case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2014-06-12 06:40 pm

[ SECRET POST #2718 ]


⌈ Secret Post #2718 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Mayim Bialik]


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[Pacific Rim]











Notes:

Might be another 12 am day. Response time will be slow, sorry.

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 016 secrets from Secret Submission Post #388.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 2 - this is getting spammy now ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
nyxelestia: Rose Icon (Default)

I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] nyxelestia 2014-06-13 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
It was...not fun. Lots of comments about how I was a terrible writer, I didn't deserve to have my stuff posted online, I should stop writing forever, etc. - I don't remember if any of those comments actively said I should go kill myself, though I do remember getting some serious "you don't deserve to live" vibes from many of the "reviews". That said, none of it was SJW-themed.

Surprisingly, it was probably good for me in many ways, namely in that it confirmed for me that there is no such thing as a "safe space" even/especially on the Internet. That helped me in the long run, because no matter what kind of shit got thrown at me over the years, I was able to let it slide off pretty easily. If I hadn't had that initial experience with sporking - and visiting the sporkers' LJ community to boot, so I got to see a lot of sides of that particular issue - then I would have been hit a lot harder by certain fandom events later in life.

That said, this was back before fandom was supposed to be some kind of safe space. People were still coming to terms with the concept that the Internet could have real life consequences for average people, and cyberbullying wasn't a serious problem yet. Sporking back then was in a vastly different context than it would be/is today.

While I can definitely understand the appeal of doing the sporking and can see how it can be done without too much harm coming about, it's something that is far too easy to get out of hand, which is why I frown on it by default. Far too few people even process that there is a line between light mockery and bullying, letalone know how to not cross it.

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

(Anonymous) 2014-06-13 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
I'm sorry that happened to you. That's awful.
nyxelestia: Rose Icon (Default)

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] nyxelestia 2014-06-13 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
I lived, and it was good for me in the end. Doesn't mean I wish it on anyone else.

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] jaybie_jarrett 2014-06-13 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
That's awful and I can see why you hate it.

I usually would only spork my own old fics (which is actually pretty funny), so I don't hurt anyone.
nyxelestia: Rose Icon (Default)

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] nyxelestia 2014-06-13 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
I don't hate it, actually. I really do think that it was ultimately better for me, and that we should be allowed more room for constructive criticism in fandom than we currently have. I just see why other people hate it so much, and disapprove of it because of where it can lead, not where it definitively does.

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] jaybie_jarrett 2014-06-13 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
Ah okay

my bad.

Yeah I always used to be wary of it as well, because of what could happen. I've seen negative echo chambers that took a turn for the nasty and nobody said anything because the rules forbade defending the thing that was being vented about because it was a "venting thread" . One time that "thing" turned out to be the author of the book series the site was for.

(I'm starting to hate how "venting" is used to justify nasty talk and behavior between the site and ..well all of fucking tumblr, but that's a rant for a different day)
nyxelestia: Rose Icon (Default)

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] nyxelestia 2014-06-13 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
I never understood that mentality. But then, I was the kind of person who hated "unconditional support for my side" even as a kid - I don't want unconditional support, I want useful support, and unconditional is not useful because if there's a flaw in my side I need to address, how else am I supposed to handle it but having it pointed out to me and analyzed?

But then, this is why I tell most people that when shit goes down, I'm a terrible shoulder to cry on but an awesome problem-solver and shit-bannisher. :P

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] jaybie_jarrett 2014-06-13 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I remember seeing someone on tumblr talking about how they should "make it illegal to critcize their movement" and I was like "the fuck? That's a HORRIBLE idea. Not only does it make it seem like their ideology can't stand up to any scrutiny , but also makes it IMPOSSIBLE to self police- as long as someone claimed they were a part of that ideology , they could do anything in it's name and get off scott- free!

Criticism and analyzing things are actually important. I wish people didn't act as if actual criticism meant hate and if someone pointed out an error it meant they hated them.
nyxelestia: Rose Icon (Default)

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] nyxelestia 2014-06-13 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Whenever I see that, I want to point out that's already happening in many parts of the world...and when it does, we call it a violation of the rights to free speech.

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] jaybie_jarrett 2014-06-13 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah exactly.

But with some people on tumblr it's depends on what group it's happening to for whether it's "a violation of human rights" or "swift justice". If it happens to them or someone they identify with- it's the worst thing ever, but if it happens to a group they hate? Suddenly it's "justice" and "awesome" and "badass".

That kinda disturbs me, tbqh. How people can be that lacking in empathy.

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

(Anonymous) 2014-06-13 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
I had this happen to me, too. The fic is long gone (was up on Geocities), but people were just brutal when the Internet started taking off. I'm talking circa 1996.

I quit writing for a long time after lots of nasty feedback. And in one of those incredible twists of fate, one of the things people were nastiest to me about is now a staple of fics in that fandom.

Fortunately, I'm now older and wiser with a slightly thicker skin, but sheesh...

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

(Anonymous) 2014-06-13 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
*new headcanon that nyxelestia wrote the J2 RPS set after the Haitian earthquake*
nyxelestia: Rose Icon (Default)

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] nyxelestia 2014-06-13 08:58 am (UTC)(link)
J2 = ?

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

(Anonymous) 2014-06-13 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Jared and Jensen, the actors playing Sam and Dean on Supernatural.
nyxelestia: Rose Icon (Default)

Re: I got my first fic sporking when I was about 12.

[personal profile] nyxelestia 2014-06-14 08:06 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, thank you. :)