The Community, then and now?

[Syel]

/!\ Wall of text incoming, and there may be some mistakes. Sorry about them.

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Hi all.

This morning, I was thinking about the Brony community and how we're seen by the Internet today.

The first thing that came to my mind is the obvious fact that nowadays, there is a lot more people who 'know' us (I mean, know that this subculture exists) now than one year ago, and I can't convince myself that it is a 100% good thing.

Of course, this is awesome to spread the friendship, love and tolerance all across the web, and this a very good point.

The other important thing to notice is the fact that we don't have to explore the dark, lost, unknown places of the internet to find pony-related stuff anymore. That fact tends to drag to us people who are not as passionate as the bronies were at the very begining.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, of course. I'm pretty sure that deviantArt, Youtube, and all other websites I can't think of wouldn't have so much awesome pony-related art and creations (even if R34 stuff is arguable, it's fine with me. It's still art, right?). On the other hoof, the 'disaventage' is that there are more and more people nowadays, calling themselves 'Bronies' just because they think it's cool, but who apparently doesn't understand what the show really means...

I have tons of examples of 'Bronies' trolling (and being total jerks), or taunting other people on Youtube comments or forum boards, and each time I see something like this I wonder if our culture isn't victim of its success, of its 'fame'...

I know that I'm a 'negative' kind of guy (You know, half-empty glass), and maybe I'm overreacting to this, but seeing a whole community I love being dragged down like this makes me very sad.

I can't see any 'solution' to this problem, except keep being ourselves, and hope for the 'new' bronies out there to understand and enjoy the show for what it is, and not to use it as a 'shield' to keep trolling and making fun/insulting others.

If I'm posting this, it's because I just wanted to share this thought with you. I may be wrong, I may be right, but that does not matter. What do you think about that? I mean, am I seeing or imagining things? Do you feel this way too? I don't really know that to think anymore.

[Rosewind]

Nope, I don't see a problem. The Canterlot community itself is proof of that.

Everyone is responsible for their own actions, and the poor choices of the few do not speak for the many -- even if it may seem that way. Consequently, FiM culture is made up of people from all walks of life and varying degrees of maturity. Also, your point of view can vary based on where you visit. Using my earlier example, compare the type of poster you'll find here at Canterlot to one on a chan board. Big difference.

[Angie Cakes]

having been here almost a year now, I can say there have been a lot of changes to the community on Canterlot alone. we're still well-behaved and should make a good impression on people who visit, but we're not as "pure" as we once were.

there are more arguments (behind-the-scene, not on the public forum), more people joining just to troll, and the divide between "popular" and "unpopular" members grows more noticeable as more people join.

but like I said, Canterlot is still one of the best out there. even though the things I listed are more frequent now, they're few and far between and no where near the point where it's an issue. but if that's happening on Canterlot, I'd hate to see what's happening on other websites x:

[Lux]

I've been a brony for a year now and joined Canterlot about six months ago (my has the time passed).

In terms of drama between members and trolling, the bronies actually appear to have less of this than other fandoms. What I see as negative is how some (not here but mostly on DeviantArt and YouTube) react to trolling, getting hurt when someone even says, "I don't like MLP." Trolling is a two way street. If a troller causes drama and you don't respond, the troll is null and void (like the motto "don't feed the trolls"). If you react, this gives the troll clout to continue.

As for drama between members, this is unavoidable. We are more individually than just liking MLP. We hav different tastes in art, music, sports, other fandoms, ideaologies, etc. So, there is bound to be disagreements. But the trick is to not escalate the disagreements into total flame wars.

I have seen forums where it got to the point that idf someone said "I like the color red," then the forum erupted into a war zone. (Ok I'm exaggerating about that with the color, but the topic was just as silly like a favorite video game or band).

I'm happy to see that Canterlot hardly has any trolling and little forum drama. This is due to the niceness of the players and the mods.

[flutterscotch]

Isn't people trolling and being jerks how the bronies got STARTED? Didn't the first wave of folks with memetic tendencies come from /b/, after they decided to make fun of Amid from Cartoon Brew (because he's an over-reactionary snob)??

And weren't they shunted into their own board because even the rest of 4-chan had to bow under their trolliness?

[Rosewind]

Isn't people trolling and being jerks how the bronies got STARTED? Didn't the first wave of folks with memetic tendencies come from /b/, after they decided to make fun of Amid from Cartoon Brew (because he's an over-reactionary snob)??

And weren't they shunted into their own board because even the rest of 4-chan had to bow under their trolliness?

That's probably where it started, but I think people noticing the quality of the cartoon and the subsequent following would have happened regardless -- the chan brony precursors just did it first.

[Tenkan]

Without a doubt the community is large and diverse with many people who like the show for many different reasons...it's understandable that some may use the 'Brony' card as a shield and means of bugging everyone else, due to getting the impression that the rest of society is out to get Bronies, when they're most likely not. Some just don't watch the show or aren't aware of it, or have different tastes.

[Lux]

Isn't people trolling and being jerks how the bronies got STARTED? Didn't the first wave of folks with memetic tendencies come from /b/, after they decided to make fun of Amid from Cartoon Brew (because he's an over-reactionary snob)??

And weren't they shunted into their own board because even the rest of 4-chan had to bow under their trolliness?

Really can't say sinnce I don't visit the "chan" sites.

I'd not be surprised though as I have friends who check out the "chans" and trolling each other has become a pasttime there.

[Syel]

At the very beginning it was to annoy the admins if I remember correctly (I don't go on 4chan's boards either), then it became more.

Anyway, Rosewind, you're right, it depends the website you're on, but when I wrote my post i had mostly Youtube comments in mind.

Anyway, it won't change my behavior towards other people

[BaconofChaos]

Anyway, Rosewind, you're right, it depends the website you're on, but when I wrote my post i had mostly Youtube comments in mind.

Well, there's your problem.

[Syel]

Well, there's your problem.

Yep, maybe. But you can't deny that without it, the community wouldn't have grown so fast / at all.