Influencers: Trigger warnings, safe spaces, safety tools and toxic products.

Let's get some things out of the way. If you need trigger warnings for Language, Opposing opinions, Sarcasm, or whatever reason. Do not read further buttercup, because there is no seat belt or security blanket for this ride.

If you are still reading, congratu-fucking-lations. You can take a joke. Let's dig right into the thing... Aaaand here we go.

Toxic influencers and useless coddle boxes.

I've been watching content from AAAAAALL over the place in several of my hobbies and Fandoms. Some content creator's or as I like to call them “cry bullies” and “apologists” that say and do some of the stupidest and most disingenuous things. Don't talk about a Fandom or hobby as if you are the, or an authority on it if you very clearly are not a fan or understand the hobby. You're a tourist or normie. You are more than welcome, and you are likely not going to stay, but if you take one thing away is that most if not all nerd hobbies are diverse, inclusive, and opinionated. You'll find that there are just as many opinions as there are gold coins in a dragon's hoard.

Modern day has brought the world a divisive environment and a controversial term “influencer,” the people who embrace the term, at least in my opinion and experience. Well, influencers are paid for. Either by a 3rd party, or the/a company that owns the Fandom, or a corporation that owns the hobby itself. There are obviously those that are by no means taking any corporate sponsorships or gifts. The people I'm talking about are those that generally do take “bribes.” And while that is not necessarily a bad thing, it does buy a bias. It is these people who often do defend bad actions by corporations.

“Why” is the question now. Isn't it? “Why is it that influencers are bad?” It's because of the influencers that I've come across, I would say that eight out of ten, will just have little to no shame in defending bad actions or attacks on the Fandom or hobby, and sometimes participate in those attacks. At this point, you are no longer an influencer in my book. You are now the problem when a hobby is full of people just minding their own and you defend someone like Jessica Price attacking a streamer for a simple disagreement. Or if you defend Wizards of the Coast for sending the Pinkertons to the home of a content creator and whale’s home to retrieve products that they had no right to send. But I'm sure you get the picture. I could point out more, but it would take all day to read through it all.

There have been “influencers” that actively bash on nerds and fans of hobbies and Fandoms. Let's take Anita Sarkisian for example, or David Leavitt calling fans of The Lord of the Rings and Magic the Gathering players racist for criticism of race-swapping an established character. While these are not the only examples or neither is this exclusive to one side of politics, I am looking at this from a standpoint of a fan and nerd that consumes the content.

Safe spaces: Within safe spaces...

Let that header sink in. Hobbies and fandoms are already getaways, or “safe spaces” if you will. If you need a hug box. Have you considered that you might be in the wrong Fandom or hobby? The hobbies have nothing to do with your mommy or daddy issues, nor do they have anything to do with your childhood trauma when someone called you a name or had a few people disagree with you on an established fact that you clearly do not understand.

Let's take D&D for example. Dungeons and Dragons is and always has been a hobby that has been inclusive and diverse. Are there those who are sexist for instance? Sure, I'm sure there are those people out there. Then again. Name one thing in Nerdom that doesn't have its bad elements. I'll wait. And yes, that's a shameless plug. Sue me. There is no getting away from bad actors. However, that should not be an indictment on the franchise, game, or whatever, because of a needle in a haystack or a unicorn. There are those who are just Wolves in sheep's clothing that will ruin the experience for one or two people. Stay away from those people. And stay away from the Trojan horse planted by a corporation. They're not your friend, and I have already briefly covered that in another post, so I won't harp on that.

Toxic Safety Tools.

While we're on the topic of influencers being plants by companies. Let's get into some of the ways they are doing more harm than good. Then at the end, we'll get into how we can fix some of the problems.

One of the biggest problems with influencers as mentioned above, is that they are bought off by companies. These range from “review copies” of video games or books. Don't confuse these as a company being benevolent or whatever. Almost always, the business does this to curry favor from a vlogger, or an online magazine. While this is not necessarily unethical, or necessarily wrong. Content creators need to understand that this does create a bias. It may not seem like there is one at first, and you can lie to yourself into believing that you can remain one-handed percent unaffected. That is simply not true.

Why mention a bias when it is not necessarily a problem? Well, good question. Biases are good, bad, and in between. What content creators should be looking for, is somewhere in the middle. Speaking for a company regardless of whether they do is corrupt and bankrupt. We often think “Hey you got that sponsorship. You're making it big now.” When that couldn't be further from the truth. The people who follow you are the people that made that possible for you. Betraying that, should be reason enough to lose you not only that sponsorship, but your followers. Companies are not flawless and they will turn their back on you at any opportunity they see.

How do we address this issue? It most certainly is not as easy as it will sound. Acknowledge that you are human, and all humans can and do have a bias toward, or against something. Be it political, a game mechanic, a way to tie a knot, or shoe laces. There is one-hande percent of the time, so sort of bias. In content creation for a hobby, we need to recognize that receiving a gift of any sort from a company, has a high risk of creating a positive bias toward a company, or brand. These biases can blind us to some if not all wrongdoing by a company.

A solution to avoid wrongfully defending a company is to listen to positive and negative feedback. Don't just jump to believing that criticism is against you. Oftentimes the criticism is against a corporation or a bad actor. Take the Pinkerton situation for example. People are not criticizing content creators. We criticize WotC for sending a group of thugs to harass an innocent man at his home. Most people don't care that Wizards wanted to retrieve the product, we criticize the way it was handled during and after. While I personally have not seen anyone defending this action, I do use this as an example because it is so fresh in memory. Had a content creator received a gift, or regular gifts by Wizards, and then had gone forth to defend them? People would then rightfully have been justified in criticizing the creators. To my knowledge that has not been the case.

Keep in mind that there are a myriad of ways that content creators can do wrong by their audience. Let's stick with Wizards for this, as there's plenty to unpack there in the past year or so. I have seen people defending Wizards after blatant disrespectful comments and actions against fans, creators and even other industry members. Make no mistake and believe that Wizards acted in good faith when attempting to do whatever they claimed during the first few weeks of the “OGL1.0a Debacle.” This was absolutely an attack on fans, creatives, and community leaders. Yet I did see influencers defending them. Not just then, but before, during, and after, for this and other things. I see influencers attacking longtime fans and whales.

For funsies, we'll continue to beat on this horse. I see influencers not just defending, but encouraging Wizards in attacking the same fans and such as “racist” among many other things. The creator's even going as far as to speak as if they represent the fans. You are absolutely in the wrong. You attack the fans that you do not interact with. For what? Because you have a political bias? Because the media or a company tells you that the broader community is something or another? Yet you speak as if you are an authority, while some of you just arrived at the hobby with its latest edition. How about you go outside of your little corner and engage the people you are told are bigoted. How about you sit at a table and play with us? Actually use your own judgment after reading the material some of us write or watch and listen to the podcasts.

You harm the hobby you claim to love so much that you became an influencer by not going out and engaging the wider hobby and attacking people you don't know. For what? A cookie and a head pat by a tiny corner of the hobby or Wizards? You do not speak for me, nor do you speak for the hobby itself. You do however speak for yourself. You turn people away from yourself and the hobby, and I can sincerely tell you. Get bent and I hope you see what your bias is doing to the people you claim to be defending or speaking for.

Conclusion

Have fun. Live and let live. Ignore the noise while trying to keep your biases and preconceptions in check. Not all is as it seems.

More on the problems with the “inclusiveness” movement in the tabletop role-playing hobby at a later date. May the dice decide until then.