/other fannish rant

[veronica_rich]

I still help manage a list in another fandom other than POTC; a few people on my f-list will know what I'm talking about. I no longer have much interest in the subject of that particular list, but I've been on it for over 10 years and I stick around because there are many people on there I've made friends with over the years, some of whom I've actually met in real life. (And yes, I consider not online "real life" - I may not have much of one, but I DO discern that my time spent embroiled in fannish drama is not "real" and should not be given the same importance as, say, political debates in truck stops and dealing with a friend's illness.)

Anyway. Let's just say that no matter how old or long-ago the subject of this list is, there's always "drama" that crops up every few months about it - sort of like what we get in POTC LJ fandom on a weekly basis. However, much of it never reaches the list because I know what people to have on moderation and I deal with messages before they get that far. Well, not long ago I took someone off moderation because they had behaved themselves for a LONG time and posted pretty frequently. OK, dummy me - they immediately go and start shit. I don't check the list but every couple of days, since it's so quiet, so as soon as someone asks me to take a look, I do. I see that someone ELSE has replied to the original troll with their own dirty-laundry wank, and I make a short post telling both of them - as well as anyone else who might be thinking of starting up something - to shut it. And to contact me off-list if there are any problems, NOT to spread accusations among the group.

(hippediva will appreciate all this.)

So I sent a private message to the someone ELSE, very short, telling them we're not going to handle it that way again and if something else comes up, I'll deal with it, and to NOT post a big long accusation to the list. Period. I treated both sides the same way - hell, this is the person I *agree* with and I told her to knock it off. For my trouble, I get a reply back that how DARE I get on THEIR case when THEY didn't start it, and THEY are the wronged party, and I'm doing a horrible job of moderating, blah blah blah. To which I pointed out they know nothing of the wank I cut off at the pass, and if they can't handle getting the Mod Stick used on them when they've done something they know is a no-no (posting accusations to the list at large), they're free to leave. I also told them that they can either consider their next reply VERY carefully before shooting it off to me, or just keep silent and the matter is dropped and forgotten.

Now I have replied to trolls when I shouldn't have. I daresay it'll happen again. But if I don't do so mildly and I get my hand smacked, well, I figure I deserve it and I apologize to the mod. Why is it SO hard to take responsibility for one's actions - especially when it's about fandom, which isn't even a REAL problem in the scheme of life?

/rant

Comments

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

Sigh. Old habits are hard to break. I say keep the troublemakers on permanent moderation. If they don't like it, they can move on.

My conclusion is that that fandom is made up of a bunch of dried up vaginas and they now simply try to inflict their irritation on others. It's apparent that unlike us, they have NOT moved on.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I wish I knew what HRB is doing to keep them SO very interested years and years after most of the rest of us ... well, quite frankly, have moved on past him. (I bet he wishes he knew what he was doing to cause it, too.)

Eh, fannish wank. You ignore it, it keeps happening despite; you try to engage in it to explain something or even end it, and you get splattered. What's to do? *shrug*

[a-silver-rose.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain first-hand, Ver. Recently, among another circle of friends, I stuck my neck out for a principle, and my actions benefited someone who's not exactly Ms. Popularity, and now I'm accused of being a spy in a war I wasn't even fighting. *sighs*

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you stick your neck out enough, you're going to get nicks in it ... but at least you'll be able to sleep at night and look at yourself in the mirror (whether it's fandom or RL).