Many are keen to argue that this is just how the community is now and to just post your own content, but I've seen it firsthand how there is a lack of care about others' identities depending on what social medias you look on. When I first joined the community almost 10 years ago, there was such a magical, welcoming feel to it. At the core, I think the issue is a lack of community connection and not so much the "trend" sides. Personal posts overridden by, dare I say, broad engagement farming.
I remember watching a 2010s quality video tutorial on how to do quadrobics like a hyena, with special attention to sloping the back and pacing accurate to hyena gait. There were recommendations on how to find videos of your theriotype walking and how to mimic that.
There were aesthetic boards with links to items you could buy or make yourself based on your theriotypes, like a wolf blanket, or an elk bracelet. Crafts like environment-friendly scent sprays and theta delta made with sticks could be found around the community.
Folks had their own websites and blogs for documenting their experiences. A new phantom shift here and a term for a unique identity there. A post about one experience could be turned into a discussion, and from there, a community, all centered around a unique and beautiful nonhuman experience.
It's not about cutting out quadrobics and gear, it's not about barring and gatekeeping voluntary identities, it's not about banishing the newer generations of kin folks that we once were. None of that. That's a part of what makes this community a community.
To me, it seems to be about community engagement. Whether that identity is physical, spiritual, voluntary, fluid, flickering, intense or not, just for fun, or otherwise. I feel like the root issue ends up being the lack of care or interest in others' identities, which is what pushes down personal posts that express what the community is about, and boosts solely generalized, non-content posts.
There is no reason to stop posting memes and silly posts, and no reason to attack them, either. That does nothing but contribute to the useless discourse in the therian community. That's where posts calling out an issue become the issue.
Boost a kinfirmation post, tell someone their phantom shifts sound really cool, ask someone what movie resonates with their identity most, make a post about a weird animal fact and how that affects your identity, take a picture of a tiger plushie at the store and tag a tiger therian. Engage with the community, and I bet we'll see at least a bit of improvement. ^^
