Okay so I was browsing the net and I found this lovely piece of work, that was published just two months ago. link
Apparently this is a 'student run' new site. So much for the plagiarism policy. Like at least give an exact link--as your site automatically generates for anyone who copies and pastes your work. But don't worry I already put that up bahagian, atas myself, out of respect. Anyhow I find it very funny how professionally set up this site is and yet they're utilizing my work without my permission and without even linking me to it. It's one thing to post my work (with credits) in appreciation of it behind my back and another to critique it behind my back. I'm not saying not to disagree with me at all, because really, I don't mind. What I am saying is, at least have the decency to link me to the critique so I have a chance to defend myself. That's my main issue with this article. The lack of professionalism is killing me and this site claims to be the site of a newspaper. "The Record and its staff encourage a respectful, engaging and informative conversation." Yeah, okay, sure lol. Where's the respect? With that in mind I am going to link this to the site so they can properly give feedback about their work being utilized. I mean I suppose I'm somewhat flattered that, that silly artikel drew enough attention to get a whole response artikel on another site, but still...it's the way the response was done behind my back that I'm not flattered by.

So what baffles me the most is that (what seems to be) a rather professional newspaper took an artikel of mine that wasn't even supposed to be professional in the slightest and utilized it. Legit, that artikel of mine was only there to get my opinion out there and encourage/welcome people into any fandom. To let people know that it's okay to not know everything about a certain medium. I don't get why people have to take a positive like that and try to push a negative.

With all of this in mind Imma type this artikel just how I typed the other one; without a degree of professional language because that's not what the first one was. Because again, most all of my opinion artikel-artikel are recreational things, things I type just because I want something to do.

The first point I'd like to address is the following "Sure, I might like something a lot, but I’m not going to consider myself a peminat right away. Why? Because I feel like I don’t know enough about what I’m trying to become a peminat of." Alright, that's cool. anda do you, but don't try to tell others how to feel atau make them feel unwelcome/unequal in the fandom. Just because anda don't feel comfortable considering yourself a peminat right away, doesn't mean other people can't. In my opinion it's perfectly fine to call yourself a peminat as soon as anda start to enjoy something because that's what being a peminat is.

sejak definition (taken from here; link)) "is a person who is enthusiastically devoted to something atau somebody, such as a band, a sports team, a genre, a book, a movie atau an entertainer. As long a person genuinely enjoys something and shows some enthusiasm, sejak definition they are a fan. Take out the enthusiasm and you're still a fan, you're just a casual fan. Someone who watches and enjoys the subject but isn't super crazy about it. And a causal peminat is still a real/true fan.

So yes, if anda don't feel right calling yourself a peminat (and I apply this to any reader not just the person who this artikel is a response to) then anda don't have to. But there are some people who feel comfortable doing so and it's perfectly valid to do so. Because even if anda don't know a lot about the thing anda just started to like, anda can still like and enjoy it. And that is a fan.

The other point that was bought up was the following; "Some “fans,”consider themselves bandwagoners. These individuals openly admit they are peminat-peminat of something because it is what’s popular at the time." sejak all means, this is a fair point. But these are not the people my artikel was addressing. For one, these people openly admitted they weren't true fans. My artikel aimed to uplift, meningkatkan people who genuinely Cinta the subject but were told they couldn't be a peminat because of xyz. Bandwagoners aren't real peminat-peminat they're bandwagoners. And they admit it.

Which leads to my seterusnya point; I'm under the impression that my artikel wasn't even read fully. Because the point was terribly missed. I read through all of the "Being a peminat Isn't Easy" artikel and not once was it mentioned that people were getting told they weren't real peminat-peminat for opinions regarding the medium they love. The entire point of my artikel was to dispute claims like "you're not a real peminat because anda like the antagonists better than the protagonists." I am a huge peminat of Winx Club; I've been a peminat for well over ten years now. I know my shit. And yet someone got off on calling me a 'fake fan' because I preferred one dub over the other. This is what my artikel was, in a sense, calling out. And the response artikel didn't address this at all. I feel as though they read my “Step one: enjoy/love/like the show, book, movie, and/or band. Good job, that’s it, you’re a true fan.” And just stopped. So sejak all means the artikel in response to mine isn't even a fair assessment of my original content. Considering how much of it was ignored. Considering the very core of it was ignored.

So the seterusnya thing bought up is the following; "You know, the people that when anda tunjuk them a cool new band, they don’t think much about them, but as soon as the band starts getting airtime on the radio, they claim to know every word to every song?" Isn't this a form of bandwagoning though? Since the band is getting air time they jump on?

anda know what, Imma defend these people. To be honest it did annoy me when Gangnam Style started playing and suddenly everyone was a Kpop fan. But
Everyone needs to start somewhere. And I think the above is a start of some sort. No, they shouldn't claim to know every line to every song right off the bat. But it's completely fair for the person to say they are a peminat of and like what they did hear. And from there the rest of the knowledge comes naturally. No one has to put in tedious research, why would they? Because eventually (especially with shows) the viewer starts to get used to the tunjuk and slowly he/she finds him/herself realizing that he/she can senarai off every member of the cast and who they play! Way back in 2011 I dived into the Once fandom; it was really disorienting because not only did I have to keep track of all the characters but I had to keep track of which fairy tail counterpart belonged to who. And I came into the fandom late. Luckily everyone was supportive and instead of saying I wasn't a real peminat they helped remind me of who was who. Soon enough--without even realizing it--I not only had the counterpart thing down, but also which cast member played who down. And I didn't do a speck of research, I just listened to my fellow peminat-peminat talk. I followed their conversations, and it came naturally.

So sejak all means, it really is that easy!

That said, onto the seterusnya point; "There has to be something lebih to it than just enjoyment."

I suppose this is just a matter of opinion. Because I strongly disagree. Being a peminat is all about enjoying something. In fact I'm inclined to point anda back to the very definition of the word fan. It says nothing about research/knowledge and everything about enjoyment.

"In order to be a peminat of something, anda need to have done your homework on it." No. No, no, no. Being a peminat should not require homework! That's what school is for. Sure if it's something anda enjoy it shouldn't be a hassle. sejak all means when I got into Avatar I wanted to know everything I could about my kegemaran character, Azula. But what about the people who just want to watch the show? That's it, they like/love the tunjuk but they really don't want to part-take in the fandom atau anything. Are anda saying that these people don't actually like the show? That they're not fans?

I'd like to argue that (again especially in the case of shows & books) the information is all and research anda need lies in the content of the show/book. If it doesn't than the penulis isn't doing his/her job.

And just how much do anda need to know? If knowledge is what defines what it takes to be a peminat then who gets to set that bar? Some people would say that to be a real peminat anda have to know the names of all the characters, the seterusnya guy will step it up and demand that anda know all of the characters and the actors who play them. The person will say that anda have to know all of that and the names of all the episodes. So whose standard of how much knowledge anda need to be a peminat are we going by? Because that, my friends, is subjective too. And there's a simple solution to this problem; let the individual him atau herself decide when he atau she is a peminat of something. Gauge whether atau not someone is a peminat of something sejak how much they like the show/book/band/etc.

"But if anda want to be considered a fan, anda should be reading, watching, attending, listening, and/or participating in whatever your interest is as much as possible." Now this is something I can agree with. Because that's all it takes; watching thew show, listening to the music, atau whatever. Just making time for watching/listening to/etc. the subject shows that you're a fan. Where I differ is that I don't think that there is a such thing as a 'lazy, lackluster' fan, just a casual fan. And a casual peminat is still a real fan.

Long story short, I just don't understand why people are so keen on making watching shows, Membaca books, listening to music, and generally enjoying something such a chore. It really doesn't have to be. Isn't the point of shows/books/music to give people a release. To give people an escape. A way to relax. And it's pretty hard to relax and get invested in a tunjuk when people are telling you, anda have to hardcore know everything about it. atau when people are playing bouncer at the door of the fanclubs. Just welcome people in with open arms and tunjuk them the works of the fandom! Like Jesus Christ.