Every time something ugly happens in fandom space—someone gets harassed, excluded, or dogpiled—there's a moment when people could step in. Say something. Offer support. Push back. But most don’t. They stay quiet, even when it's their mutuals getting hurt.
And then, a week later, those same people wonder aloud: “Why is the fandom shrinking?”
This is why. Because when things go bad, people look away. Because silence is easier than conflict. Because letting someone else take the fall feels safer than standing up. And in doing that, the space becomes hostile, even if only in small, quiet ways.
Fandoms don’t just fade. They rot from the inside when community care is replaced with self-preservation. If you want a thriving fandom, you have to act like it’s a community worth protecting. That means intervening. That means not letting people you care about get isolated or pushed out while you watch from the sidelines.
You can’t have it both ways. You don’t get to mourn a shrinking fandom while choosing silence when it actually counts.