Community #
Hopefully this isn’t a shock to anyone reading this, but I’m a furry.
owo uwu nuzzles rawr teheSo, I think I can share a little bit about why I joined the fandom, what being in a subculture community is like, and how some of those experiences have made me a better person and helped me be a part of or run successful online communities.
First though, I want to talk about why I’m in the fandom.
If, somehow, you’ve gotten to this page and think furries are gross/bad I want you to go read: Dogwhistles and Other Falsehoods Uttered About Furries.
If you’re only anti furry because you are actually anti-LGBT, kindly get the fuck off my website, thx.
Art by ManedMenace
Most furries are not just “Furries”. Most will identify with a second sub-group, or multiple of them.
For example, there’s furry artists, fursuit makers, furry programmers, furry car enthusiasts, and furries into ham radio.
For each of those, and a couple dozen other interests, I can pretty easily find group chats and sub-communities dedicated to the combination interest.
That may initially sound irrelevant: If you join a ham radio group, why would you care if the other people in there are furries?
Two reasons:
- It gives you a way to break the ice: “What’s your fursona”
- It filters out people that would be bothered by the fandom.
Art by Zed Shirogane
That second point is really important. Self identifying as a member of the furry community is not something people that would be bothered by LGBT people or are overly concerned about appearing to be conformist would do, and that’s great, because we don’t want them. The furry community is only 20% hetrosexual: It’s not that we’re not welcoming to straight white males
So having that filter that inheritly self selects for people you have things in common with and are likely to share values with is a big deal.
[TODO] Furries, internet culture, LGBT, Gender Identity vs need for legal identity - furry stats, like what percent look at lood, age demographics, etc. Proof of X, Assholes: A Probing Examination,
Might also talk about https://wileywiggins.com/merveilles.html as that’s a community and ethos I can speak to as well
Adopting new societal values of acceptance #
A shift in American family values is fueling estrangement (The Atlantic)
Understanding the common good #
Encryption, Tragedy of the commons
Avoiding Corporate Takeover #
In 2025 I caught the first half a talk titled “How to Organize in the Furry Fandom” given by Sasha Jones and Jonathan Vair Duncan, two artists-by day, activists by night who put me in awe with their work in both regards.
In it, they made a point that while I already knew intuitively, it being put out there made it really click:
The reason the furry fandom has made it so far and continues to be so full of independent artists and creators isn’t despite the porn.
It’s because of it.
If it weren’t for the sheer amount of rabid horniness in this fandom, it would’ve gotten bought out by commercially available fursuits and corporate sponsors a long time ago.
Character owned by me, art by Talon Creations
I’m not saying every community fandom should suddenly become NSFW just to avoid takeover like this. But I think it’s worth pointing out that whenever anyone says they wish the fandom were more safe for work, they’re missing the point that it wouldn’t be the same fandom if it was.
It has become something of a repeat joke how every June MegaCorp™ busts out the cheaply made pride merch only to turn around and donate to anti-LGBT politicians, hell, sometimes they do both at the same time. That’s what we shouldn’t put up with.
I will not buy LGBT themed goods not made by individual artists. If everyone does that then MegaCorp™ would have to stop selling it and would have a bunch of stock they have nothing to do with.
Small and connected #
You May be Using Mastodon Wrong (Carlos Fenollosa Blog)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)
I miss voice-first servers like TeamSpeak
Echo Chambers #
Data and fact driven sharing #
Moderation #
ensuring that we’re self moderating one another
Communal Efforts #
Shared Spaces #
Hacker Spaces Community Garden
Open Source hardware and software #
Something I’ve written while thinking about this #
As I walked to my car after class, I could smell the ashes of a cigarette and hear the echos of a train scraping on its tracks. The cool foggy air held still beams of light. It looked like a scene from Blade Runner, but I couldn’t help but feel like the Android’s of its inspiration, lusting after something to make me feel alive.
The drive home was mentally taxing. The fog so dense that cars ahead seemed to be balls of light floating in the distance, and keeping sight of the lines to stay in my lane took a constant effort. After a little over half an hour of focus and 80s synthwave music I pulled into my driveway.
My day had been long, and I hadn’t had a good meal to speak of so I heated up some leftovers and talked with my parents as I ate. My mom was distracted by writing her next book and my dad was lost in a sea of Facebook memes, which he was showing us between intermittent laughter. I wasn’t really amused, in fact I was irritated.
I ranted to him about something I know he’s heard from me before, the spheel of how Facebook is evil. How computers deprive us of our privacy and we willingly feed a machine that is well documented in its atrocities, and as usual he failed to see the point.
He used the same defense everyone does “All of my friends are on Facebook”
How many of those ‘friends’ do you really talk to? How many of them just repost meaningless memes and jokes, while providing no insight, let alone basic updates on their life.
Some of my absolute best friends are people I’ve met online or only know online, but none of them are people I stay in contact with though Facebook.
This isn’t a Facebook rant though, it’s a personal connection rant. So many of my friends and family consume social media to the point they don’t want to admit it, but don’t even take the time to maintain the relationships they do care about. That stereotype about calling your mother? Yeah, there’s a point of reality in it. I don’t know what it was like before Facebook, honestly, I really don’t. But I think we valued the connections we did have a lot more. Our friends may have been those from high school sure, but I know there used to be more tight night local communities that shared interests, but now the convenience of social media has devalued the local meeting of friends. Which is ironic in a way. I’ve been in communities which would have never stood a chance of existing without social media to bring together the band of misfits, but I’ve also seen social media start massive amounts of drama that spiral out of control and destroy the local community.
Worst of all though, I’ve seen social media devalue the importance of what people do. I figure maybe one or two people will read to this point, having lost interest long before now, and the same goes for much of the honestly great long form reporting I find online, or the longer stories people post for free for our entertainment. Creativity is becoming devalued as memes and short < 100 word posts become our new limits. Works of art that take time to digest and see meaning it get overlooked, poetry is dead, and heaven forbid you want to discuss politics in a civil matter. Hell, for many even the idea of playing a videogame or watching a movie is second to the instant gratification of short form content like YouTube, Reddit, or Facebook.
I’m not innocent in this, not by a long shot, but I have two rules for myself which have helped:
For every two hours consuming content, I should spend at least an hour making something
At least 1/2 of my time-consuming should be longer form content: be it full stories, books, movies, etc. Not YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, etc.
But when much of what I make, be it writing, music, or whatever is ignored because it’s not a viral meme or it’s too long to hold someone’s attention it seriously hampers my motivation, and I find it easier and easier to break my two rules. I’ve been doing a decent job, and as with any addiction it takes time to get out of and falling back is easy, but the reward of creating and consuming more filling content is much like having a nice home cooked meal instead of a super sugary diet.
I just wish more people would appreciate each other’s cooking instead of eating candy all day. I want to work with people on these things, but if everyone else just stays addicted, it’s hard to keep going. We’re inevitably social creatures and we do what our friends do, and doing things with friends is always better. Being on Facebook or Reddit, watching YouTube videos- these may trick your brain into thinking you have what you want, but being on the other side I really wish some of you would join me.
I’m always down to hang out, to wonk together on making something cool, or talk about life, you just have to reach out not wait for me to post a funny meme for you to comment on. Let’s talk about your hobbies and projects and what you care about and stop posting memes and Tumblr screenshots.
TODO: https://sambleckley.com/writing/church-of-interruption.html