Several weeks ago, I was randomly looking around Twitter (I know, a wonderful use of one’s time) and happened upon a reply in a long thread which stated that “(our fandom) has terrible PR.” So that got me thinking..and as usual, I thought it over for quite a while and came to the conclusion that (if they weren’t just glumly kidding..I have a hard enough time telling if people are doing that in real life, let alone the Internet.) fandoms in general wouldn’t benefit all that much from PR even if they had the very best in the world.
The first issue is that, how can one officially define a member of a fandom that would need assistance with public relations to begin with? As I’ve mentioned before, a fandom is much more of an idea than a formal organization with a clear hierarchy, rules, regulations, methods for members to enter and leave, etc. Even operating under a fairly loose definition of a fandom member as someone who attends events, consumes a significant amount of fandom-related media, has a lot of friends/relationships within said fandom, at what point did they ‘officially’ join the fandom and at what point are they no longer in it? Is it only when they stop going to events completely? I could see a case where someone isn’t able to go to events/conventions anymore due to significant life changes but they still enjoy fandom media and have some friends left; are they still in the fandom? There could also be a reverse case, someone who just goes to conventions to hang out with a large group of friends but doesn’t like any of the associated media and doesn’t care about anything else going on in the fandom. This is just a sample of why it’s so hard to definitively classify borderline cases (whether or not they ever were definitely in a fandom to begin with.)
Thus, because of this, how could any PR firm do any damage control when a) there isn’t a concrete definition of what constitutes a member and b) there’s no way to coerce any members into following any recommended steps that said firm suggests. In my experience, trying to get any fandom (or any loosely defined Internet group) to do something like that would be a completely futile effort; it would be ignored and mocked at best; even then, trolls would go absolutely insane with delight over this prospect and very quickly reduce such an endeavor into smoking rubble. Even for a fandom that follows the product(s) of a corporate entity, trying to make a tightly regulated ‘official’ fanclub would likely only serve the purpose of being able to say “Well, those weren’t official fans, so they don’t really count.” (Or, just make it a corporate policy to crack down hard on any attempts to form an Internet fandom before it can even get off the ground. While I don’t personally agree with such methods, I don’t think much can be done to stop any corporation that thinks like that..and they might decide that it’s better to do that now vs. potentially having to deal with an uncontrollable pernicious group later.)
Now, a fandom convention is definitely an organized entity (most of the time) and usually does its own PR but in that context, it makes sense; it’s going to promote itself and (possibly) associated conventions, attempt to handle any issues that come up, and perform damage control as needed. Should conventions do all of the PR for a fandom, then? No, as they can only really try to control what goes on within their own organization, not what someone else (be they an individual/group/another convention entirely) does or doesn’t do. There’s usually a loose consortium of conventions in any given fandom and it’s definitely possible to blacklist anyone who has repeatedly and egregiously violated community norms (if any norms can be agreed upon) but that won’t stop said individual from going online and doing/saying almost anything they want to (barring being legally banned from the Internet but at that point, they’ve got bigger problems). Also, if they have the time/resources/ability to do so, nothing is stopping them from starting their own conventions/meetups and then splintering that aspect of a fandom. I have also heard the suggestion of community shunning as a form of forcing ‘compliant’ behavior, but even if there was (somehow) a massive buyin to such a plan, nothing stops that individual from forming their own community and having two separate fandoms in continual conflict (mostly over which one is the ‘actual’ fandom with the ‘real’ fans.) This also ties into the No True Scotsman fallacy which could unfortunately be used as justification to start a terribly misguided campaign.
All of this makes it sound like an insoluble problem..that, while the Internet has made it possible for fandoms to quickly form, organize and collaborate on amazing things in a decentralized manner, it is that same manner that can make repairing the perceptions of outsiders (especially any who are excessively negative people/trolls that never shut up about what they consider the worst aspects of anything) extremely difficult if not impossible. Thus, my opinion on the matter is that, since any given fandom member can only control their own behavior (and perhaps be able to influence the behavior of their close friends), that’s all they should really worry about. That’s how I approach all of the drama that some people ahem go on and on about in the MLP:Friendship is Magic fandom..if it doesn’t affect me personally, I’m not going to worry about it. I’m all for holding individuals accountable for their actions, of course, but I’m not going to lose sleep just because someone I never met online or off did something to ‘make the fandom look bad.’ Anyone who would permanently condemn and disdain any given group for the actions of one (especially something as disparate as a fandom) isn’t someone I particularly want to know anyway.
So, if you’re someone who is genuinely concerned with making your fandom look better, it all starts with you and how you interact with other people in general in the context of said fandom, whether they’re in it or not. While being kind, considerate, generous, helpful and such doesn’t make headlines and won’t necessarily generate a lot of immediate buzz, it will be noticed over time and have a discernible long term effect. While patience seems to be in very short supply these days (and can be incredibly hard to summon when being taunted and sneered at just for being part of something important to you), I do still think that, ultimately, kindness and reason will prevail. You can’t control what others are saying, but you can control what you’re doing.
(Addendum: as I finished writing this (whenever I had some time here and there over the last few weeks), toxic elements of the Star Wars fandom got national attention for forcing actress Kelly Marie Tran off of social media as part of the massive (and horribly unjustifiable) backlash to the new Star Wars movies and there’s plenty of pundits writing analysis. To this recent development, I don’t have any new insight, only that perhaps exposing these corrosive elements at this scale might be the first step to limiting their influence.)