Strikethrough was fandom vs. "them" and while annoying to the people involved, it wasn't generally divisive to fandom as a whole. Fandom vs. fandom is where it gets really nasty--think ship wars, only worse. When part of fandom wants to ban another part of fandom--conventions banning slash was the first version I was aware of--you get the U.S. Civil War, only with more acrimony. Fortunately that particular conflict was pre-Internet, so memories have faded (it was a little before my time, even, AKA before 1987). FPF vs. RPF still stirs up resentment, however.
Imagine how much worse it would be if the fannish mainstream had (or thought they had, or thought they should have) the power to ban the next new offensive subcategory of fandom from posting on Dreamwidth. I've seen backlashes against slash, RPF, incest, and chan so far, so while I don't know what the next offensive category will be, I'm quite sure there will be one. Right now no one in fandom dares ask the owners of LJ to ban the sort of fan fiction they don't like, for fear that the owners will ban all fan fiction. But knowing the pro-fandom owners of Dreamwidth, they may feel it safe to ask Dreamwidth to ban that type of fan fiction. And they will justify it as necessary to protect fan fiction as a whole, because what if the DOJ/actors/Martians sue Dreamwidth and it goes out of business and takes their own fan fiction down and just think of the children!
Sorry, I try to keep it under control, but some cynicism does seem to be a survival skill in fandom.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 01:20 am (UTC)Imagine how much worse it would be if the fannish mainstream had (or thought they had, or thought they should have) the power to ban the next new offensive subcategory of fandom from posting on Dreamwidth. I've seen backlashes against slash, RPF, incest, and chan so far, so while I don't know what the next offensive category will be, I'm quite sure there will be one. Right now no one in fandom dares ask the owners of LJ to ban the sort of fan fiction they don't like, for fear that the owners will ban all fan fiction. But knowing the pro-fandom owners of Dreamwidth, they may feel it safe to ask Dreamwidth to ban that type of fan fiction. And they will justify it as necessary to protect fan fiction as a whole, because what if the DOJ/actors/Martians sue Dreamwidth and it goes out of business and takes their own fan fiction down and just think of the children!
Sorry, I try to keep it under control, but some cynicism does seem to be a survival skill in fandom.