LTA: PIEGUYRULZ's Retirement

 Not too long ago PIEGUYRULZ formally announced his resignation from content creation. It seems he decided to wait to address this to avoid unjust speculation, and I give him credit on that, you always need to give things time when it comes to abandoning a platform so you can really think about whether or not you're making the right decision.

In his post, PIEGUY points out the exact reasons why he lost the desire to make content, with some key reasons being that the internet at large is unwelcome to particular opinions, how many degenerates the community holds (and not just Cosmodore, CC West may be even worse) and general stagnation. All justifiable reasons given the circumstances.

However, I do have one particular issue with one of his reasons. Yes, the internet is toxic when it comes to opinions, just go on Twitter, hiveminds and the like. My problem is that I feel like PIEGUY underestimates his own influence, and influence is a key factor to how toxicity begins, it's all about spreading the word and will of someone people deem to be the voice of a community.

And I'm saying this because whether PIEGUY intended this or not, he had a hand in fermenting toxicity. He played a big hand in the SpongeBob SquarePants fandom becoming toxic. Paul Tibbit was the one who made the tweet that started it all, and PIEGUY's discussion of it spread like wildfire, and now people become deeply obsessed with continuity, in a dumb cartoon. Boy, LambHoot and MoBros were ahead of the curve in the worst possible way.

I just find it kinda insulting he would claim toxicity as one of many reasons why he is quitting, when he contributed to destroying any good faith the SpongeBob fandom had by inspiring the Stephen's wishes bullshit. It's always important to have your nose to the grindstone when you have a community hinging on your every word, because while you don't know it, someone else might and hold it against you. People had gotten away with indirectly changing communities for the worst, and I feel like PIEGUY either didn't realize it or was in his right mind and assumed he did the right thing.

MoBros is the reason people made those spergy rants about new SpongeBob episodes, and PIEGUY is the reason people are so concerned with SpongeBob continuity, Paul Tibbit was the ball, PIEGUY was the shove that got it rolling, and I feel like that is something few people ever discussed.

I'm sorry for going off like this, but stuff like that reflects a lack of genuine connection to a community and ignorance over how much influence one has because the positives drown them out. The point is to reflect on one's experience and understand how big your supporters made you. PIEGUY's lack of evolution in creation reflect that he never did this for growth, which is a double edged sword. It can make you humble, but when you hit a certain size you need to understand the impact you hold.

PIEGUY left humbly, but I doubt he knows the true extent of his contributions to the community, particularly the bad. If he uses toxicity as a point, it seems like he held little self-awareness for how he could've contributed to it intentionally or not.