I just read your rant about abusers in the fandom and honestly IT WAS AMAZING AND INCREDIBLY WELL-WRITEN👏👏👏 But how do we get said abuser out of the fandom or how do we prevent him/her from causing any more problems?
Thanks for the kind words! I wasn’t sure if I was going to answer any of the messages I got from other Anons after I made that post since I didn’t want to keep fanning the flames, but this one really stuck out to me.
I’m going to be completely honest with you anon, I don’t know what can be done to completely remove an abuser from a fandom space, since they always seem to crawl back one way or another like a cockroach. What I would suggest though as the best course of action, is to no longer support those in fandom (or anywhere, really) that do/say things that make you uncomfortable.
Since we all have the ability to tailor our online experiences to cater to our interests, I obviously can’t tell you you HAVE to do something, and it would be really ironic of me to try (cause that’s abusive, yo). I will make a few suggestions from personal experience about how I’ve gone about removing abusive people from my life that you’re free to try if you’re so inclined.
Cut. Them. The. Fuck. Off.
An abuser only has power if there are people around to abuse in the first place, so by limiting your interactions with them, they lose any and all power they hold over you. This would include stuff like no longer liking, retweeting, reblogging, or interacting with them in any way. If you don’t want to see them in your spaces, unfollow and block if you have to. If you have mutual friends that reblog/retweet their things, ignore it, or if you really want to reblog/retweet the content, go directly to the OP to share and maybe find yourself someone new to follow in the process! Yay new discoveries!
Call. Them. The. Fuck. Out.
I’ve found people in general fucking HATE being held accountable for their actions, so force them to acknowledge what they’re doing. If it’s an unconscious action, the person should be willing to listen and reevaluate how they’ve been acting, but an abuser already knows what they’re doing and will be PISSED you’ve called them on their shit. I am absolutely NOT advocating for sending anon hate, rather, when you see posts that make you roll your eyes, respond in kind. If it’s the 4th time this month the person has threatened to leave the fandom, ask them why they’re still around if they hate it, or how many times they’re going to announce they’re done before they’re actually done, call their bluff. Get fucking bitchy. If you do want to send the person a message in private rather than airing your grievances in public, PM them! You might get yourself blocked, but hey, you said what you needed to say.
Mash. Em. Boil. Em.
Stick em in a stew.. Honestly I thought I had 3 points but I think my third point was eaten up by the first two. Remember fandom spaces are what you make them, and no fandom is free from drama or predatory people looking for someone new to abuse. If you wanna have a good time, tell those people to get fucked, and don’t allow them into your spaces. If they wanna be shitty in the fandom, they can do it by them fucking selves.
*i remembered my third point*
Speak. The. Fuck. Up.
Good chance you’re not alone in this, so be vocal about your feelings, the more people mention it, the more comfortable people are likely to be when speaking up about their own experiences. I’ve gotten a bunch of messages since my first post about abuse in fandom, and I suspect there’s plenty of people who don’t want to say anything because they’re worried about speaking up. Well Anons, we fucking got your back. <3












