noxfoxarts:

ladyvean:

writertobridge:

I remember years ago, when I created my first blog on here, I had an interaction with someone that completely changed how I view people on this website.

I saw a post floating around in book blogs that was about the treatment of books, mostly how people treat them well, and they were generally talking down to people that treat their books poorly. I made some polite, “I don’t know, I think damaged books are a little romantic,” kind of response and elaborated on that a little. The intent was to put it on my blog. I wasn’t aware the OP and the person I reblogged the post from would get notified.

Some girl, I think the OP, went on a multi-paragraph rant about how my opinion was bullshit and how I should’ve stayed out of the conversation if I felt the way that I did. There was nothing polite about her response.

At that point, I had a Tumblr blog for two days.

I deleted that blog less than a week later and didn’t return to this site for another year or so. I haven’t made a book blog or interacted with the book side of Tumblr since, despite the fact that I love books and reading.

That is constantly in my mind when I speak with other users on this website. One negative interaction can completely ruin someone’s joy on this site, or any website, really. It doesn’t take much. That’s why I strive to only post positive content, fandom content with little to no discourse, and I make an effort to be polite to everyone on here. I never want users to feel the way I did in that interaction, especially new ones.

If I have problems with someone, I report and/or block them. Trolls and purposely rude/crass/demeaning people are included in that. There’s been a few exceptions, in particular trolls, but for the most part, I’ve been really keen on creating and keeping a positive, accepting environment that anyone is welcome in, so long as they’re respectful to others. That’s gotten me in trouble in the past, admittedly, but I’d rather be accepting to a fault than make others feel like the scum of the earth just for a sharing an opinion that doesn’t hurt anyone else.

Same here.

I agree and relate so much. Today, I was thinking of how every person I’ve interacted with feels like a scar in my mind, because I keep such vivid memories of them (even the pleasant memories feel like scars). I often recall online conversations, things that happened and didn’t go well, drama, how I’ve had to leave a number of communities because people were being so heated and hostile to anything they didn’t 100% agree with. How people were so prone to protect the established big posters, without any quality control.

I’m not always best at social interactions, but I always try to be as nice and open-minded as I can. I know I’ve been harsh in my opinions before, I know I’ve annoyed people without even realizing, and I really hope to avoid doing those mistakes again as much as I can. I’ve had dark days and I also know that sometimes, fandom is what carries you through the hours.