The Fangirl

This is an update to my post about the recent revelation that two notable YouTube personalities (Tom Milsom and Alex Day), had been accused of and admitted to sexually abusing women (one of which was an underage fan).

Since my post went up Hank Green posted this video explaining the sizable steps the Nerdfighter community and Vlogbrother's channel will be making to help the community deal with the situation, and take steps to prevent abuse in the future.

Author Maureen Johnson wrote a post on her tumblr, in an attempt to lend a female voice to the discussion. She shared her personal experience with sexual abuse/assault.  

While the Nerdfighter, and Youtube community is still reeling more accusations keep coming in. Tumblr user mellowblueness has posted a round of up of information confirming that a total of NINE people with tangible connections "to nerdfighteria have been called out as sexual abusers."

See list below (Click the name to read the accusations against them):

• tom milsom
• alex day
• frezned / tom mclean
• dannyhooper
• alexcarpenter
• eddplant
• MikeLombardo
• JoshMacedo
• Kelly Montoya

The NerdfightersNotAlone Tumblr has been created to help survivors and/or a nerdfighters, by providing a support network and various resources.

The Daily Dot posted another article about the scandal, this time focusing on Alex Day and the "dangers of YouTube celebrity culture."

I would like to point out that this situations is not isolated to YouTube, or even Nerdfighteria communities. Sexual abuse and exploitation is very common in any community where certain individuals have more authority/power than others. I've witnessed similar situations through out my more than twenty years in various communities and fandoms. I've seen perpetrators and victim of every gender and sexual orientation.

People with popularity/authority in a any community also have a responsibility to not exploit that power. Part of that responsibility involves educating peers, and holding them accountable for their actions. It looks like the Nerdfighter community is working toward this goal. I hope it will prevent these situations from happening in the future.

Additional note [credit to Rose]: Tumblr user nephiesworld's account of her own disturbing encounter with Alex Day ends with an interesting bit of information.

"John Green’s been warning girls after they have been in videos with Alex about him for the past few years."

If Green had been aware that Alex's behavior was a problem why did he only bother to warn girls, rather than do something about the actual problem?