Online Bullying: A Public Discussion

[zephre]

I was in conversation with some folks about the recent spate of Merlin Fandom-related posts that went up behind many a friends-lock. This is not an attempt to do my own version of those posts, but since the posts were locked, so was any discussion of a very real issue in fandom and life

Comments

[zephre]

you're welcome - I'm glad you commented.

[zephre]

Thanks for commenting! I'm sure I'll have more to say when I get home from work!

[zephre]

I wonder if the answer may not be to address the support of victims, rather than focusing on correcting bad behavior? Several people with RL experience have mentioned that issue, and at least one of my friends made me think when she said that it's harder to get bullies to stop.

Is there a way we could shift the focus so that we're addressing the fear and those who have it (to the point where discussions must be locked and filtered)? Perhaps without effective results, certain parts of the anon memes would die a natural death?

Pondering...

[zephre]

You're welcome!

[zephre]

Thanks for commenting. I hope to come back when I get home from work and continue the discussion!

[zephre]

As I've said elsewhere in this thread, I wonder if the answer is to find some way to expand what you have done for yourself to something that can support others who find themselves on the receiving end of hurtful or hateful comments? Not sure if it's a practical idea or not, but I'm brainstorming here.

:)

[rosemaryandrue]

*smiles* This was pretty much what I was thinking - this discussion needs to take place and it needs to be done publicly, even though it will inevitably attract trolls. Good for you for being brave enough to start it.

Sometimes, I think, we duck the argument because for so many of us, fandom is a safe space. We don't want to invite conflict into it. While we ignore bullying, though, whether it's through an anon meme, or nasty trolling, or facebook bullying, or whatever the latest version of it is, we're also ignoring the fact that fandom isn't a safe space for the victim. I don't know how you get that balance right - how to protect yourself and others at the same time, but I don't think staying quiet really fights it. It's safe and it's easy, and it does deny them some legitimacy, but they can always move on to someone new.

[zephre]

I don't think staying quiet is the answer, either - silence is so often taken as consent.
I wonder, in terms of the specific meme that is under discussion, if anybody has made an overture to the mods, or if that's even possible? (I don't know how these comms are managed.) It seems that excellent moderation is the only difference between the comms that feel safe and those that feel threatening.

I also don't know how to effectively reach out to a community that has so many branches. It's a conundrum that's uniquely difficult in comparison to managing bullying in Face-to-face fandom spaces like Cons.

[scribblemoose]

I asked her that back in the day and the answer was a resolute no. But perhaps the time is right now? It has to be worth a try.