Tumblr Free Day

[kitewithfish]

Last night I had the bright idea of removing the Tumblr app from the homepage on my phone (not deleting it! Just moving it out of sight) and man, I am glad I did. I keep reflexively looking for it when I have a minute to myself, because Tumblr was good for distractions and new stuff and pretty pretty art, but not for community. 

Whereas anytime I open up a DW window I end up with nine tabs and three replies to write because To Be A Fan On DW is to be a chatty, chatty human being. XD

Does the social media you're using effect who you are on that platform?  I tend to think it does, but I am betting people have other experiences.

I have tried to establish Kitewithfish as Who I Am in fandom with little IRL crossover, so most of my online stuff is as a version of myself slightly detached from people who might google my name. Who I am online with fannish folks is different than I am with people on, say, Facebook, but it's pretty close to who I am in person. I have mostly kept FB a Fandom Free Zone for me, since god, that site gives me the Heebies AND the Jeebies, but I happily chat about fanfic with people who know me in life, tho I am coy about usernames. 

Comments

[kitewithfish]

That's the thing - I like the idea of being who I am online, with a name and a reputation (for good or ill) attached to it. I do try to be the same person online (well, maybe with a slightly better filter and better graphics). Facebook is a necessary evil - I would love to duplicate the relationships I have there with other people elsewhere online, but it's just really not likely to happen.

I was re-reading "Fan is a Tool Using Animal" (https://idlewords.com/talks/fan_is_a_tool_using_animal.htm) where Maciej reflects on how fandom has a much higher commitment to privacy and values anonymity, and I think that concept really shaped the way I think about being in online fandom.

(Sidenote: remember MsScribe and the absurd fallout of her sock puppet army?)

Tumblr was 100000% terrible at actual interpersonal conversations. It was great for being like, "Here's 20 cool things a minute!" but awful for connecting you to the people making or curating or editing those things. Thank god for AO3 or I'd never figure out who anyone really was online.

[telekinetic_hedgehog]

What a neat article!

I agree with your post, that the structure of a site affects how we use it. Kind of like saying the medium is the message. I'd like to think that getting away from the structure of Tumblr will encourage a more sincere, less ironic and hostile fandom community, but I'm not sure whether or not that'll be the case.

[kitewithfish]

Here's hoping!

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Ah, HERE the link was! I just read "Fan is a Tool Using Animal" for the first time, loved it, thank you!

[bayliss]

Shit... I was there for MsScribe and her Million sock puppets. I was there for most of Cassie Claire's bullshit, too. Pretty much any wank that occured on LJ I saw and watched like a train wreck.

Hell, I was plagiarized and Impersonated on LJ, so yeah. (it was 57 stories total. around 30 of them were mine, I think.) I understand the need to keep shit separated, but I still like to be authentic. Honestly, If someone from Real life googled me all they would find would be my Pintrest, Facebook, and Instagram. LOL that's the way I want it. :-)

[kitewithfish]

oh, god, cassie fucking clare - I legit cannot believe she had a tv show made from her stuff. Like, my mind is just, *explodey head*

[bayliss]

I sold a couple of her books to some teenage girls when I worked at Walmart a few years ago.

Legit I said, "Oh i read these when they were still Harry Potter Fan fiction and she was accused of Plagiarizing parts of them."

The girls looked at me like I had a third head.

I still have never read any of her books, nor watched anything based off of her shit. ( I am, in fact, a petty old bitch when it comes to her.)

[kitewithfish]

I'm torn between being more amused that the tiny humans assume that you a) don't know about fanfic or b) would not dare mention it in public, or c) had no idea Cassie Clair wrote fic and was the source of fandom wank back in the day. We're in post 50 Shades reality here, anything goes.


I still have never read any of her books, nor watched anything based off of her shit. ( I am, in fact, a petty old bitch when it comes to her.)

Preach!

[bayliss]

I believe they were unaware of the fact that the books were fan fiction before publication, because Ms Claire was ordered to take them down before they were "Find and Replaced". (the event occurred in 2010 so, *shrugs*, the girls weren't much older than 16 so, I don't know how much they actually knew about the whole mess.

I just thought they should know. :-)