Critical Analysis of Twilight

Critical Analysis of Twilight It's Time the CAT Got Its Claws Trimmed!

Dearheart posted on Jan 01, 2011 at 01:18AM
Hello, my lovely kitties! Momcat is back in the house after a looooong - too long - vacation. And she is somewhat dismayed at how messy things have become since she's been away. Tsk, tsk, tsk, just look at this place. What has the CAT turned into?

I freely admit, some of it is my fault. I've gotten lazy, both in my handling of the spot (or lack, thereof) and in holding others accountable and encouraging thoughtfulness and respect on all sides (especially the antis). And for that, I am very sorry. I haven't been much of a Momcat lately...but I promise, I will do my best to reconnect with you and help get the CAT back on track.

Dragonclaws posted an extremely thoughtful, convicting link about how exactly the CAT has taken a turn for the worst. Please go read it if you haven't already. It's very eye-opening and will help give you a better idea of where we're at and what we need to fix.

Like I said when I commented on it, the CAT can't get cleaned up unless we all work at it as a team. I have several ideas, but I need input from my fellow kitties, too! So let's all put our heads together and see what we can come up with.

Here's what I've brainstormed so far.

Idea #1 - A CAT link A small group of friendly, committed kittens who'd be willing to regularly check up on the spot, watch for bashing content or comments and jump in to correct things whenever necessary.

Idea #2 - Our own, personal, CAT superhero. This one's more fun than practical, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Basically, I'd make a fanpop account specifically for our "superhero". Whenever a CAT member sees something inappropriate for our spot - whether it's a comment, image, or anything else - they can message me for the email and password, log into the superhero account, and use it to intervene. Before using it, however, they must swear a solemn oath to never abuse their superhero power, to be mature and respectful with it, and only use it for the good of the CAT.

Idea #3 - Changing the tagline. Dragonclaws' article had a very good point about it. The tagline could definitely be better. I've already tried to change it, but for some reason it's not working. If someone could help get me in contact with one of the Fanpop Four so I could ask them to change it, that would be great. Also, if any of you have ideas for what the new tagline should say, please shoot 'em at me!

Idea #4 - A peace offering to Twi-fans. Or maybe a "pro-Twilight" day. Basically, a time where we all try to find something nice to say about Twilight, or look at its good points. Maybe write a soapbox about your favorite character and why you like him/her, or a team project where we find, say...50 good things about Twilight (whether it's a theme, an excerpt you like, etc), put them all in an article and present it to the Twilight spot. Not only would it be a kind gesture to Twi-fans and give them a chance to shine, but it could also prove to be a fun challenge to the antis. ;-)

I'm also revising the rules a little bit and trying to make them more clear and specific.

And those are all the ideas I have time to share at the moment. Any thoughts, feedback or ideas of your own would be WONDERFUL. Talk to me, kitties! Help me out!
last edited on Jan 01, 2011 at 01:22AM

Critical Analysis of Twilight 22 replies

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over a year ago November99 said…
You know I'm all for the defence squad, but I do like 3 & 4 especially. The superhero account is good in theory, but in actuality I fear people will abuse it.
over a year ago HecateA said…
smile
The superhero idea is good, but Dearheart, only specific members should get the password. And you should change it every now and then, or whenever someone abuses it. Also, when a superhero does something done, change the password and report the user. If we're careful about who gets it, it should be fine. If you want me to do a specific icon for the superheroe's user icon, I can make it happen.

I don't really understand the defence squad- the ones who would be in it are already defending it.

I think we should have a cleanup week. You leave a comment statting "cleanup!" in a bad picture's comment and after 5 comments that state that the person complaining is more then a touchy Twihard, whoever put it on will have the responsibility to delete it. If enough people commit to that one, we could make it happen.

Idea 4: excellent one.
Tagline ideas: "Twilight: Love it? Defend it. Not so much? Criticise it."

"Twilight: criticising or defending, what are you here for?"
over a year ago SimplyLaurel said…
I'm really glad you guys are doing this. I have to admit, I'm much more of a lurker than a contributer(sorry. :P), and I've noticed that whenever a Twilight fan comes in and says this is more like a hate spot, etc., they're usually just dismissed rather than listened to. They typically just get "It's actually NOT a hate spot. :)" and that's it, even if there was merit in everything they said.

I guess just put more emphasis on the "It's okay if you like Twilight" message. When I first found this and started exploring, I felt like a lot of the users were trying to make people feel bad or ashamed for liking Twilight. I know that's not what you guys were trying to do, but it still happened.

I think one big thing that you'll definitely want to do, and I'm sure would have whether I'd pointed it out or not, is make sure you have people from every side(especially Twifans) on the defense squad. Nobody can pinpoint something as offensive better than the type of person targeted for the offense.

I love the idea of number 4. Maybe try the reverse too? Make it a challenge for both sides. Have anti's pick out things that they like and have fans pick out things that they don't like.
over a year ago Dragonclaws said…
Even though it might be problematically phrased, I like the basic message of the tagline that CAT is for everyone. I don't think it's good to present CAT as like a war with sides. For me, critical analysis of Twilight is not necessarily saying Twilight's bad, just breaking it down into its elements and discussing them. Describing the reasons why something is good is criticism, even though we tend to focus on the bad. With this in mind, idea 4 sounds like a good step to try to make things friendlier around here.

I'm not clear on what the defense squad or superhero would do, so I don't quite know how to respond, but I'll second that the superhero sounds like an opportunity for abuse.
over a year ago bri-marie said…
Much like SimplyLaurel, I've become much more of a lurker than a contributor (the Snape-obsessed girl finding the Severus Snape spot was bound to cause that :p), but I, too, am glad you're doing this. For the past few weeks, I've feared this spot becoming the new HPvsT spot :S

I really, really like numbers three and four, and Hecate's idea of having a cleanup week. I like one and two too, but I think it would be too easy for someone to abuse that power - at least in the present climate. Maybe add those after things settle down and CAT becomes what it was? Or chose exceptionally carefully who gets to be on the defense squad and who gets to be the superhero. Maybe write a short essay about why they want to be that?

I also like the idea of having rules or guidelines that everyone should follow. Like "no cussing or name calling, if you have an issue with a fellow user, take it up with them maturely and privately."

Tagline idea(s):
"The spot to intelligently and maturely debate Twilight."
over a year ago CharmedFan4eva_ said…
I love this idea and i do agree with you this spot has become more for of a twilight hate club rather than a spot to discuss twilight. i usually come here to have a good laugh at peoples views on twilight but now they are starting to get violent. i used to see some intelligent discussions on twilight but lately that has changed and i would love to take part in the changing of this spot :)

anything u need i would LOVE to help <3
i have to admit im more like SimplyLaurel- lurk and check things out rather than contribute.
last edited over a year ago
over a year ago Cinders said…
A few things -

I have not read everything in this forum yet because I am skimming and baking at the same time. It's complicated, and I must avoid getting cake batter on my computer. (Lecture on Safety Concerns with Fanpopping and Baking to come.)

Next - Please, do not make a superhero account. As novel as the idea is, I do not think it would be more helpful than everyone just doing their job by reporting content and standing up for the minorities of the spot. Additionally, I have a rule against making pointless ghost accounts, and I stick by that through any and all circumstances.

However I do support cleaning up the spot. I myself have not been active here for quite some time, mostly because I've lost hope of finding intelligent conversation.
over a year ago Cinders said…
OK, read through everything.

1) Still stand by my statement that creating a new account, with whatever good intentions, is a bad idea and actually violates Fanpop's TOS. Additionally, I do not see the "superhero" doing anything that us "normal" kittens couldn't do on our own, with our own account, except for the fact that the "superhero" account provides for a "secret identity" to hide behind. But I think that it's more powerful when a small group of average citizens stand up to a threat than it is when a superhero does.

2) I approve of "Pro-Twilight" day. I think that's brilliant.

3) Tagline change? Sure, why not. I like bri-marie's suggestion. If you need someone to change it for you, I know a mod who's very good about that. That's what they're here for anyway, we don't need to bother the F4 with this. Message the mod when you're ready with your slogan: link

4) I'm inclined to just go through and nuke a lot of content, or flag/report content for nuking by the mods/F4 when they get the chance. That's how I clean up a spot.
over a year ago Dearheart said…
Oh gosh, I completely forgot those kinds of accounts were against the rules. >.< *bangs head against wall* DURRRRR I R RLY SMART LOL

But I honestly didn't think the superhero idea was the greatest idea, anyway. Just something fun and pointless that popped into my head. I think we can all agree we can scrap that one.

I'm glad everyone likes the pro-Twilight day idea. In fact, I'm starting to consider making it a regular thing (annually, monthly, bi-monthly, etc) because I think it would serve as a good reminder for the antis to keep the mindless hate in check; and for the pro-Twilighters, it might help them feel better about contributing more positive stuff from their side. Balance is something the CAT has always badly needed. We've known that from the beginning. Maybe this can help fix it somewhat.

Question - when should we have pro-Twilight day? And how often should we have pro-Twilights days? Valentine's Day is slowly approaching; maybe Feb. 14 would be a fun day to have our first one. And should we also have a "Devil's Advocate" day set aside sometimes, as a challenge for all the kittens to try and debate/contribute for the opposite side?

HecateA - LOVE your cleanup idea, and I'm thinking of making that a monthly thing. Not only would it keep the spot tidy and in the CAT spirit, but it would also serve as a good example and reminder for newcomers who might be confused about what this place is.

Bri-marie - I like your tagline idea. Short, sweet and to-the-point. I think it's perfect. ^__^

What do the rest of you think? "The spot to intelligently and maturely debate Twilight." Should that be our new slogan?

I have an idea about our images. Obviously, we've got a problem. Most of them are just sorta-funny knocks against Twilight (like the Harry Potter vs. Edward ones, for example), and only a few are truly witty or bring up something that could be debated.

But I know that a lot of people still like them. So I was thinking of creating an anti-Twilight picspam thread in the forum (similar to the rant threads, I suppose), so that people still have a place to look at them. And we could create a pro-Twilight picspam thread too. That way, we can keep the CAT clean and intelligent, but still have a place for people who just want to have some mindless Twilight hating/fangirling fun now and then.

What do you guys think? Would picspam threads be helpful, or would they get out of hand?

And the new and improved CAT rules will be posted soon. I'm making them a lot more specific than before, especially where images are concerned. That seems to be our major weak point right now.

Thanks for linking me to the mod, Cinders! And yes, it would be wonderful of you to do some "nuking". I think it would be best to wait until I get the rules posted first though, so that people have a bit of warning; and if anyone complains, we can have something to show them.
last edited over a year ago
over a year ago November99 said…
I do think the pic spam threads would be good. I was recently looking for something from long long ago, and I had to sift through all the mindless spam (and a few repeat pics), and still didn't find what I was looking for.

Bri-marie, add me to the list of tagline lovers.
over a year ago bri-marie said…
I'm glad so many people liked my tagline ^.^

I like also like the idea of a picspam thread. Personally, I don't think the threads themselves would get out of hand, but I think it would be difficult to convince the more . . . er enthusiastic antis (or the medal grubbers) to post there and not in the general images. But that might be something you cover in the rules :)
over a year ago Cinders said…
Picspam threads are a good idea, and I'll tell you why -

For one, it limits posters to ONE IMAGE PER POST, which will actually make folks think about the image they want to share, and write a worthy title/description so that you can just hit "find" on your browser and type in a tag, and it should come up in the comment.

For example, I was just looking at an old Luke Skywalker vs Vampires spoof, and the tags did not mention Starwars or Skywalker ANYWHERE in the tags. BUT if someone posted that picture, with the description:

"Luke Skywalker Faces Sparkly Vampires," then odds are I could find it more easily in the forum than I could searching the spot for it.
over a year ago HecateA said…
smile
Picspam thread- escellent idea!

The only thing is that they'd have to be super well advertised to stay on the first page of forums.
over a year ago tellymaster said…
smile
On Idea #4, I like that idea, because I am friends with Twilight fans on Fanpop and in real life. I absolutely hate it when Anti's hate on the fans because they have an opinion. I'm sort of a newer member, but I will do what I can to help. ^_^
over a year ago nuxi said…
sad
link

I think all of those pictures are just anti- spam. Can we get them taken down? They also just make us look stupid and petty.
over a year ago partypony said…
^Antis should have a voice though. Everyone does.
I just found this and I mindlessly sifted through it without really understanding it.
*check everything out carefully*
OK! I sorta understand it now.

And yeah, everyone should have a say at everything. But maybe in an intelligent manner. Like, no making fun, no making fun of anyone who makes a statement that contradicts yours.
But this is already clear so I'm gonna shut up now.

I like Idea #4, because it's going to be challenging for some people, and a I-feel-good-now thing for others.

And Hecate's cleanup idea is great too. (Like, discipline or something...)

I'm gonna shut up now.
~partypony
over a year ago onaotaku said…
Thank you. At first, when I found C.A.T., I thought it was just a bunch of haters, but now I understand that it really is a critical analysis.
over a year ago Dragonclaws said…
Can we get back to this?
over a year ago KateKicksAss said…
On #4, you speak as though everyone on this spot is an anti or hates Twilight.
If you're assuming everyone on this spot hates Twilight, then I don't think this is going to work out.....

And I'm not trying to sound rude or anything, but is this spot really all about bashing Twilight, or at least HAS there been a lot of bashing?

I'm sorry, it's just from the way you said that, it makes it seem as though this spot really is full of haters. And I haven't been here long enough to accurately check if that is true or not.
over a year ago November99 said…
Kate, Dearheart created this spot as a place for fans and antis to get together and rationally discuss Twilight. There has beed a lot of bashing on here, but that is not the purpose of the spot.
over a year ago KateKicksAss said…
^I know that's not the purpose, it's just the wording gave a slight impression of that.
over a year ago tomfeltonfan44 said…
smile
Hmmmm...........I quite like the defense squad idea, i'm here almost every day,
I like #4, that would be something nice to do for twilight fans, show them that we're not all bad.......... It could really work out
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