(no subject)

[soc_puppet]

...Fucking hell. I don't want to start wank, and this is a person I otherwise find interesting and want to get to know better and potentially have as a fandom friend, but uh. "If you like but don't reblog, I'm disappointed it you?" (Not you, alexseanchai; I'm linking your reblog because it includes the image descriptions. Also we are already friends, so.)

I feel like this is, in part, a major cultural difference between fans who primarily got started on FF.net and LJ and so forth, and fans who primarily got started on Tumblr. But I'm also not that huge a fan of the whole "Reblog or I will guilt you about it" thing, or the "This is how you fandom correctly" thing, no matter the context.

And I also feel like, if I bring any of this up on Tumblr, it is more likely to turn into wank than a productive conversation, due to the nature of Tumblr as a content aggregation site. Any productive conversation we may try to have will almost inevitably get lost as people reblog from one of us and not the other, and I just. Don't want to go there! Especially since I should already be turning the light out tonight, as I have work tomorrow, and trying to do any sort of damage control or prevention on Tumblr would necessitate me staying up probably another hour and a half, maybe longer.

But also, if I don't say anything I'll be disappointed in myself and probably toss and turn anyway for at least an hour and a half, still without getting any sleep?

So, compromise: Posting about it here. Hopefully tomorrow I'll either have gotten over this, or come up with a diplomatic/polite enough way to phrase "That guilt trip thing you're doing is making me uncomfortable, and the way you're trying to make me interact with social media on your terms rather than my own is not helping even a little" that I can send an ask or something and then get on with my life.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

a couple contexts I am not sure you know:

1) likes outnumbering reblogs did not, many people who have been active on fannish Tumblr for a while inform me, used to be a thing; I have seen various explanations for this change, am not entirely sure what the truth is, but the change certainly happened and is clearly detrimental to Tumblr-centric creators and consumers alike

2) an AO3 kudos does help readers find the work in that it bumps it up the sort-by-kudos; a Tumblr like does approximately nothing for the work's visibility, where a reblog forwards it to the reblogger's audience

I mean, guilt trips do suck! but that doesn't mean letting the likes-way-outnumber-reblogs trend continue is good either.

[krait]

Oh, one of those. :/

I have zero time for people who post things like that, and things like that are definitely part of why I never could get into Tumblr in any meaningful way.

If someone doesn't like the way I run my own blog, they are cordially invited to keep out of it. How incredibly rude and entitled to think that you get to tell other people how to use their own personal blogs. (A gentle hint might be acceptable, but not this guilt-tripping, Let Me Tell You How You're Doing Fandom Wrong approach!) Not to mention how pointless it is; you are not the Empress of Fandom, and nobody is going to heed your Imperial Commands regarding Correct Fan Behaviour.

[dinoblob]

My 2 cents: ignore guilt trippy posts like that.

What sucks is, the point of the original post isn't a bad one--it could just be rephrased in a dozen more encouraging and positive ways like, "Hey, if you really want to make a difference in supporting an author or artist, reblogs help them get more recognition which in turn helps them stay active in the fandom! Be somebody's hero with just a few extra seconds of time!" etc, at least I feel like I've seen something similar floating around before.

But it also seems clear to me that both the OP and person that replied to them posted from a place of being frustrated when making their points, so I would handle with care if they feel that defensive about the topic.

The least confrontational way is to make or reblog positively-worded posts making the same point--because you can be on the same page about content curation but Not about that guilt trip method.

Or messaging them directly because discussion via reblogging or replying is clunky, like you pointed out, people just reblog one chunk and not the others. I think I've seen more drama play out in reblog chains than anywhere else, because it feels like a shouting match that can then be reblogged, tipping the attention to one side or another, creating a spectacle.

I haven't been active on Tumblr in the last few years so I haven't seen a lot of stuff about lack of content and like vs reblog ratios, is that really common now? The stuff I used to see were rather reposts getting more attention than original posts or other types of theft/uncrediting rather than lack of boosting content creators.

[gullwhacker]

I haven't posted or reblogged anything to my Tumblr in...months? Years? Not even sure any more. It's sort of a guilt-anxiety thing caused by too many of those 'everyone needs to signal boost this' posts.

If I break my silence for one thing, at this point it feels like I was snubbing everything that came before, everything I let pass by. Calls to action, important news, excellent fanworks - what makes one worth reblogging and not another?

...and so the only choice I've become comfortable with is to let my Tumblr rust in silence.

[redsixwing]

Ugh.

My line in the sand is 'never reblog guilt trips,' with the same caveat about how it's likely to cause wank if I do anything else.

Good idea to take care of yourself, and pursue your fandom in your way.

(frozen comment)

[cbrachyrhynchos]

Just my two bits:

Tumblr's design is hopelessly confused between social media and blogging site. My blog is a curated collection of personal writing and links. I'm not obligated to change that editorial focus when I'm neck deep in fandom-of-the-month. One is not entitled to space on my blog, especially in a context like tumblr where reblogging can put me in the crosshairs of one or more harassment cliques.

I am not a paid marketer. I barely have time and energy for developing my own work. I don't need to take on the labor of curating both the reblogs and the potential responses to other people's work. A large part of that is on tumblr/oath for creating that system. But even so, one isn't obligated to space on my blog.

[alexseanchai]

things I was not, for the record, at any point intending to do here, but seem to have done anyway and wish to apologize for: get wanky

[gwydion]

I have a notice up on my tumblr profile, "I don't do "reblog if you believe X" posts, as I feel they are coercive to the reader and if you read my stuff you already know what I believe." I am super strict about this.