Anyone thinking about leaving FS fandom?

[TontoK]

I was so sad and mad to hear that Beverly (Zhu Yi) had to face criticism from the Chinese social media. I can't imagine being an athlete or any person that is in the spotlight in today's day and age. The social media world is so cruel and no one is immune from mean comments.

Disgraceful. My understanding from various news reports is that it's been brutal.

This young woman paid quite a price to gain Chinese citizenship and compete for China.

She had to renounce her American citizenship. I wonder if she regrets it considering how she's been treated by her new countrymen.

 

[NanaPat]

The social media and forum negativity can be crushing.

As far as forums go:
block the worst posters (for me that is two GS posters with pretentious names)
don't read the "late" competition thread posts
ignore threads you don't like
find threads you do like (eg fanfests) and read and post there
take a break when things get too bad (like I did from GS after the 2018 Olympics)

Other than that, you can stop reading about FS altogether and just watch! Well, you'll have to read a bit to find out when events are being held, but don't be sucked into more than that!

 

[pearly]

I have a problem with that women's skating has become. It's tragic that beautiful skating like the Kaori's or Wakaba's, Karen's or even Kostornaia's is not rewarded anymore. Those who win these days are too young to develop a mature, smooth style. Ugly skating wins if it has quads. Not the sport I fell in love with.

 

[Ross74]

I've considered it but I'll probably just move to following only Pairs and Dance.

 

[moonvine]

I enjoy it .. sometimes i get fed up but love is love and it's eternal in my case ... journalists were bad in the 1990s too... i remember seeing a front page of a news paper in canada with Isabelle Brasseur on the ice with the title " THE FALL" when they finished in 3rd place in 1992. That's 30 years ago... people are people... And for what it's worth, the team event is awesome ! The skaters get to cheer on each other and have fun. Yes, some fans get into national wars, but that was always the case... and will always be the case. Social media makes it more intense but I believe one always has the option of selective reading as there are a lot of great posts as well on this forum. Some people are very informative and interesting to read : for instance @Andrea82 @gkelly and @dorispulaski to name only a few that come to mind right now.

@icecoverage. Our own personal skating Google, who patiently explains things to me. Sometimes several times.

 

[anonymoose_au]

She had to renounce her American citizenship.

Unrelated...but if you renounce your citizenship can you get it back? Does Zhu Yi actually live in China now or does she train elsewhere? I guess social media is everywhere, but it's pretty awful to think of her having to be in the same country as the terrible "fans" threatening her.

 

[ladyjane]

My motto during the Olympics: This too shall pass.
And if it gets too much, I just go to the fan fests or the small/local competition threads (yes, those are still going on) for some good vibes as some posters have already suggested above.

Yes, I love the small competition threads also. I can't follow everything, but I'm always so pleased when another lover of these threads supplies me with information about what is happening there.

 

[mrrice]

I avoid social media. Here I got sick of the competition threads after day two, but I will just stay out of them for a while. It usually gets better again after the Olympics.

Exactly, as I have gotten older it's become much easier to ignore the posts I don't agree with. I have found over the years that there are members who's post I always read and that's enough to keep me happy and entertained. It's also become easier for me not to comment on posts that upset me. That has been a huge help.

 

[Jeanie19]

Unrelated...but if you renounce your citizenship can you get it back? Does Zhu Yi actually live in China now or does she train elsewhere? I guess social media is everywhere, but it's pretty awful to think of her having to be in the same country as the terrible "fans" threatening her.

I'm so sad for her. I hope she gets her U.S. Citizenship back.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I have a problem with that women's skating has become. It's tragic that beautiful skating like the Kaori's or Wakaba's, Karen's or even Kostornaia's is not rewarded anymore. Those who win these days are too young to develop a mature, smooth style. Ugly skating wins if it has quads. Not the sport I fell in love with.

I think Alena was rewarded appropriately during her peak. She held the SP and total score world record until earlier this season, and it has been topped by only one skater. Alena in 2019-20 would probably be the heavy favorite for silver in Beijing, given her consistency with the 3A back then.

 

[mrrice]

Unrelated...but if you renounce your citizenship can you get it back? Does Zhu Yi actually live in China now or does she train elsewhere? I guess social media is everywhere, but it's pretty awful to think of her having to be in the same country as the terrible "fans" threatening her.

Maybe things are different with China but, I know there are people who have duel citizenship and don't have to renounce either country.

 

[RoundedBackCamel]

I try not to pay too much attention to the social media and gossip that happens at any FS event. I even avoid responding to some Golden Skate topics if they sound too critical. I'm not a huge fan of the team event, it seems like extra pressure on the skaters especially like in the case of team Canada with Keegan Messing MIA (missing in action). A couple of the skaters have to skate in all the events although coach Carol Lane said they're looking at the team event as an extra practice session. As a Canuck fan we do get tired of hearing the chant USA, USA at every event but it's just part of the hype. I don't know if you saw it or not but recently there was an NHL game in Toronto between the Leafs and a USA team and the Anthem singers mike went off so the Canadian fans finished singing the US national anthem for her...pretty good I'd say.

What a wonderful story! I would get tears watching that! I’m not living in hockey country anymore, although we do have an NHL team, with maybe the most unfortunate name in the league. My husband just told me the name comes from a story that when they were excavating beneath what is now the Bridgestone Arena, they found the fossil of a saber-tooth tiger. I guess the name Saber-Tooths was already taken. But I grew up with the Penguins and Flyers, and even the Washington Caps and minor league Hershey Bears!

 

[mrrice]

I don’t usually post new threads, but I have been a huge figure skating fan for almost 50 years. It used to be fun. And I even enjoyed a bit of drama and intrigue, always about the feds and coaches and media, never about the skaters. But now it’s become too much, especially with social media. The fan wars, the cruelty toward skaters for disappointing fans—it just seems all so entitled to me. I couldn’t believe some of the things I read about Karen and Zhou yesterday. Even USA Today “journalist” Christine Brennan, who should know better, piled on. Someone who first reported evidence of allegations of abuse. And now a new skating Cold War seems to be re-emerging. I think this team event has been a horrible influence on the sport. It used to be about admiring skaters from all over the world, not just your own country. (I hated the USA! USA! chant for the stupid hockey game when I was a teen. It seems everyone just needs to grow up and get a grip. It’s no fun either when the results are a foregone conclusion. Nothing is fun about this anymore.

Sadly, Christine Brennan has a history of injecting herself into the story and I rarely take her reports seriously. She knows she's saying hurtful things but, it never seems to bother her.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Oh yeah, I remember another rather odd thing about the Figure Skating Fandom, like...if you love one skater, you must dislike another.

A good example if you love Yuzuru, you musn't like Nathan Chen or you love Stepanova/Bukhin you musn't like Nikita and Viktoria.

It's not so much an issue here I guess, but on other social media, you'll think you're having a conversation with like-minded people and then suddenly they'll say something really awful about another one of your faves and you're like "WTF?" It's very strange...the Nathan vs Yuzu / Yuzu vs Nathan crowd can be the worst offenders, it's like yikes.

I like to think I enjoy a wide range of skaters, some are very artistic, some are very technical, I don't wish technical ones were more like the artistic ones and vice versa, I like them as they are. But a lot of other fans I've interacted with have said "So-and-so would be a MUCH better skater if they could just be like such-and-such" maybe, but then they wouldn't be So-and-so would they?

I just find it very strange and can make things difficult to navigate indeed!

 

[moonvine]

Maybe things are different with China but, I know there are people who have duel citizenship and don't have to renounce either country.

I don’t think China accepts dual citizenship.

 

[moonvine]

Unrelated...but if you renounce your citizenship can you get it back? Does Zhu Yi actually live in China now or does she train elsewhere? I guess social media is everywhere, but it's pretty awful to think of her having to be in the same country as the terrible "fans" threatening her.

I think it would be quite difficult. There aren’t any takesy backsies. She might be able to marry an American citizen and get in that way. She might even be able to get in on extraordinary talent like Tanith Belbin did but Tanith Belbin had been representing the US Internationally for some time before hers went through. But I’m not an immigration attorney. My brother is married to a Canadian but she wants to keep her Canadian citizenship so they actually got an immigration attorney to make sure she didn’t do anything to endanger her Canadian citizenship.

 

[moonvine]

I have a problem with that women's skating has become. It's tragic that beautiful skating like the Kaori's or Wakaba's, Karen's or even Kostornaia's is not rewarded anymore. Those who win these days are too young to develop a mature, smooth style. Ugly skating wins if it has quads. Not the sport I fell in love with.

I don’t like that either and Ladies is my least favorite event, except for my Queen of course. But there are 3 other disciplines. To me the men are the most fun because literally anything can happen.

Hopefully things will change and ladies figure skating will become beautiful again.

 

[LadyB]

In the fandom, I respect the most the moments when I see someone change their opinion or give credit to the skaters they don’t normally follow. And not the begrudging ones, but like, all out excitement.

Too right!
That's the perks of an individual sport as opposed to a team sport. I love my fave skaters with all my heart and when I call myself a fan of someone that is no ifs and buts and all out support. However, this will never stop me from adoring other skaters for their achievement. Credit where credit is due. There are skaters/teams who are undoubtedly brilliant, but they still don't do it for me, but that's no reason to fly off the handle and attack their fans. What for?

 

[LadyB]

Oh yeah, I remember another rather odd thing about the Figure Skating Fandom, like...if you love one skater, you must dislike another.

A good example if you love Yuzuru, you musn't like Nathan Chen or you love Stepanova/Bukhin you musn't like Nikita and Viktoria.

It's not so much an issue here I guess, but on other social media, you'll think you're having a conversation with like-minded people and then suddenly they'll say something really awful about another one of your faves and you're like "WTF?" It's very strange...the Nathan vs Yuzu / Yuzu vs Nathan crowd can be the worst offenders, it's like yikes.

I like to think I enjoy a wide range of skaters, some are very artistic, some are very technical, I don't wish technical ones were more like the artistic ones and vice versa, I like them as they are. But a lot of other fans I've interacted with have said "So-and-so would be a MUCH better skater if they could just be like such-and-such" maybe, but then they wouldn't be So-and-so would they?

I just find it very strange and can make things difficult to navigate indeed!

 

[surimi]

Do I think about leaving the fandom? No, for sure not. But for me, like for many others, being an active FS fan is tied to having favorites whose progress one follows with interest, and many times also with emotional investment. I mean, how many posts have we seen here on GS that say the poster became a FS fan because they saw the performances of this and that skater? I'd say there are many. I became a fan because of Mao Asada, then Yuzuru Hanyu. Now the latter's competitive career is almost over, but I am fortunate in that I have found one more big favorite in the meantime. What happens once Sota, too, retires, I don't know. If by then I am not enchanted by anyone like I was by these three, I may become a lurker who watches, but doesn't post much anymore. Who knows.
I don't have social media accounts, so I am not bothered by vicious posts. Even GS itself, usually quite tame, can become a bit vicious at times. Just recently, the fury spewed at Jason for being selected on the OG team, and also at Camden for underperforming multiple times. And the occasional fan wars in the Russian Women's thread. If one knows where the danger lurks, it's best to avoid those places.

@TontoK , I am not sure if you are saying people are being foolish to post their dislike for certain skaters on the internest, or if you mean those who attach hashtags and such to make sure the skater gets to read their words. The latter is not okay, but I see nothing wrong in saying one doesn't like a skater in a forum for example (unless they troll the skater's fan thread). Unless one uses abusive language, it's a wonderful catharsis, it creates a healthy diverse opinion environment (as there are always others who like said skaters), no harm done and the world keeps spinning, and at least one is not drained from endless positivity. It's normal to have likes and dislikes. My two cents...