#youcoalition

I cleaned the entire bathroom, entire kitchen, all the garbages, swept the floors, vacuumed the floors... I got our picnic table and chairs out of the garage and into the back yard. I love sitting out there when the weather’s nice. The only thing left to clean is my office. I’ll save that for tomorrow.

Then I tried completing the new DLC for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, but the final raid boss is just too difficult to do alone, so I’ll have to wait for a friend or two so we can all tackle him together. I spent three hours and about 4,000 bullets going at him myself, just couldn’t do it.

Oh, and I mailed off a donation to Uplift (formerly YouCoalition), the first donation as a matter of fact, so that they have the money to legally form the organization. You might remember Uplift (formerly YouCoalition) is a group that formed after a number of YouTubers abused and manipulated their fans. Among those abusers were a few former DFTBA artists. I was part of the initial plans to set up the group and am very happy things are moving forward. The group is eager to start providing a number of resources for those who need them. And this donation will help jump start all of that.

After they use this money to get set up as a legit 501(c)(3) they’ll be able to take additional donations to put towards the resources and media content they want to make. I’ll post an update when that happens in case any of you want to help support them as well.

(i think it’s important to disclose in this context that i’ve been in communication with at least one member of youcoalition before & think they're really lovely)

i don’t think youcoalition needs to be defended, and i think your criticism is valid, anon.

(though as a sidenote, they did do a bit of work with/for vidcon 2014 in june?)

i will say that i, personally, really like the safer community pledge, because while it might be true that the pledge won’t necessarily stop abuse, the pledge does contribute to the discussion. like, as simple as we may think it is, there are still loads of people won’t agree with some of those bullet points, and if the circulation of the safer community pledge means that even one person has an “aha!” moment of, like, “oh, wait, what do they mean by consent? i’ll go look that up,” then i think it’s worthwhile. ditto w/r/t the no victim-blaming, the being open to criticism, etc.

I wasn't able to attend Vidcon this year, and after watching Lex's video and hearing other stories around the internet, I'm glad I didn't.

Let me start by saying that Vidcon is really important to me. So many of my friends pour their hearts and souls into making this conference function every year, and I think it's a great opportunity to see so many lovely lovely internet friends in one go.

That's why I'm so disappointed to hear these stories about mobbing creators. I understand wanting the opportunity to meet the Youtubers you've watched for ages. I understand feeling like even just being able to say hi to them and hear them say hi back would be the best thing in the whole world. I've been there. I've felt that way before.

But it is never okay to put people in a position where they feel unsafe, and that's what this mobbing does. Seriously, if you keep pushing these creators so far that they don't feel safe walking down a hallway, even with the help of security, they will eventually reach the point that Vidcon and other conferences like it are no longer worth attending. Even worse, they may stop feeling comfortable connecting with their viewers online, through comments, videos, and the likes.

I'm sure there are things that Vidcon can do to make their guests feel less threatened, and if I think of anything that might help, you best believe I'm going to try to pass on my thoughts. Like I said, I know a lot of the people who work with and for Vidcon, and I trust that they'll take this problem seriously.

It doesn't stop there though. Ultimately, most of the work falls on the shoulders of the individuals. Fans, we need to remember that creators are still people, and they deserve the same respect as everyone else. They deserve to have fun. They deserve to feel safe. They deserve to be able to leave their hotel rooms without being swarmed by screaming fans.

Creators, I encourage you to follow Lex's lead. Talk about your boundaries. Talk about why these behaviors are a problem for you. These viewers respect you, and there's a chance they might just listen to what you.

I hope this changes. Let's keep talking about it.

I'm sure this is obvious to some of you, and I know others already know this. I don't feel like just using my initials anymore. I'm proud of the work I've been doing with these people, so here it is.