Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Fragile egos in model land - the sequel

About a fortnight ago I discussed a little drama on Facebook, where some model-making noses were put out of joint and some childish shenannigans led to some ugly scenes. I kept it pretty neutral, not naming specific names or groups. My take was that I was surprised that such schoolyard antics were even possible when it comes to grown adults and their hobbies. Sadly, it has just gotten uglier and uglier.


(Before we begin: I still don't want to go into deep "He said, she said" recounting of the drama. But I will show screengrabs with people's names on them this time. They are out there in the public sphere, so I think this is acceptable, but if anyone sees their name in my screengrabs below and wants it pixellated out for privacy or whatever reasons, please get in touch and I will unhesitatingly do this asap.)


So anyways, there is a group I admire on Facebook called "The Scale Modelers Critique Group". I'm a member, and it is a great place for constructive criticism and feedback of your builds. I recommend it. However, it is run by three guys from Texas, and they can be a little abrasive. I've enjoyed their "call a spade a spade" attitude, but it seems other people don't appreciate it.

Short synopsis: there are people getting all upset, and the admins of The Scale Modelers Critique Group are banning members. They in turn are being banned from other model-maker groups on Facebook. There is even now a rival group set up with the name "The Scale Modelers Critique Group Critique Group", with a terribly witty icon of a steaming pile of poo over Texas. Touché!

Remember: a grown adult came up with this idea for revenge. An adult.

Here are some screengrabs of the to-ing and fro-ing, the banning and counter-banning. At first, it was entertaining in a trainwreck kind of way, but it rapidly becomes unsavoury and a bit dull.



This seemed to start it, if you're following that closely.

And then it just spiralled out of control.


And spiralled a bit more for good measure.


You know what? I'm boring myself recounting all this. It's puerile, it's childish, and it's unnecessary. Let's move on.

I've got two conclusions from this:

1. If as an adult you can't enjoy your hobby without getting offended by other adults' opinions, maybe you need to look at getting another hobby (or staying off social media).

2. I've been able to discover some other Facebook groups which common consensus seems to agree are also worthy places to enjoy the hobby at a high level, without all the drama. Silver lining, eh?



Thanks Alan, I think I will give those a go.

And on that note, I think the best course of action is this: I'll turn the computer off and pick up a paintbrush now.

Cheers,

Dave







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