The Internet Is Not Oppressing You

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Title:	The Internet Is Not Oppressing You
Creator:	Merlin Missy
Date(s):	May 16, 2008
Medium:
Fandom:	multifandom
Topic:
External Links:	The Internet Is Not Oppressing You
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The Internet Is Not Oppressing You is a 2008 essay by Merlin Missy.

The topic is discourse and differing fan opinions on the internet, and how to navigate them.

Series

This essay is part of a series called Dr. Merlin's Soapbox.

Some Topics Discussed

• goal
• the official definition of the freedom of speech (in the United States), some limitations of it
• "the other half of the free speech coin: you are responsible for what you say, and you reap the consequences for good or ill"
• fandom is an opt-in activity
• you choose where to hang out and what websites to visit
• pseudocide, sockpuppetry, and an embedded link the essay, Sock It to Me
• "every single person in the fandom is going to be watching for different things, finding different details, and reacting in different ways to what they see," a link to Your Friends Are Not Watching the Same Show You Are (And That's Okay)
• "Make your mantra "Your Kink Is Not My Kink" and move on."
• a link to Celebrating Squee
• use, and respect, cut-tags in journals
• a link to How to Be a Fandom Jerk in Just a Few Easy Steps
• people are always going to find things to argue about, perhaps you should think about not engaging
• "Go forth. Be that unique, special snowflake that you always hoped you were, and enjoy yourself before someone drops by with a flamethrower."

From the Essay

Dr. Merlin wears many hats in fandom, some intentionally, some because she didn't step backwards quickly enough when volunteers were asked to step forward. One of these hats is as a fanfiction archive moderator. This archive has a few basic rules, one of which is that any files uploaded must be stories or essays related to the specified fandom. Other files are deleted at the moderator's discretion. When a non-story, non-essay file was uploaded recently, it was removed. When the file was uploaded again, the author included a note that removing her story violated her freedom of speech.

Oh, fandom. You're so silly! *pinches cheek*

This applies to online interactions as well as real-world interactions. You are responsible for what you say and what you write. If that violates the Terms of Service of the webspace you're using, the consequence is losing access to that webspace. In the case of the archive, the webspace was and is being paid for by someone who specifically set it aside for use as an archive for fanfiction, with some allowance being made for discussions of the fandom in essay format. When someone else pays the bills, one does not get to whine about not being allowed to say anything s/he wants. One may purchase a website of one's own, host it on a server of one's own, and post any damned thing one pleases. When you are in someone else's home, you follow their rules, or they will make you leave. That isn't your freedom of speech being violated; you were rude (perhaps unintentionally) and broke the house rules. You have to deal with the consequences. (If it helps, think of someone's blog like their own private newspaper. They get to decide what stories to cover, what editorials to run, and most importantly for you, which Letters to the Editor get printed. Letters which don't meet their guidelines don't get published. That's not limiting freedom of speech, that's choosing not to pay to grind someone else's ax.)

In online discussions, very many times those with minority opinions (frex, "slash is icky" / "Wincest is a blot on the soul of humanity" / "Adric was the best Companion" / choose your own!) will express their trepidation at expressing this opinion. Those who do often find themselves facing a large horde of angry fanthings, some trying to convince them of the errors of their ways, others questioning their intelligence and name-calling. It's fandom. Flamewars only go so many ways. During the Wank That Shall Not Be Named of Two Weeks Ago, there were complaints of "dog-piling" on the latest group who had violated the rules of fannish interaction (and as some of the pilers-on suggested, human decency). This happens a lot. When a fan or group of fans reads something that upsets them (could be because of implied or expressed judgment on the part of the original poster, could be because something was deeply offensive, could be because some fans do not like opposing viewpoints anywhere in their presence -- these are examples, and again I'm sure you have your own) sometimes only one fan will comment in objection, and sometimes her friends will come with. If the post strikes a chord with enough people, many MANY fans will come with. The reasons for this vary from, "I was personally affronted and I felt the need to say something," to "I was tempted not to say anything but do not want my silence assumed to be agreement," to "Let's poke the troll to watch it jump."

If you have expressed an Unpopular Fannish Opinion [TM] you are now enjoying the consequence: becoming unpopular. No violations needed. If your unpopular opinion violates the Terms of Service for the website you’re on, you may also be looking for new webspace. Again, all about the consequences.

If you have a popular and agreeable fannish opinion, your freedom of speech is not violated when someone posts something critical about that opinion, on your journal or elsewhere. When someone disagrees with you, even when many people disagree with you, the Internet is not oppressing you. The Internet is opt-in. Fandom is opt-in. Unless you are a very rare and unfortunate case, no one has chained you to your chair and forced you to read post after post of House/Wilson slash and click on every single discussion out there about the show. Your eyeballs are not being propped open with toothpicks as you are exposed to in-depth House/Cuddy essays and House/Cameron fanart.

The items you click on during your day, the websites you choose to visit, even the people and communities you've chosen to be on your Friends list so that they show up in front of you on demand, these are all choices you've made. This is content you've sought out. When you Friended that SPN newsletter, you knew (or found out within a day) that gen and het were featured there, as broad as daylight where you'd see them every day, alongside the slash.

Your Internet experience is personalized to you, whether or not it feels that way. If it's going to make you crazycakes to be around a particular bulletin board or chatroom, go somewhere else for a while, get some coffee and some perspective. Unlike canon, here you have options on what you see and what passes you blissfully by. Remember that turning off the computer is always a better (and less expensive!) option than putting your fist through the monitor.

Agree with things that are going on in your friends' journals, don't agree, but don't fall into the lazy, manipulative conversational habits that try to shut down dissent. If necessary, go back to step one for a while. You may want to try out the "see how the other half of fandom lives" mental exercise, in which you try to see the show from the POV of the person who's driving you up the wall. You might learn something. (Of course, the thing you learn may very well be, "OMG, not just never walking a mile in those shoes again, BURNING THE SHOES RIGHT NOW they smell of DEATH!" That happens too.)

Fan Comments

[Maia]: These words of wisdom apply not only to fandom, but to any Internet forum. Especially to the political forums. The people who must need to heed your advice will not. Alas. (To borrow a meme from the political blogs -- Shorter Merlin Missy: "Get over yourself. You'll be glad you did.")

[okelay]: great article! I've never felt it's oppressing me, and when I disagree I just leave,but I know a lot of people who should read it.I specially agree about filters. they make my flist readable, especially when I want to talk about a fandom in particular or when spoilers abound I'm gonna go read the one about squeeing now.