fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #578 ]

⌈ Secret Post #578 ⌋

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

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Notes:

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

101. I don't necessarily agree. :/ I think cons actually help us to be more social because we're around people who are so similar to us. The con atmosphere (or at least anime cons, anyway) is usually very welcoming and friendly. I usually talk to more people and a larger variety of age groups when I'm at cons than in everyday life. :)

*goes to pack for Otakon*

Edited 2008-08-05 22:13 (UTC)

IAWTC.

Very true. Cons can definitely be good for people who feel isolated because of their interests and they can finally be around people who like the same stuff they do.

But it can also encourage behaviors that are not proper even at conventions. Like yelling loudly in an enclosed space. I can't tell you how many stress-induced migraine headaches I got at my last con because of that. The con was also at a really nice convention center and hotel and I feel sorry for the people working there who had to put up with people's suck.

That's a good point! Some behaviors that are pretty typical of con-goers aren't always pleasant. :/ But I think that has more to do with the excitement of getting a large group of people together (such as how similar, and even worse, things happen at sporting events, festivals, dances, and whatnot), so I don't think it's necessarily just a con thing.

101. True, being around people who share similar interests can help socially awkward people open up...but only to other people who share their interests in a 'safe' environment. I'm no psychologist, but I think a big reason that so many people now feel isolated is because it's getting easier and easier to control who they talk to and interact with.

I think David Wong's popular article on the inconveniences of the 21st century sums it up better than I can:

Yet, on the whole, people back then were apparently happier in their jobs and more satisfied with their lives. And get this: They had more friends.

That's right. Even though they had almost no ability to filter their peers according to common interests (hell, often you were just friends with the guy who happened to live next door), they still came up with more close friends than we have now--people they could trust.

It turns out, apparently, that after you get over that first irritation, after you shed your shell of "they listen to different music because they wouldn't understand mine" superiority, there's a sort of comfort in needing other people and being needed on a level beyond common interests. It turns out humans are social animals after all. And that ability to suffer fools, to tolerate annoyance, that's literally the one single thing that allows you to function in a world populated by other people who aren't you. Otherwise, you turn emo. Science has proven it.

I think cons and special interest groups are a double-edged sword in that respect. Being social means more than just talking to people who think exactly like you and share similar interests. (that's a general 'you', by the way!)

Ah, once again, a good point! Luckily the average con-goer only has access to very few conventions a year. I think they're good for general fun, but indeed if someone was exposed to that sort of environment too often the results would be even a more intense version of what you speak of. It makes sense that the common interest filter does cripple social development. :/

But also, we're talking about many people that have an extreme lack of social development... and for those people I think convention can help them to warm up to trying to socialize more frequently. Personally, I think they've aided me in that manner. :)

[ SECRET POST #578 ]

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