Don't call me a content creator, thanks.

I posted this on my tumblr earlier today*:

There's something I'd like to make clear.

My fics are not Content. I am not a Content Creator. I do not Produce Content. I do not Promote Content.

I'm a person with a not-for-profit hobby who is here to make friends and write about my favourite characters kissing. I like reading fic and looking at fanart by other fans. Maybe if we like some of the same things, we can be friends! If I find something cool by a fellow fan, I'll tell everyone about it so they can enjoy that cool thing too.

I'm not here to pound out extruded fic product or ~promote content~ so faceless people can ~consume it~.

Get out of here with that marketing speak.

The reason behind it is that a random post reminded me of that awful Discord experience I had a couple months back*. Something that upset me almost as much as that bait-and-switch was that the person who invited me referred to me as a content creator, that she kept calling my fanworks content.

I tried not to let it bother me initially, because this is just the way that a lot of people talk these days, but man did it ever piss me off. I find this way of talking about fandom absolutely repulsive. But it's difficult for me to articulate why in a coherent way.

It just reeks so much of corporate speak. Creating content, ~driving engagement~, Promoting Your Brand. It's marketing all the way down.

And if you're someone who's taking commissions and whatnot, it does make sense to think of it that way, to a degree. Because there is money involved in that case, and there is marketing involved. I'm not inherently against making a profit off fanwork, and my issue isn't with that per se (though I would never do it myself because it wouldn't be worth my time).

When people approach all fandom activity in this corporate, marketing-focused way, that does bother me. Or rather, it bothers me when people try to include me in it, I guess you could say. Because even if someone isn't thinking about it that way, it sure comes off as a commercial focus to, well, everything. And that isn't how I do fandom at all. And I don't like it when people approach me with that.

It's a hobby. Fandom is a hobby. And if I'm talking to someone that likes the same fandom that I do, the things I tend to think about are "Maybe we can be friends", and if we hit it off, it might turn into "Let's do something together!" (whether that be just discussing fandom, or working on our fannish projects separately, or collaborating on something, or whatever). And it sounds kind of childish when I put it that way, I guess. "Let's do an activity! :D" But that's how I like to do things in fandom.

I'm here to muck around and make friends and have fun. That's all.

Just... fuck, I hate it when people talk to me like they're making me a business offer. Bloody hell. (And I guess I'm still mad about it, since I'm writing this post. But there we are.)