i’ve been thinking a lot about what’s happened in the mcyt community as of late – more specifically, in terms of ccs being more vocal about the anxiety they feel when it comes to twitter. and as someone who has been in online fandom spaces almost my whole life, i can say with certainty that mcyttwt has some defining characteristics that have made it the community that it is…. which is not necessarily the *healthiest* place for both fans and creators.
the main, overarching problem - and i’m sure you know what i’m about to say - is the open line of direct communication with ccs. i’m tired of hearing the term “parasocial” thrown around as much as the rest of you, but ultimately that’s what mcyttwt is. a handful of creators with millions of followers who are invested in them to near-unhealthy extents. i’m by no means saying that simply being a fan incurs a parasocial relationship (i literally run a dsmp fandom blog myself, lol) but twitter has the blessing/curse of being a platform where topics can trend at the snap of a finger, the character length limit means detail is sacrificed for attention-grabbing tweets, and content creators cannot avoid seeing the thousands of vitriolic messages sent their way when they make any sort of slip up….and the fans know this.
which leads me to my next point - entitlement. mcyttwt fans have an absurd level of entitlement that has come about as the result of this perceived “closer” relationship with ccs. because in this age of the pandemic where social media has become young people’s entire lifelines and identities, the introduction of activism into fandom space has skyrocketed in popularity. and while i can appreciate/admire the passion that my generation has for wanting to bring about social change, a lot of the so-called “educating” that these fans are attempting to impose onto cc’s is nothing more than an unrealistic expectation that ccs should spend all hours of their day retweeting carrds and gofundme links. i’m sorry if i sound harsh, but that is not their obligation. and it is so incomprehensible to me that fans on twitter are legitimately upset that their favourite cc isn’t making a statement on their specific minority group. i do not need ranboo to tell me that i am valid as a south asian woman. i do not need dream to retweet a thread about biphobia. i do not need georgenotfound to talk about islamophobia in the mcyt community. because frankly speaking, that isn’t their place. and yes, i understand the intent of spreading awareness, but these threads are made for people in the community, and gain huge amounts of traction on their own without a cc notice regardless.
fundamentally, expecting young ccs to be near-perfect activists who talk about complex social issues with eloquence and nuanced understanding is infeasible, unproductive, and serves to accomplish nothing. i watch minecraft streamers because i enjoy their personalities. i do not watch them because i expect to learn about the impact of colonialism on marginalised communities in asia, because that is an issue i am personally interested in and will learn about from qualified individuals – not tommyinnit, whose career revolves around making things 1000x funnier.
at the end of the day, you should not want/expect to receive validation from internet creators who play minecraft for a living. ccs drawing attention to large-scale social issues and using their platforms to directly support organisations is phenomenal, and i’m so happy that those i look up to have been so vocal about pride month. i also won’t hesitate to say there have been more than a few occasions where ccs have made mistakes that are definitely worthy of criticism. fandom spaces also remain predominantly white, which absolutely has negative ripple effects in the community. but these macro issues are lumped in with micro ones, and fans have become unable to differentiate between an actively harmful comment made in bad faith, and an opinion that doesn’t align with their own.
it’s funny, because i actually speak from personal experience on this. i was once in similar shoes to these kinds of fans, and part of me definitely cringes looking back. i know that most of them only have good intentions. but the bubble of stan twitter has reduced everything to black-and-white, where either you’re with a minority group or against them, and that is so exhausting to see. i truly hope that mcyttwt is able to self-reflect a little better in light of ranboo’s statement especially, and realise that this mindset they possess is making their fandom experience far more negative than it needs to be.
