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What the hell is that site coming to?
I haven't been there for...well, a long, long time, and haven't updated for even longer, and when I come back to browse around and see if my defective art is even worth the effort of updating, I notice something on the side of the screen in my review page:
"ABUSE" buttons.
What. The. FUCK. What is wrong with you people? "Abuse", are you kidding me? Jesus. I see the entire site has been pretty much consumed by emotionally volatile teeny-bopper girls, who all seem to have green eyes and long brown hair, and who put more effort into their bio page than their already shitty Young Adult vampire stories, and who all react to my attempts at constructive criticism as such; "omigod id like to see you write a story that has as many reviews as mine you asshole never talk to me again fucker im only 13/14/15/16/whatever leave me alone!!!!!!11!!!!!!!!!".
Oh, but let's not forget the Poe-reading male quarter of fictionpress (a lonely group indeed, believe me), who either force themselves to write about crime, murder or historical events, or create poetry about girls who've dumped them (or guys). Their bios? All can pretty much be summed up AS: "I read poetry to look smart, but really I'm just a shithead who's brain is in his dick and who has NO TASTE whatsoever in music, as you can see by my extensive list of Linkin Park/Rammstein/Eminem songs that I like...". You know, if Fictionpress is going to add "ABUSE" buttons, I demand that they add a "Remove Account" button, so I can get the hell out of there before things get really bad.
Seriously, though, there is nothing there that had attracted me to fictionpress in the first place; I'm brought back to that day, maybe...I don't know, a few years ago, when Fictionpress was a pretty fair place; it looked like the bastard brother of FanFiction.net, but I didn't care, because for once there were SMART people who wrote things I could actually READ without puking, which wasn't exactly the case on FanFiction.net. I'd happily go around, reviewing at random...helping the administrators of Fictionpress construct a better environment for authors and readers alike.
But now, in short, all is going to shit. It's becoming uncontrollable and hectic like FanFiction did (and has? I don't know, I haven't been there for years). There are entire forums dedicated to review-hungry writers, starved because their story didn't fit the narrow appetite most of the teenagers who've devoured the site have...which is drama, sex, "slash", and pretty much everything that one could find on FanFiction.net but with original characters. ENTIRE FORUMS, people.
Don't get me wrong; at first I was sympathetic and even contributed to these forums, but I quickly gave up, because I realized that reviews are similiar to drugs in that you never get enough, and quantity usually replaces quality when the addiction sets in. Nobody is writing to write anymore, at least not in the genre I generally stick to, Young Adult. They're writing to get people to notice them. They're writing to become the Fictionpress version of YouTube's 'lonelygirl15'. I'm seeing this happen right in front of me, and sorry, but I really feel the need to pull out of the whole thing (much like I did with FanFiction.net).
I've been looking around all night for forums on Fictionpress where I can post these thoughts and get some earnest replies, but have found none; no, most every forum is one of the following:
POST HERE AND I'LL/WE'LL REVIEW YOU!!
ROLEPLAYING!
HEY, WHEN IS THAT GUY WHO WROTE TWILIGHT GONNA PUBLISH NEW SHIT?
UMM...I DUNNO, JUST RANDOMLY POST SO I CAN GET SOME CREDENTIAL IN THIS DAMN PLACE
CHEESE!
WHAT DO YOU WRITE ABOUT?
WHAT'S UR FAVORITE MOVIE AND STUFF?
MORE ROLEPLAYING!
SLASHTASTIC STORIES HERE!!
COME HERE AND DESCRIBE IN ELABORATE DETAIL WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE!
And etc.. I was surfing around in this schlock, mouth agape and swearing to myself, wondering out loud 'Who the hell are these people who are completely ruining the beauty of Fictionpress?', and then I finally gave up. There is no one out there who is looking for criticism, much less criticism to Fictionpress itself; the site is practically reforming itself to suit the egos of the insecure new writers that are registering in waves to post their newest self-pity-ing drawls.
I suppose that the site can be likened to the USA, if you want to get political; a great, wonderful idea, but eventually ruined because too many people want to get their way, and ASAP too. Sometimes (I hate to sound like a Web Fascist, but...) it's just best to keep good things the way they are...but it's too late for Fictionpress.
And yeah, there are people who are exceptions to the new majority of the site. But those people are just way too hard to find. And the few that are out there rarely update anymore (a big *ahem* to you guys reading this; you know who you are), which could, if I might just throw away all my modesty, include me. Maybe we're all just ready to give up.
So keep your eyes open, people; there might be a certain generation of Fictionpress writers who are ready to throw in the towel and find greener pastures. Thanks for reading ;)
I haven't been there for...well, a long, long time, and haven't updated for even longer, and when I come back to browse around and see if my defective art is even worth the effort of updating, I notice something on the side of the screen in my review page:
"ABUSE" buttons.
What. The. FUCK. What is wrong with you people? "Abuse", are you kidding me? Jesus. I see the entire site has been pretty much consumed by emotionally volatile teeny-bopper girls, who all seem to have green eyes and long brown hair, and who put more effort into their bio page than their already shitty Young Adult vampire stories, and who all react to my attempts at constructive criticism as such; "omigod id like to see you write a story that has as many reviews as mine you asshole never talk to me again fucker im only 13/14/15/16/whatever leave me alone!!!!!!11!!!!!!!!!".
Oh, but let's not forget the Poe-reading male quarter of fictionpress (a lonely group indeed, believe me), who either force themselves to write about crime, murder or historical events, or create poetry about girls who've dumped them (or guys). Their bios? All can pretty much be summed up AS: "I read poetry to look smart, but really I'm just a shithead who's brain is in his dick and who has NO TASTE whatsoever in music, as you can see by my extensive list of Linkin Park/Rammstein/Eminem songs that I like...". You know, if Fictionpress is going to add "ABUSE" buttons, I demand that they add a "Remove Account" button, so I can get the hell out of there before things get really bad.
Seriously, though, there is nothing there that had attracted me to fictionpress in the first place; I'm brought back to that day, maybe...I don't know, a few years ago, when Fictionpress was a pretty fair place; it looked like the bastard brother of FanFiction.net, but I didn't care, because for once there were SMART people who wrote things I could actually READ without puking, which wasn't exactly the case on FanFiction.net. I'd happily go around, reviewing at random...helping the administrators of Fictionpress construct a better environment for authors and readers alike.
But now, in short, all is going to shit. It's becoming uncontrollable and hectic like FanFiction did (and has? I don't know, I haven't been there for years). There are entire forums dedicated to review-hungry writers, starved because their story didn't fit the narrow appetite most of the teenagers who've devoured the site have...which is drama, sex, "slash", and pretty much everything that one could find on FanFiction.net but with original characters. ENTIRE FORUMS, people.
Don't get me wrong; at first I was sympathetic and even contributed to these forums, but I quickly gave up, because I realized that reviews are similiar to drugs in that you never get enough, and quantity usually replaces quality when the addiction sets in. Nobody is writing to write anymore, at least not in the genre I generally stick to, Young Adult. They're writing to get people to notice them. They're writing to become the Fictionpress version of YouTube's 'lonelygirl15'. I'm seeing this happen right in front of me, and sorry, but I really feel the need to pull out of the whole thing (much like I did with FanFiction.net).
I've been looking around all night for forums on Fictionpress where I can post these thoughts and get some earnest replies, but have found none; no, most every forum is one of the following:
POST HERE AND I'LL/WE'LL REVIEW YOU!!
ROLEPLAYING!
HEY, WHEN IS THAT GUY WHO WROTE TWILIGHT GONNA PUBLISH NEW SHIT?
UMM...I DUNNO, JUST RANDOMLY POST SO I CAN GET SOME CREDENTIAL IN THIS DAMN PLACE
CHEESE!
WHAT DO YOU WRITE ABOUT?
WHAT'S UR FAVORITE MOVIE AND STUFF?
MORE ROLEPLAYING!
SLASHTASTIC STORIES HERE!!
COME HERE AND DESCRIBE IN ELABORATE DETAIL WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE!
And etc.. I was surfing around in this schlock, mouth agape and swearing to myself, wondering out loud 'Who the hell are these people who are completely ruining the beauty of Fictionpress?', and then I finally gave up. There is no one out there who is looking for criticism, much less criticism to Fictionpress itself; the site is practically reforming itself to suit the egos of the insecure new writers that are registering in waves to post their newest self-pity-ing drawls.
I suppose that the site can be likened to the USA, if you want to get political; a great, wonderful idea, but eventually ruined because too many people want to get their way, and ASAP too. Sometimes (I hate to sound like a Web Fascist, but...) it's just best to keep good things the way they are...but it's too late for Fictionpress.
And yeah, there are people who are exceptions to the new majority of the site. But those people are just way too hard to find. And the few that are out there rarely update anymore (a big *ahem* to you guys reading this; you know who you are), which could, if I might just throw away all my modesty, include me. Maybe we're all just ready to give up.
So keep your eyes open, people; there might be a certain generation of Fictionpress writers who are ready to throw in the towel and find greener pastures. Thanks for reading ;)