The State of Things 2015: Well folks, as some of you may have noticed, its a new year and we still seek the answers to the mystery that is our common interest. Since we haven’t solved things yet, I suppose its time to review some of the things that might be considered in the way. The first thing I think personally is that some either forget or are completely blind to the fact that there are two subjects here, the first being the Sasquatch phenomenon itself, and the second, is the study of the bigfootery culture itself. In my opinion, these are two separate subjects, but Ive recently observed in some that excessive amounts of time online, Facebook in particular have taken up the belief that footery and footing are the same thing. I say no to that. I am very much considering a book on the combined subject in the near future, but thats more ambitious than Im feeling today. Lets take a look at some the factors that blur the lines between the two subjects. Troll wars: Over the course of 2014, and even before, but especially last year it seems there has been a pointless escalation in trolling Facebook groups that cover the bigfoot mystery, and we could make the effort to break down what the individual groups focus is or isnt but over the year it didnt seem to matter. Rational groups were targeted as were woo groups, by the opposing side in some cases, sometimes by skoftics with no interest in discussion, and in two particular cases, just trolling assholes trolling with the intent of bullying and destroying the purpose of the group. Some may argue that its easy to call anyone who disagrees with you a troll, but that’s not really what we are talking about at this point. The kind of trolling in this example basically breaks down any meaningful conversation on the subject be it debate or not through the bullying and the frustration it causes. Research fatigue: Ive also heard the term story fatigue used as well, but this can be defined a few different ways. Some folks are frustrated with a lack of credible evidence, obviously bored with the hoaxes, and with the demands chronically being made by those pushing woo that they get their fair share of respect only to melt down when people ask for some evidence. The other thing that doesn’t help the woo set is that many of them have become quite cultish and in that mindset that turned to trolling and intimidation to try to get there way, this kills any hope of credibility and just fuels the fatigue felt by many. Fame Seekers: It wouldn’t be the hardest thing to throw fame seekers into the symptoms for fatigue, but for the sake of covering it lets keep it separate. And also lets differentiate, you have those who write blogs, have radio shows and other outlets with an intent to share information. Ive toyed with the idea of doing videos to, but lets face it I haven’t gotten there, but I if ever do, it wont be with any intent of profit, fame of anything else, it would be my 2 bit opinion on camera as opposed to in print. Without delving into naming names you have those who post in many a Facebook group with the seeming intent of maintaining a brand presence which is them, then you have the blog talk hosts, and to be fair I suppose that if you intend on putting on a regular podcast you need to advertise, the problem is that advertising can overwhelmed discussion groups. Then you have the element where subtlety need not apply, their one desire is to get on TV, or suffer from the delusion that once someone had been on TV, TV is this mystical force that transforms a person into a bigfoot expert, a notion that is complete bullshit. Dont get me wrong, there are good blogs out there, there are good podcasts out there, and then theres the crap. The thing about defining either is everyone has their own preferences. The obvious offenders are though, obvious. So, if there are any lessons to be learned from all this, lets try to nail them down: I cannot emphasize enough that Facebook in particular is not the real world, being on TV doesn’t not an expert make, and there is a line of separation between the online and offline world of Sasquatch research and or enthusiasts. There is even more so a line of separation between big footing and bigfootery. Big footing I apply to the Investigation a/or research of the phenomenon itself. Bigfootery is the manifestation of the so called Community itself. If you think otherwise I for one think youve lost your way down a rabbit hole. The trolling, the bickering, the attention whoring, and all of that is Bigfootery plain and simple. As of the Phenomenon, you can approach it from the varying philosophies, definable as woo vs non-woos, or take it further towards skofiticism/skepticism, open minded but rational, the various woo manifestations. But thats also something that gets blurred together, philosophic differences verses the line drawn between the mystery and the footery. With the new year , I think it would be a good thing to focus on the differences and see footery for what it is, and realize that its a lot harder to find it offline, unless you actually go looking for it. In the end, call drama, call it trolling, call it bigfootery, call it whatever, its still bullshit. That much hasnt changed at all.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 13:21:37 +0000
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