Today I derped.

...and ranted.

Of course peace and togetherness would solve a lot of stuff, but it's not really that easy...xP I won't really elaborate, since I'm not very articulate, but...yeah...what you're saying is easier said than done, imo.

True. And there will never be a 'garden of Eden' kind of state, but we can all do something.

HIKA YOUR VOICE IS SO CUTE XDDDD EVEN IN JUST THE GRUNTING Oh my god you are so cute omg come live with me plz XDDD [/takes]

I feel bad for having ranted ... |D;;;;; I don't even know though, I think it's okay to get things off of our chest. XDDD

I agree, but we have to keep in mind that ... the overseas fandom is made up GENERALLY of young hormonal girls who's moods and opinions change at the drop of a pin, meanwhile the Japanese community appears to be made of ADULTS, men and women, in their late twenties or above.

Therefore, it makes SENSE that the Japanese community is a lot more peaceful than the overseas one, because they're all GROWN UP, while all of us still have our high school mindsets. XD

It's a popularity contest, just like it is in real life, and there's no denying that it is. That doesn't mean you have to LIKE that it is, nor does it mean that you have to PARTAKE in it -- but the UTAU FANDOM IS A POPULARITY CONTEST.

In some senses, it's sad that it is, but in some senses, I think that friendly edge of competition is what keeps us going, you know?

I digress -- it's the fact that the UTAU fandom relies so heavily on popularity that causes a lot of the drama. People who are popular get attacked if only because they are popular. People who are unpopular get ignored and disregarded because they are unpopular, even if they are AMAZING with UTAU. Those who cannot BECOME popular try and pass their pain of being unable to do so by saying "Oh, it doesn't matter!" and then proceed to flame people who work hard and have gained popularity by doing so. Jealousy, baseless spite, drama -- it's all caused by the popularity contest.

Now, for us to get along, I think what we need to realize is that there are over 1000 UTAU. Some are going to be more liked than others -- it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to spread out the same amount of popularity to all 1000 of those UTAU. Those who work hard and show original content, fabulous designs, great voices and songs -- they will be the ones recognized the most. Those who do nothing but plug their voices into UTAU and do the least amount of work will fade into obscurity.

And I feel like that's fair, you know? Doesn't it make sense that those who put more effort into their work should be rewarded more?

What I'm trying to say is that for us to be a peaceful community, we need to stop focusing on the popularity of OTHERS, and figure out ways for our OWN work to be recognized.

Instead of going, "I HATE THAT POPULAR UTAU BECAUSE THEY'RE POPULAR AND THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR POPULARITY" --

How about you use that energy to make something GREAT -- make an original song, or make an AMAZING ust, or go make your UTAU sing a song in an AMAZING way. Use all of that negative energy that you have to fuel your OWN work rather than using it to destroy the work of others, you know?

tl;dr - For the drama/abuse to stop, we need to stop focusing our energy on HATE, but rather focus our energy on how we OURSELVES can improve.

You're right sca-

WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK I SOUND CUTE? *flails*

Because you do! ACCEPT THE LOVE, WOMAN!

Another point to illustrate what Scarfu said: THERE ARE DOZENS OF UTAULOIDS WHO HATE MIKU. Both Japanese and overseas. Why? Jealousy, or perhaps they just can't understand how such a bland and generic moe voice became popular (it's called advertising, kids).

"Why aren't there more Teto haters, then? Isn't she moe as well?"

Well, people see Teto more like an underdog in comparison to Miku, despite the fact she's the most popular UTAUloid in existance, by a large margin (more than half of all UTAU songs on Nico have Teto in it, just imagine how much more YT-only songs with her are out there). Why? Because she's advertised like that.

My point is: advertising is the most important key to be loved. No matter how incredible your UTAUloid may be, if you don't spread the word, it'll be difficult for people to know about them. That's why you see so many incredible Japanese UTAUloids being almost unknown in the overseas community; their owners either didn't spread enough the news, or don't even have Youtube channels.

Now, say that UTAU is STRICTLY a popularity contest isn't right, either; or else, we wouldn't have collaborative efforts, ever. Not to mention that there would be way more people trampling others for fame... We're also doing it for fun, also doing it for our love for the nerdy stuff that comes with the program and the fandom. Of course, everyone wants to be loved, but sometimes, just a strict following is enough (I mean, being Teto levels of popular is just crazy); too much popularity can make people crazy and lose the notion of the fact that each of the views in their vids are people like them, with different feelings and views of the world. 1000 views mean that 1000 different people shared the same moment, shared their love (or curiosity, perhaps) for said work. And this, my friends, is a lot of (awesome) people.

1000 people... Who also went to see it for fun. You may not be aware, but if they're seeing your video, it's because it evokes a feeling on them. So, popularity is not only power, but love. You're giving people your love. If you don't make things out of love, you won't do it correctly, you'll mess up in basic stuff... Please, don't interpret "wanting popularity" as a bad thing 100% of the time. If people are putting their hearts in it and playing nice while doing what they must do, it just means they want to spread the love and be loved as well. After all, who doesn't want to be loved?

^THISTHISTHISTHIS!!^

This post made my day, Aline