This is an important article, and why I’ve spoken about toxic fans and toxic fandom in the past.
If a company, a director, an editor, a writer, whoever does something wrong or that upsets you, there are ways to respond to it that get the message across (even with stubborn or mean-spirited ones) WITHOUT taking it too far.
There is no context where SWATting a person is okay. Same goes for death threats, doxxing, making harassing phone calls, sending suspicious packages, and other things that are not physical harm but create fear of being harmed.
If you have a problem with what someone’s done and it’s legitimate, it has solid ground to stand on, then making your case and spreading it is usually good enough. Yes, you’ll run into people who push back even if they know you’re right, but a majority of people care about what’s right. Especially in the modern social climate.
By making a case, if it’s legit, then the person/people/company behind the cause will often respond by trying to fix things. If they’re good-intentioned, they’ll do it right away if they see what’s wrong. If not, they’ll do it with enough pressure. In extreme cases, boycotts on various levels may work in conjunction with calling things out. We live in a capitalist society. Refusing to give money affects not just immediate funds, but future opportunities to make money too.
This is why some fanboys will mock complaints with “you’ll buy it anyway,” and why stuff like buying a game just to break it is the wrong approach. If you give money, you’re actually hurting your cause.
If you care about something, you want things to be preserved or (more often) changed, there are ways to do it that are right and ways that are wrong. Avoid the toxic abusive stuff like SWATting and death threats.
In 2018, let’s stop pretending abusive fans are ‘passionate’