I think that when you talk about creation and the anti crowd, you've hit on an important distinction, of knowing what's going on before (or realizing it as you go along) and then deciding what to do with that information and what conversations you think are best warranted. The antis seem to hold the position that there are things that, through their mere existence, are beyond the pale. As a Fandom Old (if not a Great Old One at this point), I think they're right, but they're misaimed, if that makes sense. And it might be that, as you point out in the other piece, they've grown up on a Web with less privacy and pseudonymity, and a lot more performativity than those of us on the older side. People in a panopticon behave differently than those who believe they have (and should have) at least some measure of privacy. So it might very well be that since they're always in a performance space, even the possibility of something existing out there somewhere becomes a problem because if they're not being performative enough, then it gets turned on them, and that's not good for anyone.
I'm not sure how, with the way that most social media spaces are still very public even in their more private modes, that we can give them space to have a conversation in something resembling actual privacy where they can work through what they want, and learn how to read the tags and the art of lurking (and possibly of spinning up a completely new pseud to explore those places). I think what would help them feel safe is if they could do the separation that seems natural to older fen, so they could be in a place where they could talk with each other and with supportive older folks who, even if they don't understand, have experience they can offer that might be relevant, when it's wanted. And possibly make a few mistakes and not have it get put on blast.
They essentially need the equivalent of a public library to hang out it and be themselves where there are grownups that keep an eye out for them, point them in the direction of where the resources are, and tell them when they're over the line for behavior, but otherwise just let them become the people they want to be with each other.
But that sort of thing doesn't make the advertisers money, so barring a mass migration to platforms and instances that give advertisers the middle finger, I'm not sure what can be done about it. Especially with the people who are getting really good at hiding themselves in plain sight.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2020-01-05 05:10 am (UTC)I'm not sure how, with the way that most social media spaces are still very public even in their more private modes, that we can give them space to have a conversation in something resembling actual privacy where they can work through what they want, and learn how to read the tags and the art of lurking (and possibly of spinning up a completely new pseud to explore those places). I think what would help them feel safe is if they could do the separation that seems natural to older fen, so they could be in a place where they could talk with each other and with supportive older folks who, even if they don't understand, have experience they can offer that might be relevant, when it's wanted. And possibly make a few mistakes and not have it get put on blast.
They essentially need the equivalent of a public library to hang out it and be themselves where there are grownups that keep an eye out for them, point them in the direction of where the resources are, and tell them when they're over the line for behavior, but otherwise just let them become the people they want to be with each other.
But that sort of thing doesn't make the advertisers money, so barring a mass migration to platforms and instances that give advertisers the middle finger, I'm not sure what can be done about it. Especially with the people who are getting really good at hiding themselves in plain sight.