Because I'm feeling cliquish and exclusionary...
I've been mulling several fandom-related issues lately. I decided it might make me feel better if I wrote it down.
First up, is the idea of cliques, what constitutes a clique, whether or not cliques are inherently THE BIG EVIL some people seem to think they are, and how that relates to LJ and other forms of online journaling.
First of all let's define the term clique. Here's what Webster's has to say:
: a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially : one held together by common interests, views, or purposes
Reading this definition it strikes me as just basic common sense that people are going to form cliques, and in fact cliques are necessary in order for people to interact and relate to each other. A clique is inherently a neutral thing; it's the people who make up the clique that make it either good or bad. Although everyones opinion will vary on the definition of "good" and "bad."
Yet it seems that every time I turn around I'm reading someone bashing the idea of cliques as being the bane of fandom and how all these evil cliques are going out of their way to be exclusionary. Well, duh!! The nature of any group of friends is that they tend to exclude people who don't somehow fit into their common interest. Also, cliques are usually small because the more people that are "let in" the less common their frame of reference and the less focus on one issue, which leads to the clique breaking up into smaller cliques. It's like the cycle of life, never ending.
Do I think there are cliques in fandom that have members who go out of their way to tout their exclusivity? Sure. Heck, this goes on *everywhere,* not just in fandom. There will always be the perceived "in crowd" and everyone else. But from my perspective, I know I don't want to be part of a group like that so being exluded hardly hurts my feelings.
And yes, there are times when I look at a clique that for whatever reason I've chosen/not been allowed to join and I'm envious. However, I have a pretty good way of handling those moments...I get over it. That doesn't mean I don't think people have the right to point out those cliques that take themselves too seriously or take a holier-than-thou attitude, but honestly I think far too often it's simply a case of sour grapes. You won't let me in your sandbox I'm going to bring my cats over so they can use it as a litter box attitude that really doesn't accomplish anything. Well, other than getting you noticed, and again, it seems fairly obvious that for some people being noticed is what it's all about.
Which brings me to fandom_wank. I think their original purpose was fine; everyone is wanky and to point out, and yes to laugh, at our own wankishness is a good thing. However, it's original purpose got supplanted by those who simply wished to point and complain at various groups that they were not a part of. A large percentage of them are whiners who simply want to denigrate any group or individual who disagrees with them. Many of them decry the very cliquishness of which they are guilty. Honestly people, can you say that f_w isn't just a big old clique that often does the very thing they supposedly dislike in those they talk about?
Fandom_wank has a new home on journalfen and for that I'm glad. I may not like a lot of what they talk about (while finding some of it priceless) but I'm all for letting them have a chance to say it. Also, part of what has kept them going is the anger that is generated every time they get TOS'ed. They themselves admit that on LJ and on Blurty the community was starting to die out before they were given the boot. Now that they don't have to worry about that I'm wondering just how long they'll actually last. If any of you read them at all you may have noticed over the last day or so that they're starting to eat their own tail. They're breaking up into smaller cliques and I'm not sure they'll be able to co-exist.
I kind of got side-tracked there; sorry about that. However, it does lead me to another issue related to cliques, and that's the entry of journalfen into the online journaling community. I've read more than a few posts by the new users of journalfen who seem to be relieved that they now have somewhere other than LJ to post because LJ is (depending on who's made the post) either too exclusionary and the people too difficult to interact with or they think that LJ isn't exclusionary enough and they're really glad they now have some place to interact with other fen without having to put up with all those non-fannish users of LJ. I should point out that these two divergent opinions seem to break down along lines of people coming from LJ feeling it's too exclusionary and people coming from blogs who think it's not exlusive enough. And more than a few who seem able to hold both opinions at the same time. It will be interesting to see how these two cliques end up cohabitating.
The point is...and yes I have a point...is that the purpsoe of journalfen to get away from the cliquishness of LJ is setting up an even more exclusionary clique. Not just that, but it's a clique that is already exhibiting some of the behavior they supposedly dislike about LJ in that it's exclusionary to the extreme (only certain people of a certain age need apply) and there are people over there who have a "holier than thou" attitude. It's sort of wankworthy, if you ask me and more than a little hypocritical.
I wish journalfen well and hope they make a go of it. Me? I'm perfectly happy in LJ-land where I can find users who don't fall into any clique I belong to, interact with them even if it's just to read their journal, and then move on. I guess I find it a little hypocritical that people who are involved in cliques and in some pretty exclusionary ones at that, seem to always be complaining about how evil cliques are.
I've kind of bounced around, but I felt the need to say something so I did and now I'm going to be quiet and think some more. For my next post? Who knows. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on the responsibility of being a beta so that may be what you end up with. Unless I get distracted by some other bright and shiny subject. :-)
Edited to remove friends lock, because I don't have anything to hide. :-)
First up, is the idea of cliques, what constitutes a clique, whether or not cliques are inherently THE BIG EVIL some people seem to think they are, and how that relates to LJ and other forms of online journaling.
First of all let's define the term clique. Here's what Webster's has to say:
: a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially : one held together by common interests, views, or purposes
Reading this definition it strikes me as just basic common sense that people are going to form cliques, and in fact cliques are necessary in order for people to interact and relate to each other. A clique is inherently a neutral thing; it's the people who make up the clique that make it either good or bad. Although everyones opinion will vary on the definition of "good" and "bad."
Yet it seems that every time I turn around I'm reading someone bashing the idea of cliques as being the bane of fandom and how all these evil cliques are going out of their way to be exclusionary. Well, duh!! The nature of any group of friends is that they tend to exclude people who don't somehow fit into their common interest. Also, cliques are usually small because the more people that are "let in" the less common their frame of reference and the less focus on one issue, which leads to the clique breaking up into smaller cliques. It's like the cycle of life, never ending.
Do I think there are cliques in fandom that have members who go out of their way to tout their exclusivity? Sure. Heck, this goes on *everywhere,* not just in fandom. There will always be the perceived "in crowd" and everyone else. But from my perspective, I know I don't want to be part of a group like that so being exluded hardly hurts my feelings.
And yes, there are times when I look at a clique that for whatever reason I've chosen/not been allowed to join and I'm envious. However, I have a pretty good way of handling those moments...I get over it. That doesn't mean I don't think people have the right to point out those cliques that take themselves too seriously or take a holier-than-thou attitude, but honestly I think far too often it's simply a case of sour grapes. You won't let me in your sandbox I'm going to bring my cats over so they can use it as a litter box attitude that really doesn't accomplish anything. Well, other than getting you noticed, and again, it seems fairly obvious that for some people being noticed is what it's all about.
Which brings me to fandom_wank. I think their original purpose was fine; everyone is wanky and to point out, and yes to laugh, at our own wankishness is a good thing. However, it's original purpose got supplanted by those who simply wished to point and complain at various groups that they were not a part of. A large percentage of them are whiners who simply want to denigrate any group or individual who disagrees with them. Many of them decry the very cliquishness of which they are guilty. Honestly people, can you say that f_w isn't just a big old clique that often does the very thing they supposedly dislike in those they talk about?
Fandom_wank has a new home on journalfen and for that I'm glad. I may not like a lot of what they talk about (while finding some of it priceless) but I'm all for letting them have a chance to say it. Also, part of what has kept them going is the anger that is generated every time they get TOS'ed. They themselves admit that on LJ and on Blurty the community was starting to die out before they were given the boot. Now that they don't have to worry about that I'm wondering just how long they'll actually last. If any of you read them at all you may have noticed over the last day or so that they're starting to eat their own tail. They're breaking up into smaller cliques and I'm not sure they'll be able to co-exist.
I kind of got side-tracked there; sorry about that. However, it does lead me to another issue related to cliques, and that's the entry of journalfen into the online journaling community. I've read more than a few posts by the new users of journalfen who seem to be relieved that they now have somewhere other than LJ to post because LJ is (depending on who's made the post) either too exclusionary and the people too difficult to interact with or they think that LJ isn't exclusionary enough and they're really glad they now have some place to interact with other fen without having to put up with all those non-fannish users of LJ. I should point out that these two divergent opinions seem to break down along lines of people coming from LJ feeling it's too exclusionary and people coming from blogs who think it's not exlusive enough. And more than a few who seem able to hold both opinions at the same time. It will be interesting to see how these two cliques end up cohabitating.
The point is...and yes I have a point...is that the purpsoe of journalfen to get away from the cliquishness of LJ is setting up an even more exclusionary clique. Not just that, but it's a clique that is already exhibiting some of the behavior they supposedly dislike about LJ in that it's exclusionary to the extreme (only certain people of a certain age need apply) and there are people over there who have a "holier than thou" attitude. It's sort of wankworthy, if you ask me and more than a little hypocritical.
I wish journalfen well and hope they make a go of it. Me? I'm perfectly happy in LJ-land where I can find users who don't fall into any clique I belong to, interact with them even if it's just to read their journal, and then move on. I guess I find it a little hypocritical that people who are involved in cliques and in some pretty exclusionary ones at that, seem to always be complaining about how evil cliques are.
I've kind of bounced around, but I felt the need to say something so I did and now I'm going to be quiet and think some more. For my next post? Who knows. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on the responsibility of being a beta so that may be what you end up with. Unless I get distracted by some other bright and shiny subject. :-)
Edited to remove friends lock, because I don't have anything to hide. :-)