Why is criticism not allowed anymore?

[Dynamite Bean]

It really feels like in recent times no form of criticism is allowed especially in regards to general discourse and discussion whether it be entertainment, real life, or other things
So many communities i've seen it's always full of toxic positivity bullshit or blind fanaticism towards someone or something
has it always been this way and i'm just misremembering things? because i swear many years ago you could express valid criticism towards something and at most you'd get a few angry fantards calling you a faggot and that's it, now you'll just get your comment deleted, account blocked, and have a horde of people being passive aggressive towards you for daring to point out the obvious flaws in this or that

 

[Squishie PP]

You are correct. Post-web2.0 filter bubbles were a major contributor to the problem.

 

[DavidS877]

Shut up faggot.

Some of it I think is outsourcing moderation to the true believers. Simplifying somewhat forums used to have a variety of topics, like this place, and the moderators were somewhat global and really only got involved when discussion went off the rails.

Now, Reddit and Facebook and Discord groups and others the mods are the true believer of their particular niche so they don't want to hear any dissent from their way. Something about even the smallest amount of power going to people's heads.

 

[Judas Connor Moon]

I'm going to criticize you right now. You're a silly goose.

 

[byron]

filter bubbles

The really funny thing is when people accustomed to being in a bubble venture out of it and realize that they are entirely incapable of defending anything they believe. They get wrecked and can’t handle it.

 

[dick brain]

Go outside.

 

[Targeted Individual]

Because it hurts my feelings.

 

[Lokenstien]

The issue is that many people lack a strong central belief system which gets filled with their various opinions on any potential topic. Thus criticism of their chosen topics is akin to attacking their personal belief system. Many do not realize this about themselves (falsely believing in their ability to accept and respect different points of view) which only exacerbates the tension and conflict of today's discourse.

 

[Drip Torch]

The truth hurts

 

[Butwhythough2]

I often ask @Canuck Breaker for criticism of the music I make, I went to him because I know he knows a great deal about music. He was honest in his feedback, while he wasn't brutal it does sting the ego a bit. It was constructive, things I needed to work on.
People are so insular these days that they won't accept criticism even if constructive. You see this especially with xitter artists, that think they've reached the pinnacle of their art, and that they are above reproach.
People who take their music, art, work, or trade seriously go out of their way to better themselves and ask for criticism. Without it you stagnate and even get worse.

 

[Joe Swanson]

Criticism is allowed, but only against those who are not members of the party

 

[185405]

I think OP is a faggot bitch who need's to kill himself.

How's that for criticism?

 

[a pissing jar]

YOU HURT MY FAGGOTORY FEEELINGS!! IM GONNA CANCEL YOU ON XITTER.COM!!!!!!

 

[Testacles Maximus]

I’ll allow you to criticize. If anyone gives you shit just tell them I said it was okay.

 

[3MMA]

Constructive criticism is a compliment of the highest order. When someone takes the time to critique something you’ve created, that’s a really wonderful act. Part of the inability to take criticism is the mistaken belief that it’s a personal failing that they didn’t do something perfectly. Or the even more basic assumption that if they disagree with someone or something, it has to be a negative thing. Many grow out of that mindset but by that point, they’re usually not so loud about things anymore. It’s often an age thing that can (hopefully) be outgrown. Criticism comes in many forms, much benign, often useful, & most importantly the recipient gets to decide how much weight to give to any such crit. Unfortunately many choose not to heed good advice, usually out of misplaced ego.

 

[Am I Very Wrong]

Because with everything becoming social and performative people don't want to have actual discussions anymore, they just want to say their own and gather consensus/followers.
You don't go to socials to discuss, because that's not what they're for and people know that. Plenty of "criticism" is people just doing the opposite out of frustration and that doesn't help either.
These are all natural consequences of the internet getting so big, but that doesn't mean you can't still have discussions

 

[FBI's Moderately Wanted]

Criticism nowadays gets turned into personal attacks (whether purposefully or rarely not) so people can get offended by it. It's seen all the time. Sometimes they go above and beyond to say it's a personal attack for belonging to [x group], [y group] or [z group]. I do this accidentally sometimes (the former, not the latter) so I'm speaking from experience.

 

[jray4559]

It's just the modern "cuddle era" (read: coddle era) of mental health infecting a person's entire way of living. This is the kind of thing that happens when the culture shifts from "try to be professional and find common ground with those in normal society, even those who disagree" to "pick and choose only people who completely agree with you, anyone else is to be tolerated or shamed (bullied) into not being allowed to express their opinion".

The worst place by far for this kind of self-centered dogshit is the women in the fanfiction community. Say that you, personally, stopped liking their story when X and Y happened? A normal response would be something like "Yeah I get why you might not like that personally but I wanted to show X as super-reactive and emotional, so that's why. Hopefully you find other stories that aren't as mood swing-y".
But a fanfic girlie, without fail says something like:

"Well, sucks to be you, doesn't it? It's my story and I write him how I want and if you don't like, don't read. Toodles! "
Or, more likely, they just screencap your comment and post to r/AO3 or tumblr or similar complaining to their choir of romance-loving womenchildren about how dare someone have a not glowing opinion about their labor of love and you should never, ever, ever voice disagreement because it is NOT THE RIGHT ETIQUETTE!
(and then they delete it right afterwards)

Of course, the men who write generic harem fanfiction slop somehow do not have this passive-aggressiveness problem and can handle someone who says their work is dime-a-dozen wish-fufillment without needing to scurry off to their endless validation fountain. I wish I knew why that was. It can't just be estrogen.

 

[Raw Onion Enjoyer]

I've seen an influx of comments accusing youtube channels of being ragebait if they don't follow the globohomo agenda 1:1. It's like they actually believe there's no sane person who would disagree with them and the guy is doing it purely for clicks.

 

[Look At You]

Criticism is 100% allowed. The problem only exists for people who are absolute shit at critiquing stuff. It is a skill. If you actually know how to criticize something, and genuinely do it with the intent of making something better then people will be grateful and absorb that information.

Critique is not easy, and it takes a lot of consideration of your intent and ability to judge not only the work of the person you're critiquing, but also the ability to observe who they are so you can tailor your communication toward them.

This is even more difficult when you are making public criticism where you have an entire audience to be considerate toward. But it is possible. And it is allowed. You just have to be better at it to make it stick.