So we’ve had several opinion/tea accounts in the last few years on Instagram. I’ve been on the fence about them. I only agree with them if they post legitimate evidence of the subject matter they posted. However, nowadays evidence can be faked, partially true, or play in the person’s favor (the one who sent it in). After really seeing this community and seeing the posts, I’m not for these accounts anymore.
I want to know your thoughts on these types of accounts.
Edit: I’m talking about episode opinion/tea accounts
Do you agree or disagree with what these accounts are doing?
Do you think they stay true to what they say they are?
What opinions should not be posted?
Do you ever think those who sent in posts will ever post them as themselves (not anonymous)?
This thread is not to cause drama! I’m not talking about a certain account or a certain post, just the general idea of opinions/tea accounts. Please refrain from talking about specific authors and posts!!
I really dislike them. They always say they don’t incite bullying or condone it and yet that’s literally what they enable their followers to do. Nasty comments aren’t removed, hurtful and damaging posts aren’t taken down.
I especially hate it when they post whatever anyone submits to them, without facts to back it up and without speaking to the author first themselves. It’s especially hypocritical if they crown themselves as opinion pages meant for positivity, want called out authors to pay for whatever it is they’ve done and yet the pages remain anonymous themselves even when they’re in the wrong.
I mean opinion accounts will literally post anything to get clout. Most of the time they can put a damper on the community but on the other hand I do like them when it is completely factual. Like people saying an certain story is toxic after people have told the author. And a lot of them tell you not to attack them and it is for educational purposes. I like them to know what people to stay away from but some go to far. Like this author uses sl*t shamming in her story by the MC which I don’t agree with but they acted like she was the only one to do this. All/most authors I have read from have done it, so why not call everyone out. No, because that would be waste of time since people will do it anyway. I hate opinion pages but I don’t mind educational “tea” pages.
For instance, if there’s an opinion/question asking something along the lines of “What do you think of this genre?” or something unproblematic like that I think it’s perfectly fine. It’s a great way for the community to come together and help newer authors, and it’s a great way for newer authors to ask questions without feeling embarrassed, which is why I’m against getting rid of opinion accounts altogether.
I also think if there’s an opinion saying something along the lines of “I think (insert author here) did (this problematic thing). I won’t be supporting them but what do you think of the situation?” is okay as well. That might be a more controversial opinion, but the way I see it; there are so many authors in the community and for minorities, we may not want to support someone who wouldn’t support us. So I would like to know if an author is problematic. Now I think if someone got nasty in the comments then it probably should be deleted to minimalize the number of people hurt by the comments.
For instance, if someone spent time outlining the reasons they don’t want to support someone but didn’t get rude I think that’s perfectly fine; however, if someone didn’t want to support someone and their only reasons were hate speech or harmful stereotypes then it’s toxic. You all know what kind of comments I’m referring to, I don’t know if I can say them on the forums though. Especially the ones insinuating someone harms themselves, that’s messed up.
I think it can even be useful to know if that opinion page either doesn’t give their opinions or gives their opinion but admits their biases.
So in conclusion, I think opinion pages can be for good; however, they are oftentimes used for evil or not regulated correctly.
I apologize if this is worded weirdly, it’s almost 9 am in the morning right now.
I think there is one, I can’t remember the name of it exactly, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe epi.opinions (?) Which posts a variety of things, even just someone commenting on say a genre in general. The content there, that I have seen in the past, hasn’t been harmful. So that is fine to me.
(The annoyingly named) “Tea” pages are usually posted for drama and follows. They are filled with bullying, harrassment, cruel and abusive comments, hate and even begin mob-like behaviour where people will go after the target of the post, even without a motive or reliably sourced information. People share private messages publicly and let’s face it, they aren’t 100% reliable.
I think they should cease to exist. Would make people behave much better if that kind of thing wasn’t seen as acceptable and normal.
I completely agree with you. They say they don’t condone any hate or death threats yet they allow such comments. If you are against such behavior, you would monitor the comments and remove them. But they don’t.
I also find it interesting that they post whatever they receive without thinking this would cause drama. If it’s about an author, they don’t take the time to read it and research the facts. How do you know what this person says is real?? How do you know this author is problematic? And most of the time, it’s without any proof. It’s like they don’t care what’s real or not. But since they label themselves as an “opinions account” they just see the posts as opinions and nothing else. When people get mad at the account, they say “these are not our posts, we just post whatever we receive” or “we are just spreading awareness” or “we are not a hate account, we don’t condone any bullying or hate”. It’s contradicting.
Of course, opinions about what you like or what you think is okay. But the people who run these accounts, hide behind “opinions account” to post anonymous “opinions” about a specific author without researching themselves. Not researching yourself and just posting the whatever is harmful. It simply says you don’t care what happens to that author. You don’t care about the aftermath. You’re just an opinions account, you’re not responsible for anything. They could post something that isn’t true and cause a huge commotion of bullying and hate. There is a thing called defamation. You can’t just run an account and not put effort into regulating what should and should not be posted.
It honestly comes down to how they run their account. Are they just posting whatever and letting the community take over or are they taking the time to actually read through the messages and regulating what should/should not be posted??
Exactly. But they can also say they are an opinions account but really be a tea account or vice versa. It all comes down to the people who run them and what they deem as acceptable or not.
Yes they definitely can. It’s a slippery slope it seems, so that’s why I deem them unnecessary and unneeded, especially when the negative ones far outweigh the positive ones. Particularly when they project it as “educating” when it’s trashing.
Facts over opinions if talking about a specific author or story.
Telling people to not attack them doesn’t do anything. Almost always they attack, can’t stop people from going to those authors accounts and giving them a piece of their mind. When you post something publicly, the people who see it are going to do what they want with it. That’s why it’s important to be careful what you post on the account.
Yeah, it seems to me like some people don’t know the proper definition of anything. What they think is educating, really is trashing. What they think is a fact, really is an opinion.
Do you agree or disagree with what these accounts are doing?
I hate those accounts with every fiber of my body. If there’s a stronger word of disgust more than hate, feel free to associate that with me feelings.
Do you think they stay true to what they say they are?
For all I know they’re just here to create shit ton of drama and frame people for the sake of their tea
What opinions should not be posted? NO OPINIONS Please I cannot stress this enough. No one’s opinions should be the base to harrass someone, we all know how wrong it sounds.
Do you ever think those who sent in posts will ever post them as themselves (not anonymous)?
I think that’s what they do and just keep labeling it as anonymous just so they don’t get called out!
I haven’t really come accross an opinion page which isn’t calling out other people, framing them, or labeling their breathing as toxic on their pages. Your idea of having an opinion page Which actually just asks for opinion is a good one but sadly, it’s just an idea and not what’s happening.
All these pages are just existing to bully authors who are real people. Even if there’s somthing which they did is wrong, there’s always a way to sort it out… For starters- reaching out them, telling them what they stated/portrayed/written is wrong and hurts a certain community instead of calling them out through this so called opinion pages
There’s no mistake that can’t be fixed if the person who’s commited it, is heartly willing to fix.
I’m sorry if I sounded rude, I didn’t mean at all! It’s just my hatred towards these drama causing pages is just too much and the amount of damage reading those pages have done to me is beyond the point. No hard feelings
I wonder if the people who run these accounts ever feel guilty for posting about specific people. Do they ever feel anything when they post what they receive?
I hate opinion pages but I don’t mind educational “tea” pages.
