I had hoped to space this stuff out so as not to look COMPLETELY obsessed, but now someone's gone and reserved the other books I borrowed as well - they must be writing their thesis on it or something. Anyway, I have to take a bunch of notes from them pretty much now.
( Cyber bullying: bullying in the digital age by Robin M. Kowalski. )For those who may have come in late,
here's a quick rundown of what I'm saying:
There's a lot of bullying in online fandom. Because it's difficult to get away with direct bullying, such as harassment, most of it is the
indirect kind of bullying: malicious gossip, spreading rumours, attacking reputations, backstabbing. Bullies avoid consequences from their behaviour by posting where people can't defend themselves (eg fandom_wank), or by
misusing anonymity (eg the Who anon meme). (Anonymity has many positive uses online, but it can also encourage and protect bullies.)
My own experience of fanbullying has been pretty minor. It's infuriating to have people telling lies about you behind your back, but it's nothing like the nightmare that was high school. So why am I so concerned? Because fandom is full of kids who are far more vulnerable than an old boiler like me. I see this stuff causing a huge amount of hurt and upset, and yet, fandom just takes it for granted. Instead, we should be questioning it.
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