Anybody that's seen the comments section on Mutahar's Buryman video knows why I'm writing this. For those who don't, it basically went like this - Someone posted their disgust at another user's My Little Pony avatar. From there, the comment section exploded. Pony hate. Bronies defending their right to be bronies. Accusations about sexual preference. Repeated posts about how loving and tolerant bronies are while unironically bashing the haters for not liking the show. Comments from people complaining about the comments about the pony fandom and its haters.
Everyone needs to shut the bloody hell up!
I am not saying this as a pony-hater. I have nothing against the fans, generally speaking.
My avatar.
See the face here? This is my Youtube avatar. I'm KefkeWren over there. I'm showing this for a reason. To make a point, before I proceed to piss a lot of people off. I watch a lot of things, read a lot of things, and play a lot of games. I also do online roleplaying. It's one of the ways that I keep my literary skills sharp...by coming up with detailed responses on the spot for situations that I have no control over. This face? It's one of my characters, Ascalon.
Ascalon is a magical unicorn.
This is also Ascalon.
You might notice that, for my avatar, I use a humanized portrait. Yes, I've watched My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In fact, I've seen just about every episode. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and found the first episode online. The writing was, I thought, pretty good. Its had its ups and downs since then, but I find it generally to be enjoyable, if sometimes sappy.
I have this character because I am a roleplayer.
I do not consider myself a brony.
Truth be told, bronies, I have a bit of a problem with you - You're hypocrites. Now, I know that's a generalization, and not all bronies are bad, but like many fandoms, the brony "community" gets aggressive when what they like comes under attack. For a group that likes to get all self-righteous about how "loving" and "tolerant" they are, I've seen way too many self-proclaimed bronies that go out of their way to be confrontational about it. If you troll someone for having an opinion you dislike, that is neither loving, nor tolerant. Nor is it when you shove it down people's throats and go on and on about how people "just don't get it" and need to watch the show because you just know that they'll love it instantly if they'll only give it a shot. Being a fan of a show isn't a religion. You don't need to convert people like you're some kind of cult. That's creepy in a way I wouldn't even write.
More importantly, though, it's disrespectful when you turn the comment section of a video into your personal pulpit from which to preach the word of Twilight Sparkle/Princess Celestia/Luna/Derpy-Hooves-Is-Best-Pony/Etc... It's disrespectful to the video uploader, who gets alerts for all those posts you make in your personal crusade. It's not respectful to the people who are interested in learning about the video, or discussing it with others afterward. It's not respectful to your fellow fans, who you give a reputation for selfishly making everything about your interests.
Now, I'm singling out bronies, because it was bronies this time. This isn't the first time I've seen a comments section derailed, and it won't be the last (but on this post, any comments defending or attacking bronies are getting deleted). I've seen people do this for other issues too. It's not just bronies, and I'm not saying it's bronies. However, there is something people can do about this.
Please remember, Youtube gives the option to flag comments as spam. If you see someone raging about an avatar, flag it as spam. If you see someone continuing a pointless argument, flag it as spam. Someone being hateful? Flag it as spam. Someone advertizing their channel, hobby, or favourite game/T.V show/etc...? Flag. It. As. Spam. Any time that you see someone leaving a comment that has nothing to do with the video being shown, you can, and should, flag it as spam, and keep the comments section clean. Remember...
You have the power.