Why are some of Feliks Zemdegs' fans rude?

[potatoman]

Okay so fair warning: this is gonna be kind of a long rant, and it may include some "unpopular opinions". If you're offended by either of these things, stop reading now because you will not like this post. That being said, I'd like to see some discussion on this because it's something I've wondered about for awhile now.

Let's talk Feliks. He's a cuber; probably the most famous one in the world. He's also extremely fast, debatably the best in the world. He literally has a playlist on his channel named "World Records" because he's gotten so many that it was worth his time making an entire playlist of it, to help people navigate it easier. However, (here comes the unpopular opinion):

He's overrated.

Now don't get me the wrong way; I don't mean any hate at all. And Feliks, if you actually end up reading this, please don't be offended; I recognize how good you are at cubing, and your awesome personality and everything. I think you're a great guy, and would be a pretty awesome friend if I ever managed to meet you in real life. I don't have a negative impression of you, that's not the point. What I have a negative impression of, however, are your fans.

That being said, I'm obviously not targeting all of your fans, considering there's a lot of them and it would be pretty ignorant of me to make such a broad generalization. However, I will say there is a decent enough chunk of people that quite literally worship you, even to the point of putting others down for it, and I'm just not okay with that.

Looking up "Feliks Zemdegs" on YouTube will result in a bunch of results, and you can really see how popular Feliks is in the cubing community: people re-upload his videos, make comparisons, have interviews, etc. That's cool and fine, there's nothing wrong with supporting someone you consider a role model, and I think that Feliks is a good choice for that (of course excluding stuff like plagiarizing his videos; that's not cool). However, time and time again, I have seen comments and offhanded posts that mention Feliks as a way to put others down, and it seems like some of the fastest cubers get this "hate".

For example, look at Lucas Etter. He recently posted a 4 second solve, which is undoubtedly very impressive, even at a world class level. How did everyone react? Well there was the fair share of congratulations, jeaousy, and generic "HOW DO I GET FASTER" questions, but I also saw a worrying amount of comments...comparing him to Feliks.

"feliks beat him easily"
"Meh, not 3.85"
"feliks is still better"

This is just an example of the types of comments I see on all the videos. Is this type of comparison to put others down really necessary? Is the negativity necessary? We get it; you like Feliks, we all like Feliks, and he's super fast. However, I don't think that justifies going on someone else's video and commenting "You suck, Feliks is better than you." It's just not how it works; it's common social etiquette. If someone gets a 3x3 world record single, you should be congratulating them, not spamming "You got lucky. Feliks is still better than you. He'll take world record back." Even after that, there are comments like "This is only a single, and Feliks has the WR Average, so he's still better than you. You just got lucky once." It's honestly an overwhelming amount of these side comments on cubing videos once I started paying attention to this, and I've grown kind of sick of it. We all think Feliks is a good cuber, but straight up going on someone else's video and saying that they suck and Feliks is better is just straight up disrespect, and I think our community deserves better than that.

I think a lot of this negativity comes from change. Feliks appeared suddenly; he was literally at the world class level by the time he went to his first competition. He started getting world records really fast, and basically surpassed every other speedcuber at the time. As such, people grow attached to him, they grow accustomed to seeing him being "better than everyone else". And now, when a lot of other cubers are getting faster and catching up to Feliks's speed, people don't like that because they want Feliks to remain at the top, so they start emphasizing on how much better he is than everyone else. This is what creates this massive chunk of disrespect and comparisons to put other cubers down.

So with all that being said, I'd like to clarify: I don't think Feliks is a bad person. He has absolutely nothing to do with all of this, ironically. It's his overly attached fanbase that is the problem. Do I have a solution for this? Not really, since so many people know and love him and there's no way I can even come close to talking to all of these people. However for people who do have the patience to read this long rant, maybe it'll challenge you to think of a better way to resolve this onslaught of disrespect that I've been seeing.

Of course, you can all hate me after this for "hating on Feliks" because I mentioned something negative related to him (not that it even has to do with him, once again). But if that does happen, I guess it just proves my point even more.

anyway, that was a long post and I'm pretty much done now. It'd be cool to see some discussion in here, especially if you disagree or agree with me, I'd like to know. But yeah, think I'm done now so toodles~ (sorry cyoubx)

 

[Yetiowin]

I think most of those comments are sarcastic and not meant as insults to Lucas or other cubers.

 

[potatoman]

I think most of those comments are sarcastic and not meant as insults to Lucas or other cubers.

Sarcastic or not, it's still disrespectful and there's way too much of it. I can tolerate one or two of these, but seeing them on almost every single video of a cuber that's decently fast isn't cool.

Also some may be sarcastic, but I can tell when they're being absolutely serious; for example, the person repeatedly argues/states that Feliks is "better". I doubt that's sarcasm, they very well meant it.

 

[hamfaceman]

Give us one reason why this is his fault.
Basically, what you are saying is "I'm sick of this person being the best in the world at something! Why do people who want to one day be world champion look up to the world champion? They should be looking up to somebody else!"
Tell me how any of that is rational.

 

[4Chan]

Speedsolving's not your blog man, just imagine everyone writing a rant.

 

[potatoman]

Give us one reason why this is his fault.

That's not at all what I'm saying. Can you reread my post? I specifically state, multiple times, that this has nothing to do with Feliks himself.

Quote here: "So with all that being said, I'd like to clarify: I don't think Feliks is a bad person. He has absolutely nothing to do with all of this, ironically."

Basically, what you are saying is "I'm sick of this person being the best in the world at something! Why do people who want to one day be world champion look up to the world champion? They should be looking up to somebody else!"
Tell me how any of that is rational.

I think you misunderstand my point. When did I ever say "I'm sick of this person being the best"? When do I ever mention these people who look up to Feliks because he's fast should look up to someone else instead? Don't misquote my intentions. That's not what I mean. I thought I made it clear, but obviously you didn't understand it.

I'm completely okay with people looking up to Feliks.

"Looking up "Feliks Zemdegs" on YouTube will result in a bunch of results, and you can really see how popular Feliks is in the cubing community: people re-upload his videos, make comparisons, have interviews, etc. That's cool and fine, there's nothing wrong with supporting someone you consider a role model, and I think that Feliks is a good choice for that (of course excluding stuff like plagiarizing his videos; that's not cool)"

I'm completely okay with Feliks being the best in the world; in fact, I admitted it IN THE POST.

What I have a problem with is the way people use him in comments to put other cubers down. "You suck because Feliks is better." "Feliks has a better time than you." "You're not as fast as Feliks, you got lucky" etc etc

Do you see the point now? I don't hate Feliks. I don't think he did anything wrong. I think some of his fans however, have the wrong idea.

 

[potatoman]

Speedsolving's not your blog man, just imagine everyone writing a rant.

hah thanks buddy, that's nice to know you're helping contribute to this discussion.

But seriously though, I call it a rant but it's not even much of one; it's more of a serious problem that I've continuously seen in the community. I'm trying to help our community be better, what are you trying to contribute with that comment?

 

[GenTheSnail]

So, is this post an attempt to try to bring awareness to fazfans of their inappropriate behavior?
If it is, I think it should be mentioned in the original post.
If not, what was the point of this rant?

 

[Jaysammey777]

I like the fact that you base your opinion of Feliks Fans off of Youtube comments. As everyone knows Youtube comment section is the best and has amazingly no trolls that post random and unrelated topics, not at all, youtube comments are the best.

 

[potatoman]

So, is this post an attempt to try to bring awareness to fazfans of their inappropriate behavior?
If it is, I think it should be mentioned in the original post.
If not, what was the point of this rant?

Yeah it was meant to bring awareness. I wasn't feeling very creative with titles lol

I like the fact that you base your opinion of Feliks Fans off of Youtube comments. As everyone knows Youtube comment section is the best and has amazingly no trolls that post random and unrelated topics, not at all, youtube comments are the best.

To be fair, I did say that I wasn't including everyone, and only selective people that I've seen. However if you think YouTube comments don't suffice, where else would you want me to get more evidence? The forums are generally filled with older, more mature cubers so you wouldn't find too many here (in addition to regulations and stuff). A lot of the cubing community is filled with younger children, and the most optimal way to find everyone is literally go on YouTube.

YouTube is by far the best source to get comments because that's where the majority of Feliks's fans reside. There are trolls, but there are also those who are deadly serious. It's easy to tell the difference.

Anyway, point is that I understand that you can't control internet trolls from hating on others. However, does that mean we shouldn't do anything to stop them? I refuse to just sit here and see literally hundreds of people commenting hate on others' videos. This isn't an average "one hater" on the internet; it's literally hundreds, maybe even thousands.

 

[GenTheSnail]

Yeah it was meant to bring awareness. I wasn't feeling very creative with titles lol

Because, as my english teacher would say, you have content, but you're not telling me why you're telling me this.
Just preface the main part of the post explaining that you feel that fazfans are inappropriately putting down others and should be aware of their attitude. Then go on to give evidence: your main post.
Otherwise, this is just a rant and not really worth reading.
Gosh I dont even like english that much.

 

[Chicken Noodle]

but straight up going on someone else's video and saying that they suck and Feliks is better is just straight up disrespect

I've never seen that happen before.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of the cubing community is made up of kids. You can't expect them all to be mature on the internet ... in the Youtube comments section.

However, I think these comments are mostly harmless. I don't think that it's anything that top tier speedcubers haven't seen before. Honestly, if I were Lucas or Collin (or any other speedcuber with a decent chance of getting a 3x3 WR), these kinds of comparisons would probably motivate me more to prove them wrong.
Is it unnecessary? Yeah. Is it "hate" or blatant disrespect? Not really in my opinion, but I'm not Lucas Etter. It would be interesting to see what he thinks. I had a look at his 4.628 solve and his 5.844 ao5 and only 4 or 5 out of the 174 comments in total were what you described (I only skimmed through them, so there's some margin for error). That's hardly

literally hundreds, maybe even thousands.

or

everyone

.

 

[potatoman]

Also, keep in mind that a lot of the cubing community is made up of kids. You can't expect them all to be mature on the internet ... in the Youtube comments section.

Yes, I completely understand that part. There's unfortunately not much we can do about that. The point though, is to raise awareness to this type of stuff happening since I barely see anyone bring it up. I'm kind of surprised it doesn't annoy others honestly.

However, I think these comments are mostly harmless. I don't think that it's anything that top tier speedcubers haven't seen before. Honestly, if I were Lucas or Collin (or any other speedcuber with a decent chance of getting a 3x3 WR), these kinds of comparisons would probably motivate me more to prove them wrong.
Is it unnecessary? Yeah. Is it "hate" or blatant disrespect? Not really in my opinion, but I'm not Lucas Etter. It would be interesting to see what he thinks. I had a look at his 4.628 solve and his 5.844 ao5 and only 4 or 5 out of the 174 comments in total were what you described (I only skimmed through them, so there's some margin for error).

It's mostly harmless, but you never know that. I think the point is to minimize it. I mean, if you got a World Record and you were unbelievably proud of it, and the first thing someone says when you show it to them is "Feliks can do better than that,", that's not cool, and you won't be very content with that. Even small stuff like "_____ is probably crying right now because Feliks beat his record" is really disrespectful, even if it seems harmless.

But of course, it's not like we can do much about it. I was just hoping to challenge some of your thoughts and raise some awareness to people here, so we can at least have this idea of respect floating around arbitrarily.

btw, thanks for replying kindly and not starting a flame war; I do appreciate that.

(also yes, I did exaggerate on the amount of people "hating" but there's still a decent amount, especially if you look up some former/world record videos that aren't by Feliks i.e 3x3 single, 4x4, OH, etc.)

 

[grandmonkey]

hey dude you bring up some good points. Feliks is really awesome and all but some of his fans are pretty bad. I guess that's a thing that happens when you get really popular though; you get a huge fanbase, and it's pretty toxic most of the time. Look at people like PewDiePie; he's not too bad of a person himself, but his fanbase is absolutely toxic. Even with other stuff, like the Call of Duty community, the Minecraft community, etc.

It's just a thing that happens with popularity I guess.

Give us one reason why this is his fault.
Basically, what you are saying is "I'm sick of this person being the best in the world at something! Why do people who want to one day be world champion look up to the world champion? They should be looking up to somebody else!"
Tell me how any of that is rational.

Bruh. You basically more or less completely missed his point. Did you even read the post lmao

 

[Ordway Persyn]

When people become famous they will gain a large fanbase, and when that happens you get fanboys who get overly attached to that certain person. I personally think that in the case of Faz, it's not really that bad. There are a few people like what you described, but It's minor compared to something like Pewdiepie. This exists everywhere, not just for Feliks and usually the best thing is to ignore these people.

E: ninja'd (sorta)

 

[potatoman]

Oh yeah, and I feel like a lot of this is even more prominent since Feliks literally got a 6.45 world record average today (big congrats to him, that's an incredible average in a comp, even for him).

 

[PenguinsDontFly]

Curry fans hate everybody else. Habs fans cannot be convinced of anything. The difference there is that Feliks is the best while curry and montreal clearly arent. //lolziez

If you are world class at anything, you will have a fan base. It is guaranteed that some fans will be rude or disrespectful towards someone who doesnt share the same opinion as them or even towards other world class athletes/competitors. The best thing we can do is to not engage in this type of blind idolizing/fangirling/fanboying and make sure that we dont offend people who support different cometitors or the competitors themselves.

 

[JustinTimeCuber]

Curry fans hate everybody else. Habs fans cannot be convinced of anything. The difference there is that Feliks is the best while curry and montreal clearly arent. //lolziez

If you are world class at anything, you will have a fan base. It is guaranteed that some fans will be rude or disrespectful towards someone who doesnt share the same opinion as them or even towards other world class athletes/competitors. The best thing we can do is to not engage in this type of blind idolizing/fangirling/fanboying and make sure that we dont offend people who support different cometitors or the competitors themselves.

I totally agree with this. In addition, I think that if I were ever to become fast (xD) then I wouldn't particularly want to have a loyalistic group of fans. I wouldn't want to have people act rude to other people who get a good time and may be slightly slower than me. It's stupid, really. I don't really like the idea of being worshipped, and, in the unlikely event that I ever were to become fast, I wouldn't want people posting on someone's fast time on YouTube, "Justin can do better" or something. I think many cubers, including Feliks, share this mindset.

 

[SolveThatCube]

There's always gonna be haters or trolls or over-obsessed fans, whatever you wanna call them, that's just the way it is. It sucks and there's not much you can do about it.

 

[potatoman]

There's always gonna be haters or trolls or over-obsessed fans, whatever you wanna call them, that's just the way it is. It sucks and there's not much you can do about it.

Yeah, but it's rare to see this amount of people who are this obsessed over someone that they'll go out of their way to hate on everyone who is not Feliks. Even with super popular channels like Pewdiepie and stuff; you don't always see comments floating around like "wow you suck, Pewdiepie is better than you!"

For some reason, Feliks just seems to attract all the attention. Can't blame him though; he hasn't done anything wrong. Maybe this says something about the overall maturity of our community? I'm not too sure.