Maybe this is the old hag in me talking, but I really think some people in the bot community need to take a second and think about the relationships they’re forming online.

I’ve been on the internet long enough to watch communities form, get intensely personal, split into cliques, have massive falling-outs, and eventually implode over people who barely knew each other outside of a username and a profile picture.

And lately I see a lot of that same energy creeping into bot making.

At the end of the day, guys, we make AI bots.

Yet somehow we’ve ended up with huge Discord servers, creator cliques, Ko-fis, fan groups, hate groups, callout posts, Discord wars, people choosing sides, and people genuinely getting angry because someone doesn’t like the same creator they do.

It is way too serious for what we are doing.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making friends through a hobby. Some of my favorite parts of being online have come from meeting people through shared interests.

But there is a difference between friendship and a parasocial relationship.

A creator being nice to you does not automatically make them your friend.

A creator being popular does not make them trustworthy.

Being in someone’s Discord does not mean you know them.

And you do not need to go to war for someone because another person said they don’t like their bots.

The cliquey behavior worries me especially because I see people getting pulled into these little social ecosystems where suddenly there are approved people, bad people, rival servers, creators you’re apparently not supposed to talk to, and some new drama everyone is expected to have an opinion about.

You do not have to participate in that.

And as someone older, I really want younger people especially to be careful about how much of themselves they hand over to online communities.

Your real name. Your face. Your voice. Your location. Your personal problems. Your relationships. Your private accounts.

Once that information is out there, you don’t always get to take it back.

That matters even more when we’re talking about NSFW communities, Discord servers with thousands of members, creators taking money through donation sites or commissions, private supporter channels, and communities where nobody can really know with certainty who is on the other side of the screen.

I’m not saying every creator is secretly dangerous.

I’m not saying Discord is evil.

I’m not saying nobody should monetize their work.

I just think we should have healthier boundaries and a little more perspective.

You can enjoy someone’s bots without idolizing them.

You can dislike someone without turning them into your enemy.

You can leave a server without making it a divorce.

You can make friends without giving strangers your entire personal life.

And you can absolutely make bots without joining whatever fucking Discord war is happening this week.

Maybe I’m old.

But I genuinely think everyone would have a much better time if we stopped treating bot making like high school politics and remembered why most of us showed up in the first place.

Let’s just make some fucking bots. Stay safe out their kitties.