Just so you know, it’s not just you on Twitter. Virtually every fandom is full of these self-righteous and self-entitled jackoffs... or “True Fans” as they like to be called.
Twitter is great in theory: creators can have a dialogue with their fans and consumers. I think that’s why so many creators stick around on it. Unfortunately, the reality is that it’s the perfect environment for these shitty pessimistic people who move in just to let these creators know that they’re outraged about something they’re doing. And then when those posts get the attention (because people are obsessed with outage) other people want to join in, and they all pat each other on the back over it. That’s what Twitter actually is—that’s the reality that creators on it try to live with.
I remember back in the day, when the Internet was more sectioned off, you’d find 1 or 2 of these types in a community of dozens to a few hundred, constantly spewing off their pessimistic nonsense, like creators have somehow victimized them by daring to create something. Back then, these sorts looked just like the lunatic fringe. With Twitter, it’s like every Comic Book Guy in the world formed into much larger armies to spread their shittiness—flinging shit at people who actually add to society. Instead of looking like the lunatic fringe, these people look like the mainstream, and because most people just don’t want to deal with this shit, there aren’t a lot of positive voices to make it seem otherwise. It seems to happen in many large communities: Twitter is just another platform that’s come to be full of these over-dramatic pessimists—just like 4Chan a decade or two ago.
Sometimes I wonder that if Elon Musk takes out Twitter, that it might be the best thing to happen to the Internet in years. Because that way the content creators (of all sorts) will be forced to end subjecting themselves to the shittiness of Twitter.
I think you’ll find the majority of people love your hard work, and we understand the process.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
