Signal Boost: Don't Get Mad, Get Even
Nov. 4th, 2010 11:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deathpixieSo, one of the current "issues" doing the rounds of [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] (and other places) at the moment is the submission by a Harry Potter fanfic archive for a grant from the Pepsi Refresh Grant people. This post provides a series of emails between one outraged fan and the Fiction Alley moderators, who seem to think they're providing an educational service.
I love writing. I love fanfiction. But this is just ridiculous. Fandom is so big on talking about privilege at the moment, well, here's a giant dollop of it - a group of people, with a sufficient education to be literate, sufficient funds to have regular access to books and movies (for the source material) and the internet (for the fanfic), deciding that they ought to be paid to maintain their presence on the Web. Talk about your first world problems!
Edit: As of today, Fiction Alley has withdrawn from the competition. However, the need for showing your support to worthy causes still applies!
However, there is a silver lining to this. Attention has been brought to the Pepsi Refresh Grant and in response to the idiocy of the Fiction Alley folks, people are going out and voting for causes they feel are more important than a Harry Potter fanfic archive staying online. So, in the vein of "don't get mad, get even", go forth and vote. Go through the site and find causes you want to support. You get 10 votes and voting closes November 30. If you're embarrassed and disgusted by the Fiction Alley thing, go and be constructive about it (and leave a comment on their page, adding your voice to the many who have already pointed out how dumb this is).
I love writing. I love fanfiction. But this is just ridiculous. Fandom is so big on talking about privilege at the moment, well, here's a giant dollop of it - a group of people, with a sufficient education to be literate, sufficient funds to have regular access to books and movies (for the source material) and the internet (for the fanfic), deciding that they ought to be paid to maintain their presence on the Web. Talk about your first world problems!
Edit: As of today, Fiction Alley has withdrawn from the competition. However, the need for showing your support to worthy causes still applies!
However, there is a silver lining to this. Attention has been brought to the Pepsi Refresh Grant and in response to the idiocy of the Fiction Alley folks, people are going out and voting for causes they feel are more important than a Harry Potter fanfic archive staying online. So, in the vein of "don't get mad, get even", go forth and vote. Go through the site and find causes you want to support. You get 10 votes and voting closes November 30. If you're embarrassed and disgusted by the Fiction Alley thing, go and be constructive about it (and leave a comment on their page, adding your voice to the many who have already pointed out how dumb this is).
no subject
Date: 2010-11-04 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-04 05:12 pm (UTC)Edit: You know what's awful? If they'd put up something for donations to FAWC, it would have been much better received because that's an actual cause as opposed to "keep our servers running so we can have fic!".