I agree. It's like on social media, where you don't want any "negativity" in your feed and block anyone who disagrees with your latest hot take. Suddenly, you're in a bubble getting only positive reinforcement, even for the stupidest of ideas, because you don't have anyone there keeping it real. Then you go out and get a mullet. On your feed, people say your mullet looks great. But in real life, everyone thinks you look dopey, and then they laugh at you for trying to rock a mullet when you couldn't have pulled off that look even back in the 80's, if you were wearing parachute pants, an acid washed denim jacket, and a Pac-Man t-shirt. And rightfully so. Because while the 80's were awesome, they're over, and people have to live in the here and now. And that means facing the unpleasant realities of life as well as the happy things. So when someone tells you not to get a mullet, maybe they aren't being "negative." Maybe they're giving you some solid life advice.
Let me just start off and acknowledge that I agree there is both Toxic Positivity & Toxic Negativity. Both are not good. So we got the two extremes.
And because this particular thread is an "off-topic discussion", this is where TB has designated for people to discuss "whatever you want" if it doesn't relate to TB and YT. I am generally not here on TB for "off-topic" discussions but others can and do partake. It is very rare for me to respond or partake but I don't begrudge anyone else for doing so.
But because this "off-topic forum" is part of TB, what I will say is I believe there is an unspoken understanding that both TB and YT are going to be around "for a while" and no matter the challenges, deficiencies, imperfections, and complaints we may have, there is an underlying sense of optimism that YT and TB are good things that we are supportive of. The unspoken belief we can solve or overcome most problems or challenges. If we don't have that belief, then we should shut down our YT channels.
One guy announced to everyone he was not going to post anymore to his YT channel despite lots of encouragement to give it more time. What do you say to a guy who wants to stop? It was sort of strange to me he came to the TB Forums to state all the reasons why he should NOT continue. I know he was discouraged and disappointed by his results. But were we supposed to say, "Yeah, your channel does seem to suck. You are doing the right thing to shut it down." Not one person who posted encouraged him to shut down. He was the one made the case for it and everyone kind of fell silent after his insistence that NOT posting anymore was the right thing to do.
If there are "doomsayers" that TB and YT are coming to an end, I generally don't think they are going to be a good fit for these forums. And, in fact, I think it is bad for TB's business, in general. The TB forum is a privately-owned forum so none of us can scream "free speech rights" or they are "censoring me". I am not saying we cannot off constructive criticism or make certain "negative" comments. But as a forum moderator of busy forums in a different life, there are certain elements that are simply not good for a forum.
I believe we have a responsibility to state things correctly on facts vs. opinions. I get really rubbed if people claim things are absolute facts when they are in fact opinions or an individual experience. This one guy with a YT channel whose content is entirely based on other people TikTok videos said incorrectly that just because he was giving credit and that he was not monetizing his videos, it was okay by YT. I really didn't care about his channel but what I did care about is other people reading his post and accepting it as fact.
I promptly shared a recent article as my response where Nintendo shut down a huge YT channel for the very thing he was doing! Posting other people's content in its entirety with full attribution and non-monetization. Nintendo hit him with several hundreds of copyright strikes. What is really dangerous is that if that post was left standing with no response, some people would actually believe it and do this. In a sense, I was "being negative" there but it was such a reckless and misinformed statement on this guy's part.
If hypothetically, the TB forums ever became a forum overrun with topics about sub4sub, buying people's accounts, complaints about TB & YT, using other people's content without abandon, how to get away with unethical things, tricking people into clicking videos, how to spam videos, doom-gloom topics, and all the things you should NOT do, I view that as becoming a "negatively spiraling community. That would be the kiss of death of a healthy vibrant forum.
I think TB is watching and Stanley does a pretty good job moderating so I don't worry that much but I believe it is good for community members to help the greater cause so that everyone benefits. It is good for all of us to help keep the TB Forums interesting and vibrant.
