The unofficial Rule 50

[NOOR_ASAKZ05]

Hello, I've invented a new rule called "Rule 50"

What is this rule and what is it based on? Simply put, it's a rule that says every popular online work has a fan community, part of which is good and nice, and another part so disgusting and bad that you could punch that group in the face.

Well, some examples will be from the game Blood Money, which unfortunately has a number of annoying fans who keep drawing Harvey in a distorted and ugly way, ruining his character... Another example is the annoying One Piece fans; I don't remember a single day going by without one of them praising One Piece and calling other anime bad, or describing people who don't watch One Piece as idiots... There are many more examples, but I'll stop here.

Okay, so why is it called the "Rule 50"? Simply put, 50 represents half, and I can't accurately determine the ratio of good fans to bad fans, so dividing them in half is fairer for me.

Do you think it's a general rule? Or does it only apply to a few specific businesses?

[VibrantFox]

I don't know if it's ever been....numbered? If that's the right way to put it. But this has been a long time ongoing part of internet culture all the way back to the dial up and message board days

Fandom in particular will always have it's good and bad which is why people oft recommend just consuming or interacting with what you like and what makes you happy and ignoring the rest. If anything comes to mind it's probably "Dead Dove" which was basically we're telling you, warning you, letting you know this has 'xyz' thing in it and if you don't want to see or hear about it block, ignore, scroll and don't bother those folks

Like with your examples specifically. I've been passively enjoying BloodMoney/Human Expenditure Program fanart and fics but because I know it's fanbase has netted folks from a pretty broad age range I mostly keep to myself. I'll scroll someones page or the fandom tags, see what I like maybe leave a heart and keep it moving especially because I know the discourse that's probably come up around it. As for anime that's a tale as old as time whether it's something super mainstream and long lived like One Piece or something a lil more new and niche like say Gachiakuta or Clock Striker

So if there is a general rule it's basically find your fellow minded folks you know you can get along with and stick to those circles or get in a better habit of just blocking/muting and ignoring the things that upset you. As someone who's been in the depths of the Sonic fandom, moved through MLP during the Friendship is Magic Era and bounced through a handful of anime from Durarara to Sword Art Online and so on you learn smarter or healthier ways to navigate fandom spaces to avoid all the stress especially when there's drama or whatever else going on like all the time or just a lot of loud people making spectacle over pretty minute stuff. All in all tho you get used to it and sometimes living in your own little bubble is easier for the sake of your own sanity

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

I have doubts that it's a general rule.

[Lensing]

I love the name and I will use it from now on and yes it´s general.
50% is a good number imo.

[Lensing]

Serious question, what group of fans are you thinking of where the rule 50 can´t be applied to?

[NOOR_ASAKZ05]

Honestly, I avoid disturbing art, but you know how app algorithms work, especially on Pinterest; they show you the worst things on the internet. And let me not forget that there's fan art that looks incredibly well-drawn, but once you click on it and see it, you'll be shocked to discover it's pornographic depictions of your favorite character​

[Lensing]

That´s rule 34
(if it exists, there is porn of it)

[NOOR_ASAKZ05]

Honestly, it doesn't apply to lesser-known works or those with a small audience, so you're partially right.

[NOOR_ASAKZ05]

It could have been just rule 34... but rule 50 includes annoying people, not just pornography. For example, there are fans who might threaten to hit you if you don't like their favorite character or work. There are also those who are so obsessed with a particular work that you hate it, and those who create stupid art for the same work, like the ones who made Tanjiro and Muzan a happy couple. None of this falls under the umbrella of pornography.

[Lensing]

No, this is a misunderstanding,
I like the name rule 50.
Rule 34 already exists and means: if it exists, there is porn for it

[NOOR_ASAKZ05]

Oh, I understand you now.

[VibrantFox]

this is just one of those things common of big fandoms and honestly small ones too if youve got vocal enough people in it of a certain persuasion.

i will say that some "threats" are made more in jest save for those small handfuls of obsessive fans but obviously without clarification people wont know whos joking and whos serious 🤷🏾

thats like I'll never really neg anyone for being passionate about something i may hate (save for maybe hp but thats another topic for another day) so its easier to just kind of mute if i really cant bear to see it or try to see the perspective of "well i may not like this thing a friend likes but i enjoy seeing them so passionate and having fun" and that usually helps

as for "problematic" things....ehhh thats a scale. some stuff is honestly harmless but people have strong opinions and others its sometimes just better resolved with a block and move on attitude. like theres ships i kind of cant stand to see so its easier to mute or block tags but theres also kinds of fan art that i enjoy that would probably piss people off so i just enjoy it in my own lil bubble and live on in peace

[NickRowler]

Rule 34 comes from a very old internet meme called "Rules of the Internet". There is a whole list, however you mostly hear 34 get referenced.

There is a Rule 50, its...

A Crossover, no matter how improbable, will eventually happen in Fan Art, Fan Fiction, or official release material.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

Any group, but my objection isn't the "part of which is good and nice and another part so disgusting and bad "; that is simply obvious. My objection was the arbitrary 50% division. It's almost certainly not 50% even. And almost certainly not the same percentage over any random selections of fandoms. You could say that's "nit picking" and you'd be justified in doing so, but it seems to me a "Rule" should be more precise & generally applicable.

[VibrantFox]

would it be better semantics to say there's a 50% chance a person you come across within a fandom would be of one persuasion or another?

coz it is true that usually unpleasant sects of a fandom are actually smaller than they seem it's just how vocal or visible they are. if anything it makes me think of instances where i've found more people complaining about those types than actually encountering them which is always kind of interesting

[Lensing]

I got what you mean

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

Probably not any difference. If the odds are 50-50 of any sample being good vs bad that implies the population being sampled is also 50-50. I think the only way to be otherwise is for the sampling process to incorporate some selection filter or bias.

[NOOR_ASAKZ05]

Look, the rule doesn't definitively state that the percentage of a good or bad audience is 50%. I simply can't determine the exact percentage, so to avoid injustice, I made an assumption of half. But that doesn't mean that 50% of a certain show's audience is actually bad. For example, if we look at reality, we'll find that approximately 65% of the audience for a depressing drama is made up of adults. This is just an assumption for a general idea.