If you've poked around Scratch before (which I'm sure you have), you've probably found projects that say something along the lines of "REMIX THIS TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE!!!1!1!!!!111!" or "ONLY 5% OF PEOPLE WILL REMIX, THE REST ARE HEARTLESS!!1!!!" Often these methods are used together to great effect. These projects usually are about either: A) Bullying B) Animal ab*se C) Global warming/pollution I agree that all of these issues need to be fixed, but these projects are not the way to do it. Often, the projects contain a message designed to guilt trip you into remixing or supporting the cause. For example... - "That girl you called fat? She's overdosing on drugs." - "Animals are being hurt because of US and we need to stop it!!" Yes, Remix culture is allowed on Scratch, and these projects don't break any rules. However, they can often have the opposite intended effect. On the topic of bullying, more often than not, bullies are coming from a tough situation and just need some help. They vent their pent-up anger and frustration by hurting others because they don't have someone safe to talk to. Yes, the things they're doing are wrong, but hurting them more by reminding them of things they might feel guilty about will only make it worse. The best way to help them is to let them talk through their problems. The first method ("REMIX THIS TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE!!!1!1!!!!111!") is more harmless but tends to be quite annoying. More often than not, people pass by the remix button because the request seems too needy and pushy. The second method ("ONLY 5% OF PEOPLE WILL REMIX, THE REST ARE HEARTLESS!!1!!!"), is much nastier. A lot of people who see the message might support the cause but don't want to remix the project for various reasons, i.e., keeping a clean aesthetic, only posting personal projects (no remixes), the projects simply having the opposite intended effect, etc. The message saying that "if you don't remix, you're a bad person!" often makes people feel guilty and bad about themselves, especially if they already have low self-esteem. Guilt tripping is a dangerous tool. It's going to hurt someone, no matter what. I'm not saying that people who remix or create these projects are bad people. Most of them don't realize what they're doing might be wrong. If you've remixed/created one of these projects, you're not a bad person. You're just trying your best to do what's right. I'm not expecting many people to see this, but if you do, I hope you remember this for the next time you see one of these projects and watch out for guilt-tripping methods. Please remember that this is just my opinion, you're allowed to have your own. Feel free to comment on your thoughts, but I don't want to argue. Thanks for reading <3
