A Really Long Ramble About Community With a Lot More Nuance Than I Previously Addressed
Note: this ramble is not about specific people, it is not a vague post, it is not targeted at anything except the Hellenic Polytheist and Witchcraft communities. That is it. Don't put any other words in my mouth, thank you!
This is not a discussion by the way. This is just a ramble for myself. Say what ya wanna say, but do not attack me or other people or you're gonna get blocked and I'm gonna tell everyone that I blocked you. I'm not putting up with harassment
I'm going to try to make this not be a giant block of text, but I honestly make no promises
I've been seeing a lot of conflicting ideas on Tumblr about community: Is it on fire? Or are we being dramatic? Is it worth trying for? Or should we just give up? And I want to give my take on it, on all of it, because I have a lot of conflicting feelings about everything and I suspect I'm not the only one. Feel free to disagree! That's totally alright, this is just my opinions.
Lets start with this: What is community?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
"1: a unified body of individuals: such as
a: the people with common interests living in a particular area
broadly
b: a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society
c: a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society
d: a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests
e: a group linked by a common policy
f: an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (such as species) in a common location
g: state, commonwealth
2
a: a social state or condition
b: joint ownership or participation
c: common character : likeness
d: social activity : fellowship
3
a: society at large"
The one that applies to us the most is one, specifically 1.b, 1.c, and 1.d
Although they don't quite fit the way I would want them to
I would define community as "A group of people you feel safe with that share common thoughts, interests, and understandings of concepts"
Are we even a community right now?
Honestly, yes and no. I think in some ways, we have been a community and in others, we haven't been. We have our Tumblr communities, we have our discord servers, and I think a lot of us have our close knit friend groups. Those are definitely communities. They are online locations of common thought, of safety, and of general understanding and similarities.
However, there is a lot of non-stop discourse in the community about what is right and what isn't. Even if all of us agree that people can do whatever they want in their practices as long as it isn't hurting anyone, that still excludes the last part of my definition: "Common understandings of concepts"
Is this enough to not be a community? Does my own definition of "community" need to change?
Is social media able to be a community?
Okay, as we all know, Tumblr is a social media. It tends to be marketed, at least in my experience, as the social media for the "outcasts", but it's social media nonetheless
The reason most people make discord servers is because general social media can't make everyone follow the same rules
Example: You can't tell every Hellenic Polytheist that they can't support ICE agents in America or they'll get kicked off of Tumblr. The best you can do is block them. Is that enough to create communities? Hellenic Polytheists that do support ICE agents in America and Hellenic Polytheists that don't?
That's the problem. Social media doesn't follow rules. It's kind of like walking into a building and telling everyone that they are now Hellenic Polytheists who have the same morals as you. You're gonna find a few and maybe you'll stay in a corner or a room with them, but the rest of the building isn't like you. Is that corner enough to constitute a community? You're going to walk into people you don't like or who make you feel unsafe, is that still okay?
Of course, social media is a lot bigger than a building, but I think the point still stands
Assuming we have a community here, is it on fire?
I've made posts about it being on fire but I've also reblogged posts attempting to focus on the positive aspects of the community. The posts I've reblogged talk about how the community isn't on fire, how everything is fine
And sitting down to think about it more, I think in a way both are correct
I've seen a few posts talking about this, but the hot take blogs I think have been starting a lot of fires as of late. And, no shade to them because I understand their purpose, I'm starting to think that's not the way to go if we want to start discussions. Discussions require more than a poll. Does this leave room for fights to start? Yes, but I think that's a risk we have to take in order to actually have a community. As for what is "starting a fight", that's another highly complex ramble that I could probably get into another time if I ever feel like it
At the same time there's been a lot of dramatizing what's going on in situations, making them seem worse than they were. A lot of people are experiencing one of two posts they don't agree with and turning it into a big deal, which is another thing I'm seeing on hot take blogs especially
Hopefully this makes sense
Is anonymity hurting or helping the community?
I think, again, it's doing both. On one hand, people have being using anon asks to harass people and start fights. But at the same time I use anonymous asks quite frequently when I fear being harassed over an opinion
Harassment in the community, again assuming that we can call ourselves a community, has been pretty awful. I, a minor, have been harassed at least twice in the three months that I've been here. Now, disagreeing is one thing but I've been sent genuine hate asks both times that I'm counting harassment. I had to turn off anonymous mode in my ask box in order to not be harassed. Again, I am a minor. This is not acceptable behavior
This same harassment is why I use anonymous mode when voicing certain opinions. This harassment is often what I consider "fire" when I say we have to get our shit together. I follow a lot of people (almost 200 right now), and I watch a lot of them get hate asks. I've watched minors get death threats. Just let that sink in for a minute, please. Death threats to minors
Addressing the sudden burst of posts for community:
A lot of people have noticed a sudden burst of calls for community, and honestly I've been a part of that call for community
The burst was definitely very sudden and started about a month ago. I know a lot of people are concerned that this sudden strength in a call for community is going to fade and die. Or worse, tear the community apart even more. And I honestly see the concerns and share them
We can only keep up at this intensity for so long, we are going to have to spread things out or we will burn out as a community
As for tearing the community farther apart, I don't entire know what to say for that. I just strongly hope that the people who suspect that will happen are wrong. Some people mention that it's a cycle, but I'm hoping that we can break the cycle
Is community something worth reaching for?
Personally, I think yes
I haven't been here the longest with this blog, but I had one for about a year and a half. And mostly it was lonely because I didn't work to be social and to make friends. I didn't give myself a community, so I burnt out and I ended up deleting that blog. Clearly I came back, but I came back with new intention: connection and helping
Of course, teaching is not for everyone, but making a connection with someone doesn't have to be about what you can supply them
Make a connection
I have to hope that it's possible
If you don't want to make a community, then this post maybe wasn't for you, but this section definitely isn't
But for the rest of you
Learn someone's name before you ask a question
Don't just like, if you have a non-aggressive opinion, go share it!
Think before you send something aggressive
Be a little more kind
For those taking leadership positions:
Plan events for throughout the year, even if it's scarce
Get help running community things. Burn out is real, plan to protect yourself
Keep trying, because it's not hopeless
And everyone remember:
In these last three months, I have witnessed and been dragged into heavy amounts of drama, but it's beginning to fade again now that people are trying. The attempts to bring more positivity, light, connection, and kindness into this community have been working. I feel more connected to people than I ever have. It's not failing, you're not screaming into a void. It's working, I promise. Just don't burn out
Again, this post was not created to start a fight. It wasn't even created to start a discussion. At least, not between me and you. Think about what I said, think about all the sides to this, and most importantly, think about where you stand in it all. If you think community is hopeless, think about why. If you think it's going to work out, think about the challenges in place
It's not going to be cupcake and rainbows, I'm well aware of that, but I think it's going to be possible
Thank you for reading my rambles, if you got this far
I hope I sparked some thinking and reflection
