't do that in fandom. We accept everyone and everyone's opinion as equal in value, as long as there's a conclusive argument to back it up.
Small side note here: I say equal in value. Of course it makes a difference whether or not you're a well-known persona in (your) fandom, because if people have heard of you, they're more likely to read what you've got to say. But that only means that having a reputation makes it easier to get people to listen to you. Making them believe you is as hard or easy for well-known fans as it is for newbies.
The point I am making here is the following: on the internet, as soon as you start getting irrational about something, you have lost automatically. There are no such things like academic degrees to back you up - when you go off the rails, it won't take long for people to start jumping off your wagon, even if you have a certain status in fandom. Batshit is not easily tolerated, and fandom offers no tenures. And as much as anyone has the chance in fandom to work their way up to a position of respect, they also have the same chance as anyone else to end up being mocked for stubborn stupidity. (Of course, there is other kind of wank, the wank that is born out of misinformation and false rumours, but that's not what I'm talking about.)
If you're active on the internet, it's sometimes hard to remember that RL works according to different standards. I'm sure you all know the feeling. Fannish passion is regarded as weird in RL, while it's something perfectly normal, and usually actually something positive in fandom. This works the other way around as well. If someone gets into fandom without any prior knowledge of the etiquette, it can be confusing. Why doesn't anybody care if I tell them that I'm a professor in RL? Why do people actually sneer when I bring it up in an argument? I only want to prove that I know what I'm talking about.
Thing is, claiming things on the internet is proof for exactly nothing. In fandom, actual knowledge counts. Nobody cares if you got the knowledge at university or watching educational TV while ironing. Telling people of your accomplishments in RL to back up your argument only demonstrates blatant disregard for fandom etiquette, and will not count in your favour.
In fandom, you're an abstract concept to the people who don't know you. People get the wildest ideas about abstract concepts; just consider how much hate some TV characters get for actually quite trivial things, simply because some fans have decided that they don't want to like them. It's nothing that's to be taken personally. I'm not saying that it's okay to make the wildest assumptions about people and sell them as hard facts, but I am saying that if it does happen, the people claiming things they cannot back up are walking a dangerous tight-rope. As I said: if you start acting irrationally, fandom will very quickly stop listening.
Fandom is supposed to be a happy place, and it's supposed to be a place for inspiring discussion. It's about exchange of creativity and knowledge, which are both values that can only be shared, not given or taken away. So the concept of profit is a moot one in fandom: even if someone else has 'more' creativity or knowledge than you, it's not something you can take away and keep for yourself. The only thing you can do is work on trying to extend your own knowledge and creative skills, and I think that's one of the wonderful things fandom does: it doesn't challenge you to better yourself. It encourages you.
On the internet, everybody and everything's an abstract concept.
Seriously. Think about it. All we have to go on regarding others on the internet is their nickname, and the picture they paint of themselves. All we have to go on regarding actors and other celebrities is the image fed to us by media coverage. And anything fictional is abstract in itself.
I'm not going to start with the old claim that 'the internet isn't real'. It's very damn real, and you can get to know people - for real. But not on first glance. The first impression you get is what people want you to get as a first impression, because other than in RL, on the internet, a person creates their own environment.
First impressions are important. Knowing what sort of a person someone wants to be is so very helpful in understanding their words and actions. So if I meet LJ user XY in a discussion about the science of black holes, I will, even if I learn later on that she's a single mom with three kids and a cleaning job that barely keeps her above the water, always know that astrophysics is something close to her heart. That maybe, if she'd been allowed to decide, she'd be at Georgetown now, teaching a seminar about time-travelling quantum particles.
My point? On the internet, everybody starts out the same. What they make of themselves, what image they create for others to see, is entirely up to them.
So, am I saying that making stuff up about yourself is fair game on the internet? No, I'm not saying that. Nobody will be able to stop LJ user XY from lying to people and telling them that yes, she actually is a professor at Georgetown, but as soon as people will find out about her lie - and they will, the internet always inevitably discovers the truth about people, simply because nothing but the truth is able to maintain consistency in a medium that forgets nothing - they will lose interest and turn away. Because XY hadn't understood the one thing that's important about the internet: it doesn't matter who you are, it only matters who you want to be. In other words, your passion matters. Passion on the internet is the same thing like a MA degree in RL.
If used in the right way, the internet has a way of showing you that what you have is, in fact, enough. On the internet, there's no competition; or at least, there shouldn't be one. You can create competition with things like ficathons, art exchange, or fic matches, but it's always friendly competition. You don't lose anything if you don't win a fic match, and you never win anything but pride in your work and appreciation for it from others if you do win. What you do counts, not what you are or what you have. And as long as you treat others fairly and are honest and passionate, you can't really do anything wrong.
So if the internet is such a shiny and wonderful Garden of Eden place, then why, um, well, isn't it? Why is there so much bitching and wanking and hating and name-calling?
Well. That's what passion is, right? Not hating and bitching, specifically, but passion equals strong emotions. For the most part in most fandoms, those are positive emotions, but of course, you can't have the good without the bad. If I love and adore Mister Spock and feel a passion about his character that would equal a MA in Spock sciences in RL, if there were such a thing, it's hard to accept people criticizing him, especially when I get the feeling that they don't know half as much about him as I do.
This is where one needs to remember the abstract concept thing. Mister Spock is an abstract concept that you cannot gather evidence about the way you can gather evidence about the biochemical reactions of the human metabolism. In the end, all that you can know about him are educated guesses. And everybody's entitled to making a guess. You can argue with them if you think their guesses are less educated than yours, but it should be an argument based on your education on the subject, not your personal opinion of the person criticizing the object of your passion.
If you think about it, it's similar in RL. No mathematician will ever argue about the validity of the slope-intercept form as an accurate description of all two-dimensional linear equations, same as no Star Trek fan will ever argue about the fact that Spock is half-human, half-Vulcan in origin. But as soon as you touch a subject that's only slightly more complex, like irrational numbers in mathematics, or the question of whether or not Amanda was Sarek's second wife in Star Trek, nothing's quite as clear anymore. People start to argue, in fandom as well as in RL. One difference is that in RL matters, there are a lot more empirical facts and results of scientifically conducted research to rely on. The other difference is that in the offline world, the value of what you say depends a lot on who you are. We don't do that in fandom. We accept everyone and everyone's opinion as equal in value, as long as there's a conclusive argument to back it up.
Small side note here: I say equal in value. Of course it makes a difference whether or not you're a well-known persona in (your) fandom, because if people have heard of you, they're more likely to read what you've got to say. But that only means that having a reputation makes it easier to get people to listen to you. Making them believe you is as hard or easy for well-known fans as it is for newbies.
The point I am making here is the following: on the internet, as soon as you start getting irrational about something, you have lost automatically. There are no such things like academic degrees to back you up - when you go off the rails, it won't take long for people to start jumping off your wagon, even if you have a certain status in fandom. Batshit is not easily tolerated, and fandom offers no tenures. And as much as anyone has the chance in fandom to work their way up to a position of respect, they also have the same chance as anyone else to end up being mocked for stubborn stupidity. (Of course, there is other kind of wank, the wank that is born out of misinformation and false rumours, but that's not what I'm talking about.)
If you're active on the internet, it's sometimes hard to remember that RL works according to different standards. I'm sure you all know the feeling. Fannish passion is regarded as weird in RL, while it's something perfectly normal, and usually actually something positive in fandom. This works the other way around as well. If someone gets into fandom without any prior knowledge of the etiquette, it can be confusing. Why doesn't anybody care if I tell them that I'm a professor in RL? Why do people actually sneer when I bring it up in an argument? I only want to prove that I know what I'm talking about.
Thing is, claiming things on the internet is proof for exactly nothing. In fandom, actual knowledge counts. Nobody cares if you got the knowledge at university or watching educational TV while ironing. Telling people of your accomplishments in RL to back up your argument only demonstrates blatant disregard for fandom etiquette, and will not count in your favour.
In fandom, you're an abstract concept to the people who don't know you. People get the wildest ideas about abstract concepts; just consider how much hate some TV characters get for actually quite trivial things, simply because some fans have decided that they don't want to like them. It's nothing that's to be taken personally. I'm not saying that it's okay to make the wildest assumptions about people and sell them as hard facts, but I am saying that if it does happen, the people claiming things they cannot back up are walking a dangerous tight-rope. As I said: if you start acting irrationally, fandom will very quickly stop listening.
Fandom is supposed to be a happy place, and it's supposed to be a place for inspiring discussion. It's about exchange of creativity and knowledge, which are both values that can only be shared, not given or taken away. So the concept of profit is a moot one in fandom: even if someone else has 'more' creativity or knowledge than you, it's not something you can take away and keep for yourself. The only thing you can do is work on trying to extend your own knowledge and creative skills, and I think that's one of the wonderful things fandom does: it doesn't challenge you to better yourself. It encourages you.