Why do anti-bronies call us the "cancer of the Internet"?

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

@@cider float, @@Yamet,

 

In actual answer too the topic:

 

Because it's the internet.

 

"It's the internet" is not a good excuse for these cyber terrorists to bully others. No one is entitled to troll or bully anyone, including bronies. Even five years after the show aired, many bronies are still picked on just because they like the show.

 

If I was a Brony and someone said ''Bronies are cancer, bronies are all fat middle aged perverts, all bronies are cloppers, all bronies are autistic'' then why would I get offended since their not even true?

The nerd stereotype like the brony stereotype is extremely pervasive both online and off. People have every right to be offended, whether he or she is a brony or not, because it's both false and ableist. "Autism" is a clinical diagnosis. To use it as a slur like the N-word for blacks is extremely disgusting. Bronies are an easy target "just because." "Don't feed the troll" doesn't do anything except tolerate the problem and pass it off to somebody else. Slurs shouldn't be ignored or tolerated.

 

I have a better question: Why do you care so much about what some kids on the internet say?

We should care because these words can not merely hurt. They can kill, as well. Contrary to what these cyber terrorists believe, there's a human with emotions on the other side of the monitor. We have no idea what their lives are like offline. One insult or suicide threat may be enough for the victim to actually perform the deed.

 

 

 

Why wouldn't they? People have been called worse things in real life.

That doesn't make what the anti-bronies/trolls say okay.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[Cherry Bomb 51]

They simply are moronic fools whom presumably think we just trolls. Or extremely creepy older people.

[Perfect Stanza 73]

I agree with everything already said. Mostly I think people say it because other people are saying it and it seems like THE THING to say. Personally, I think the hate is just mob mentality. Before I had actually watched the show I thought bronies were gross because that's the loudest opinion. Haters don't want anyone to know about how accepting, kind, and just overall amazing this community is. It's easier for them to call us cancer because they don't know any differently.

 

Instead of spreading sickness, I only spread love. Hopefully with this we will be able to open eyes one person at a time.

[Lady Shrimpy 24]

They just want to make us feel bad for liking MLP, but it doesn't work on most people, and if it does, then don't let it get you down, they are just scared of our hugs and ponies, and they are getting defensive

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

That doesn't make what the anti-bronies/trolls say okay.

Fun fact, I never said that it was okay for trolls to call us "the cancer of the internet" because people say worse things in real life, I was actually referring to this post. 

 

Because they would never say that to any one of us in real life. 

[Skytriqqer 100]

What would they do if they stand in front of a Brony in Real life?

[[NULL] 906]

We should care because these words can not merely hurt. They can kill, as well. Contrary to what these cyber terrorists believe, there's a human with emotions on the other side of the monitor. We have no idea what their lives are like offline. One insult or suicide threat may be enough for the victim to actually perform the deed.

 

Don't you think you're giving them too much credit by calling them terrorists? These aren't people trying to push an ideology. All they're trying to get out of it is attention, and you'll be playing into their hands by arguing back. They don't care what supposedly good points you bring up. Any negative response to them will make them feel like they have significance, and they'll only come back for more. That's why the best approach would be to ignore them; Let them know that they're insignificant, and these individuals will eventually grow up. It's worked for other fanbases.

 

If someone's too emotionally unstable to deal with petty internet comments, then they probably have bigger personal issues to deal with first.

Edited July 12, 2015 by SpaceOnion

[Not Yellow Diamond 925]

Guys, we sort of are cancer if you think about it. We infect everything and ponify it. We spread like wildfire basically. Only difference is Cancer is harmful. We're just straight up annoying

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

Fun fact, I never said that it was okay for trolls to call us "the cancer of the internet" because people say worse things in real life, I was actually referring to this post. 

I know. Still doesn't change the point.

 

 

Don't you think you're giving them too much credit by calling them terrorists?

Nope. If anything, "terrorist" fits their brand of bullying perfectly despite not having any political ideology. The purposes of both trolling and cyberbullying are completely the same as terrorizing: to spread fear. Trolls and cyberbullies spread fear simply by attacking them, belittling them, harassing them, and even doxxing and swatting them. Trolling can hurt, and trolling can kill.

 

 

That's why the best approach would be to ignore them; Let them know that they're insignificant, and these individuals will eventually grow up. It's worked for other fanbases.

 

No, it's not.

1. Silence is just as much of a response as answering back. Even if they are ignored, it doesn't dispel the problem. In fact, the trolls may either go after someone else or do something worse to trigger a worse response. "Don't feed the troll" is, once more, tolerating the problem. It pretends the problem doesn't exist, when it risks growing into something worse.
2. No target should EVER be a victim of trolling. "Don't feed the troll" is another way of saying "It's your fault you're being trolled." You're blaming the victim, not the troll. In other words, "don't feed the troll" gives power to the troll, not the other way around.

You claimed not feeding the troll worked? On the contrary, I argue the fandoms that did that that never saw the epidemic truly dissipate. In fact, I argue the problem remained, got worse, or were solved via some other ways.

 

If someone's too emotionally unstable to deal with petty internet comments, then they probably have bigger personal issues to deal with first.

People should be entitled to go online and be a part of Internet conversations while feeling safe. All it takes is one comment for their target to go over the edge; everyone has a limit, and we don't know what it is. Your sentence blames the victim. NEVER blame the victim!

Edited July 12, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[Revy 184]

"It's the internet" is not a good excuse for these cyber terrorists to bully others.

 

I'm sorry but I just actually had too laugh a little there. First of all, Cyber terrorists? is that now the name for 13 year old children who trash talk people / bronies on the internet, thought they were just called immature kids but you know.  

 

Also not once did I see it was an excuse or it is good, but it just happens. You can sit there all year long and crow about how it's not right, it's not fair etc but guess what my friend it just Happens and thats it. Simply put it isn't going too stop no matter how people want it too, people are always going too be picked on one way or another for being different and thats simply how the world works. Would I use that as an excuse too bully, no, bullying is disgusting and the people who do it are cowards, so before you go all defensive and say I'm saying it's an excuse, do yourself a favor and reread what is actually written. 

 

 

 

The nerd stereotype like the brony stereotype is extremely pervasive both online and off. People have every right to be offended, whether he or she is a brony or not, because it's both false and ableist. "Autism" is a clinical diagnosis. To use it as a slur like the N-word for blacks is extremely disgusting. Bronies are an easy target "just because." "Don't feed the troll" doesn't do anything except tolerate the problem and pass it off to somebody else. Slurs shouldn't be ignored or tolerated.

 

Again I am really not sure what text you are reading. First of all Bronies are not a stereotype because it's not even a real term in the first place it is literally anyone who is adult and watches MLP , many fans hate the term because it shouldn't be there in the first place. Bar trekkies you are the only fandom I know of that actually label themselves with a tag and it is YOU who has given yourselves that label for people too hate on and stereotype. If the ''Brony'' community had said, you know what, lets just not give ourselves a tag, lets not glorify the watching of a cartoon show, lets not open the door too being ripped on just because we are trying to be different, then it would not have had an issue at all. 

 

Your right, Autism is a clinical diagnosis, I am pretty sure we are all aware of that, yet again it is a regular insult on the internet and one which isn't going away soon. 

 

Do not put yourself on the level of someone calling a Black person the N word.... Really --Facedesk--, you see racial abuse is widely accepted as disgusting because a person, no matter what color skin are born equal, you do not choose what race you are born into, and too be insulted on something which you can't choose is totally wrong. This goes for homophobia, gender issues, mental impairments, physical disabilities and sexuality etc.  A brony on the other hand is someone ( for the love of sweet mother of jesus how many times do I have too say it ) is someone who has CHOSEN too watch a TV SHOW  that was made for Children and label themselves with the brony tag.  

 

I am litereally almost smacking my head physically in frustration. You might be far too deluded too see it but again I say the community is not better than any other community that watches TV shows! How is watching MLP any different too watching sponge bob squarepants, that was made for kids, do they then call themselves Spongies , set Sponge bob related avatars on YT , tumblr etc, then go on and rant about how everyone hates them for not being the norm. 

 

No. You know why? 

 

Because literally no one in their right mind gives that much shit about watching a tv show. Period. 

Edited July 12, 2015 by DJ Revy

[APegLegPirate 168]

The same reason they call water H2O. Because it's true :V

[Denim&Venöm 18,941]

Because they used all the other available slurs to insult furries. But in reality, it doesn't matter. 

 
@Dark Qiviut
 
What do you propose be done then? According to you, current methods of pacifism and not giving them the attention they crave aren't working. So how would you address the anti-brony semitism on the internets?

[[NULL] 906]

People should be entitled to go online and be a part of Internet conversations while feeling safe. All it takes is one comment for their target to go over the edge; everyone has a limit, and we don't know what it is. Your sentence blames the victim. NEVER blame the victim!

The point was that if not the petty internet comment, it would've easily been something else that breaks them.

 

Nope. If anything, "terrorist" fits their brand of bullying perfectly despite not having any political ideology. The purposes of both trolling and cyberbullying are completely the same as terrorizing: to spread fear. Trolls and cyberbullies spread fear simply by attacking them, belittling them, harassing them, and even doxxing and swatting them. Trolling can hurt, and trolling can kill.

You've already brought up separate issues such as doxxing and swatting, and played around with the definition of Terrorist to suit your needs. So how long before you make a Hitler analogy?

 

Silence is just as much of a response as answering back. Even if they are ignored, it doesn't dispel the problem. In fact, the trolls may either go after someone else or do something worse to trigger a worse response. "Don't feed the troll" is, once more, tolerating the problem. It pretends the problem doesn't exist, when it risks growing into something worse. No target should EVER be a victim of trolling. "Don't feed the troll" is another way of saying "It's your fault you're being trolled." You're blaming the victim, not the troll. In other words, "don't feed the troll" gives power to the troll, not the other way around. You claimed not feeding the troll worked? On the contrary, I argue the fandoms that did that that never saw the epidemic truly dissipate. In fact, I argue the problem remained, got worse, or were solved via some other ways.

Most fanbases don't view kids insulting them as a problem, since it isn't one. It's just life. However, many MLP fans have grown egotistical by throwing around and eating up the idea that they're progressive misunderstood special snowflakes. They believe everyone is out to get them, and respond to every kid insulting them over the internet, giving them reason to return. I'm not "Blaming the Victim™", Dark Qiviot. That would require there to be a victim to blame.

 

But since you do view negative internet comments towrds MLP fans as a serious issue, what do you propose? Respond to these 12-year-olds under the belief that they care about what you have to say? Oh I'm sorry, "Sacrifice yourself to these evil nazi terrorist devil-worshippers, by responding with a comment with a power level so high that it will stop them from the off chance they decide to swat a livestreamer."

"Sarcasm never works, SpaceOnion! You're only arguing with a strawman that way!" Then for your own sake, I highly suggest you stop being a strawman.

Edited July 12, 2015 by SpaceOnion

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

 

 

What do you propose be done then? According to you, current methods of pacifism and not giving them the attention they crave aren't working. So how would you address the anti-brony semitism on the internets?

There's really no right answer to stop the trolling problem, because it's still really new. Arizona and the U.K. proposed anti-trolling bills, but they died because of law conflicts. Possible solutions I saw are as follows:

1. To put it simply, don't use "don't feed the troll." The phrase blames the victim, not the troll.
2. Speak out against the disgusting culture of trolling. The Internet can be great, but bullycide is an epidemic, and online trolling is part of the problem. Remember, one vile comment can cause the target to attempt suicide. Never tolerate trolling.
3. If the troll is being vulgar and verbally abusive, report the person. If the troll is making you fear for your life, call the cops.
   
   If the troll is a child, find out their family and contact their parents, like this woman after they threatened to rape her. It'll scare the kids from ever trolling again.
4. Some people publicly shamed trolls. When Curt Schilling announced that his daughter had a softball scholarship, Twitter trolls sexually harassed her and threatened to rape her. The misogyny is already disgusting. It's even worse that they threatened to rape a minor! So he outed them, and he got at least one fired. Today, he's exploring all legal action against them.

[Revy 184]

 

There's really no right answer to stop the trolling problem, because it's still really new. Arizona and the U.K. proposed anti-trolling bills, but they died because of law conflicts. Possible solutions I saw are as follows:

1. To put it simply, don't use "don't feed the troll." The phrase blames the victim, not the troll.
2. Speak out against the disgusting culture of trolling. The Internet can be great, but bullycide is an epidemic, and online trolling is part of the problem. Remember, one vile comment can cause the target to attempt suicide. Never tolerate trolling.
3. If the troll is being vulgar and verbally abusive, report the person. If the troll is making you fear for your life, call the cops.

    

   If the troll is a child, find out their family and contact their parents, like this woman after they threatened to rape her. It'll scare the kids from ever trolling again.

4. Some people publicly shamed trolls. When Curt Schilling announced that his daughter had a softball scholarship, Twitter trolls sexually harassed her and threatened to rape her. The misogyny is already disgusting. It's even worse that they threatened to rape a minor! So he outed them, and he got at least one fired. Today, he's exploring all legal action against them.

 

 

 I don't understand what your trying to do and it just sounds like some kind of white knight philosophy. 

 

Sure I totally agree on a serious note. If someone is actually taken it one step further and making you want too kill yourself (Being blunt here, you really should not want to kill yourself just because someone is insulting you for watching a kids show) by making it personal then by all means report them and seek help for yourself, cyberbullying is a crime when it's that level. 

 

You say ''don't feed the troll'' is blaming the Victim but it's not, if you do not respond it is actually the most mature thing to do, why do bullies bully people alot of the time, too get reactions too see the ''rage'' , what is the point of that? If you came up too me and said ''haha, piece of sh!t brony, hope you die'' and I say something like light hearted back like ''Yeah I will send you a post card and let you know when I have'', it's reversing the negative comment into a positive funny one, and then you just leave it there... or even better still block the person, most sites allow that. 

 

Fact is things will NEVER get too the crime level unless the person responds too them because then they will just go away. 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

TL:DR: Cyber crime / bullying is always wrong, but we don't live in a perfect world people, if you can't handle the internet bad side then don't go on the sites that show it, too be harsh, your going too face much more challenging things in life than kids on a keyboard, you need too learn how to deal with issues. 

Edited July 12, 2015 by DJ Revy

[Poetic Stone 1,041]

I must say I had no idea were as big as cancer, so cool...lol. No, but anyway there has always been hate for things that people don't understand. So they hate us, who care, I know I want lose any sleep. It sucks that people waste so much energy on pointless BS that has nothing to do with there life, so party on guys.

[Nameless Knight 1,001]

I guess it is like this.

 

Image a group of 100 people as cells, One of the people is a brony, that brony will began to convert the 4 people around them to brony-ism (what ever you want to call it). Then those 4 will cover the 4 people around them, and so on and so on. Just like how cancer cells infect healthy cells. They call us the 'cancer' of the internet as an insult, because... Cancer.

 

It can be a compliment if you replaced the word Cancer. Like this: (only pokemon fans will get this though)

 

Bronies are the Pokerus of the Internet.

 

(Pokerus is a virus in pokemon that is actually beneficial to the pokemon. It increases their stats and spreads to other pokemon in your party, trading a pokemon with pokerus is a good way to spread the virus to other parties, just as a brony moving to a new school or business can began spreading Brony-ism to other non-bronies. )

[Fhaolan 4,483]

Bar trekkies you are the only fandom I know of that actually label themselves with a tag and it is YOU who has given yourselves that label for people too hate on and stereotype.  

 

Trekkies, Browncoats, Whoovians, Furries, MSTies, Beatlemaniacs, Deadheaders, Bondians, Parrotheads, Potterheads, Sherlockians... Most of the bigger fandoms have names for themselves. It's more unusual for fandoms to *not* have names for themselves now-a-days.

[Blitzercam 1]

Just ignore them. The more attention you give them, the more they win

[ThePoniMan 164]

I don't know... I honestly don't know. I can see people feeling uneasy when they see adults liking a little girl's show, but telling people that they are cancer and should die is extreme. Pepole who say stuff like that have a serious Internet ego and believe they can say whatever over the Internet without consequences.

 

On Youtube, recently, I have noticed people with pony avatars leaving normal comments, then some idiot responds and says something like, "ew ponies." To be honest, the argument that bronies shove stuff in others faces is becoming outdated. Times are changing. I have browsed the internet a lot recently, and not once have I seen bronies shoving stuff down people's throats (that is, on content unrelated to ponies. Leave a hate comment on a pony video and you are asking for angry rants). We are, generally speaking, minding our business more, but if there is a pony icon next to a comment completely unrelated to ponies, someone feels the need to bring up My Little Pony in a negative way. It happens too often...

[Marine_Vet_Brony 317]

why? Seriously, I have seen anti-bronies call us this SO many times. And it doesn't make any sense! So, why do they call us this?

Because many of us take this show too seriously.

[The Nth Doctor 662]

The same reason people hate Call of Duty, 4Chan, Nazis and child molesters

 

Because they can

 

And while we preach love and tolerance, I've seen many bronies treat other people the same way, so...

[Windseeker 546]

Because they ran out of insults? Really, who the hell cares? The more time we spend trying to decipher their broken ass logic, the less time we'll be able to happily indulge ourselves in pony material.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Psychedelicize

[cider float 2,538]

Until they start wearing these pink ribbons I can't take them seriously.

 

[Techno Universal 2,575]

It's probably because of us creating TONS of MLP fan content and memes and spamming them absolutely EVERYWHERE!!! It's like a disease on the internet.  

Edited June 12, 2017 by Techno Universal