Should I make bronies the topic of my school project?

[ThatOneComrade 1,091]

Hahaha, kiss your social life goodbye 

But in all seriousness, go for it if you really want to.

[melody5697 195]

Hahaha, kiss your social life goodbye 

But in all seriousness, go for it if you really want to.

I don't have a social life at school anyway. All my friends are from either youth group (I'm not actually a Christian; I just go there because there are games and the people are nice) or a home school group that meets at the park once a week. (I'm in college now, but lots of people who have graduated from high school still go.) My two best friends love My Little Pony, and nobody at youth group has a problem with it (and I would probably know if they did because it's a really small church). And if somebody decides they don't like me just because I like MLP, they're not somebody I wanna be friends with anyway.

Say, what was the name of that guy who did a physics project about why a bunch of stuff from MLP is physically impossible?

[~SadisticFluttershy~ 779]

Yes, because we've got to hide it and keep pretending that it's all just "misconceptions", don't we? Wouldn't want to give the fandom a "bad name", like you say.

You also need to realize that this is a SCHOOL PROJECT. Meaning it needs to be APPROPRIATE. If he were to write about that side of the fandom, he would get into alot of trouble because it's inappropriate. School has rules and must be followed respectively. That's the part you misunderstood.

 

If haters want to hunt it down on google, fine. But there's ups and downs in every fandom. If he were to write his project in a huge positive way on the good things about it, he could even convert people if they need someone or some ponies to turn to and need a miracle, then being a brony is the best thing imo.

[Guest]

 

 

Sharing the good things and omitting the black sheep among us is not "propaganda", as you called it. It's choosing which parts of the fandom one wants to focus on; which fan behaviours one associates with and approves and which one does not.

 

 

Nope, that would be propaganda. It's subjective reporting, and leaving out information because it is unsavory to your cause. If you want people to listen you have to give them the facts, all the facts and let them form their own opinion. When you purposely leave parts out people will find them on their own, find out you omitted them and doubt the credibility of everything else you've said. It's best to be objective and simply just report it all.

 

 

 

Because if I don't approve the bad things, why should I talk about it if not asked specifically? Why should I feed my energy to it? It's like trying to fight the fire by pouring a gasoline on it

 

Untrue entirely. You don't fight bad behavior by ignoring it, pretending it's not there, covering it up and hoping outsiders never see it. You fight it by being honest, addressing it and making a stand against it. Purposely not reporting it will make you appear as a supporter because you chose to not take a stand against it and instead tried to cover it up. When those people end up doing their own personal research they WILL find out about the bad stuff and question how you could have missed it when it's very difficult to miss. You will look like you deceived them and thus your credibility takes a hit.

 

 

 

It's another forced equality which blows up minor flaws to the size as if they were as much important as the positive aspects. If something is a minority, I don't see the point in blowing it up out of proportion and giving it more screen time than it deserves. Simple as that. Giving a minority the same amount of focus is what is called "bias" and "propaganda" in my book.

 

While a minority does not deserve the same amount of time as a majority it definitely deserves some attention. It's part of the fandom whether you like it or not. And that being said there really is no concrete proof that some of the lesser loved aspects of the brony fandom (such as clopping) truly is a minority. I mean some of the most popular stories on FiMFiction are sex ones. Almost every day there are at least 2-4 sex stories in the featured box. That's a fairly popular site with a lot of members and good portion of them making sex stories. That's hardly a minority. You can't ignore it.

 

Bias would be omitting unsavory elements to fool the audience into thinking bronies are sunshine and roses.

 

 

 

Imagine you are looking for a job and you go to an interview. Would you tell your boss: "I'm a great programmer, I can solve problems quickly and learn fast, oh, and I'm also an alcoholic"? Yeah, good luck with that

 

Not a great comparison. In a job interview you are trying to convince someone to hire you, in this case you are trying to give people information to form an honest opinion. You are not trying to control their opinion, and if you are then you're not being objective.

 

 

 

That's also one of the reasons I'm a strong opponent of gay parades & stuff like that, despite the fact I have nothing against homosexual people. I approve them being different, I can have friends which are gay and I'm OK with that. What I don't approve is forcing it upon me and making an entire philosophy around it just to blow up minority to make it look like as if it were the same size as the rest.

 

How exactly are gay pride parades forcing homosexuality upon you? Are they making you desire gay sex?

 

 

 

Honesty doesn't require that you tell everything to everyone. Or that you cannot have secrets or privacy. Or that you cannot refuse talking about something you don't like or don't approve. It is when you honestly answer if someone asks.

 

It does when you are trying to be informative and let people form their own opinions. If you leave information out and keep secrets you are trying to get people to form opinions on incomplete information which is exactly what all the anti-bronies already do. To gain trust you need credibility, you won't get that by hiding things.

 

 

 

What's funny is that all these things about what honesty really is, were already explained in the show several times (e.g. "The Return of Harmony", "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies", "Inspiration Manifestation", among others), but still so many Bronies out there doesn't seem to get it

 

When you try to get people to form opinions without giving them all the facts, you're being dishonest. I am surprised you do not get that. When you take an outsider and show him the brony fandom and you leave out clopping, bad fanfiction, etc. you are not giving him a fair representation of the fandom. You're giving him a representation to fuel your agenda of getting people to look at bronies positively and all you're really going to accomplish is making more people look at them negatively because they will turn around, do their own research and find out you're full of it.

 

 

 

That's also one of the reasons I think why we should introduce additional labels for different types of Bronies.

 

So... Segregate the fandom? I can't possibly see that backfiring.

 

I'm sorry but your philosophy as I am seeing it is: brush everything bad under the rug and hope no one looks under that rug. It's a poor strategy and is just going to make the fandom look worse because people are going to find out you purposely left those parts out.

 

@@melody5697, I think for the sake of giving people the ability to form an opinion you should at the very least touch upon the bad aspects of the fandom so your report can remain objective. The last thing you want is someone to accuse you of trying to fool people because you belong to the fandom you're analyzing. It's better you be honest and make it clear you do not partake in those parts so that people can see you as a reliable source. 

 

 

 

You also need to realize that this is a SCHOOL PROJECT. Meaning it needs to be APPROPRIATE. If he were to write about that side of the fandom, he would get into alot of trouble because it's inappropriate. School has rules and must be followed respectively. That's the part you misunderstood.

 

The OP mentioned they are in college, so this is a college level report. You can get away with a bit more, and you can simply word it as "Bronies also engage in adult activities, blah blah blah" you do not need to go in extreme detail or anything like that. Colleges allow you to analyze adult concepts so long as your papers are not completely pornographic. There is a way to report on this while remaining clean.

 

 

 

If haters want to hunt it down on google, fine. But there's ups and downs in every fandom. If he were to write his project in a huge positive way on the good things about it, he could even convert people if they need someone or some ponies to turn to and need a miracle, then being a brony is the best thing imo.

 

But they wouldn't be deciding to become a brony based upon all the information. The LAST thing I would want is someone to come into this fandom thinking one thing, and realizing it was not what they were told and being disappointed. That is the opposite of a "good thing". We have to set people's expectations to realistic. 

[Black Sabbath 2,484]

already explained in the show several times (e.g. "The Return of Harmony", "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies", "Inspiration Manifestation", among others), but still so many Bronies out there doesn't seem to get it

But you want ro leave out important information just to make yourself look better, that isn't very honest is it? Also, how angry would you get if someone takes about bronies but only talked about the bad parts?

Edited September 22, 2015 by Yamet

[Daring_Do 552]

But they wouldn't be deciding to become a brony based upon all the information. The LAST thing I would want is someone to come into this fandom thinking one thing, and realizing it was not what they were told and being disappointed. That is the opposite of a "good thing". We have to set people's expectations to realistic. 

 

I can confirm this is actually exactly what happened to me. Since then I've felt betrayed, tricked and a lot more bitter about the whole thing than I otherwise would be. I used to firmly believe these things weren't true/being blown out of proportion, because that's the impression bronies gave me. I thought they were really just being misunderstood and judged for liking a girls' cartoon. So I stood up for them, actually tried changing people's minds about the whole thing, and finally joined myself.

 

And what did I find in the months since I'd been here? They'd made a liar out of me. They'd made me take hits to my reputation to defend them, when it was all true. After I first started watching the show, I was open about it and even tried "converting" a good handful of people. Now I know what I was really associating myself with, and I don't like it one bit.

[Guest]

I can confirm this is actually exactly what happened to me. Since then I've felt betrayed, tricked and a lot more bitter about the whole thing than I otherwise would be. I used to firmly believe these things weren't true/being blown out of proportion, because that's the impression bronies gave me. I thought they were really just being misunderstood and judged for liking a girls' cartoon. So I stood up for them, actually tried changing people's minds about the whole thing, and finally joined myself.

 

And what did I find in the months since I'd been here? They'd made a liar out of me. They'd made me take hits to my reputation to defend them, when it was all true. After I first started watching the show, I was open about it and even tried "converting" a good handful of people. Now I know what I was really associating myself with, and I don't like it one bit.

I treat talking about fandoms like I treat my job in selling cellphones: I don't want to give you something for you to go home and be unhappy with it, just to come back and complain to me. I'd rather tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly up front.

[melody5697 195]

STOP IT! JUST STOP IT! This IS NOT a report about the fandom in general! This project is about symbols, language, values, and norms because those are the parts of a culture that affect communication! It's just a powerpoint about that and a playlist of songs related to those things in this subculture. If it isn't one of those things, I AM NOT including it in my project! Stop trying to tell me to add a bunch of other stuff because you are wasting my time and driving me insane! If I see ONE MORE POST on this thread where somebody tries to convince me to include anything that isn't supposed to be part of this project, I will stop reading this thread and block that person and anybody who wants to actually be helpful will have to send me a private message, and if they continue to tell me to do stuff I'm not supposed to do, I'll block them too!

Also, I'm a girl. Please stop calling me "he".

[Guest]

STOP IT! JUST STOP IT! This IS NOT a report about the fandom in general! This project is about symbols, language, values, and norms because those are the parts of a culture that affect communication! It's just a powerpoint about that and a playlist of songs related to those things in this subculture. If it isn't one of those things, I AM NOT including it in my project! Stop trying to tell me to add a bunch of other stuff because you are wasting my time and driving me insane! If I see ONE MORE POST on this thread where somebody tries to convince me to include anything that isn't supposed to be part of this project, I will stop reading this thread and block that person and anybody who wants to actually be helpful will have to send me a private message, and if they continue to tell me to do stuff I'm not supposed to do, I'll block them too!

Also, I'm a girl. Please stop calling me "he".

I apologize for not referring to you by your proper gender.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,153]

Guys, let's chill here. The basic question that the OP asked remains the point of this thread. Getting into little debates about should and shouldn't be included are steering the main intention of this thread away from what it originally was.

 

Secondly, calm the emotions. As such this thread being locked to help cool the environment a bit.

 

Thanks.