What is Critics United and Why Should We Make A Stand?

~"Critics United is a collaborative union of constructive critics whose purpose is to assist the administrators of fanfiction.net with enforcing the site rules and improving the quality of the work posted.

We offer honest, blunt criticism regarding stories and their adherence to the rules. We are not a flame group intent on starting flame wars or arguments with other ff.net members. We will defend the content of our reviews, but do not seek to start wars for the sake of arguing. We are not a bully or vigilante group. We do not target specific writers and will only focus on one of their stories even if they have more than one fic in violation. We are not in the business of hunting trolls. We will report on identified trollfics at our discretion, but nothing more. Trolls will merely open another account if one is removed. It is better to ignore them.

More than one member will leave additional reviews on a story if we feel the writer did not get the message with their first warning. We do not accept excuses such as "Everyone is doing it!" or "This site's motto is to inspire creativity!" or "Rules are made to be broken!" Every person who joins ff.net does so for the privilege of posting their work, it is not a right. Therefore, the established rules and T.O.S. we all agreed to should be respected or appealed through the proper channels.

Some of our members will gladly assist writers who would like help improving their writing. Our purpose is not to see fanfics deleted, but to see the quality improve, which in turn increases the enjoyment of all members of ff.net."~

I'd like to contridict this statement,  by putting this up.

~"As for my critiquing style I am brutal. When I say brutal what I mean to say is that I couldn't care less about your feelings. If there's something wrong with your writing I'll tell you and I won't be nice about it. Why? Because I've got better things to do then coddle you, so suck it up and fix the problem with your writing."~

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 I've received several...hurtful reviews (And trust me, it's not because of my writing. See, Read it! The Riddle from someone in Critics United who-(Thank You Fanfiction)-Has had their account terminated. 

In some ways, it's Cyber-bullying. 

They Report stories, and quite frankly, have started their own...purge of fanfiction. Fanfiction is a place for people to indulge in their creativity. 

I urge you to follow, and sign this petition, http://www.change.org/petitions/the-authors-of-fanfiction-net-stop-critics-united-from-cyber-bullying-our-fellow-authors-2

Yet, don't start bashing, or you'll have stooped to their level.

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 ~"Hello everyone. Well I just took a glance at CU forum page. Apparently the administration stood up to them and told them not to curse in reviews. A small victory. On a sadder note, one of the authors reported that his friend attempted suicide because of the treatment CU is dishing out at her. To my knowledge she is all right. This is exactly why we have to take a stand. And if CU is reading this: I won't curse, I won't swear eternal revenge, but I will stand up for the rights of my fellow authors. You may laugh, dismiss us as being beneath your notice, but in the end you have no power over us."~

 ~"Critics United needs to be put to a stop. They claim to be giving "constructive criticism" but it's nothing short of cyber-bullying. Hiding behind the First Amendment of Freedom of Speech doesn't give anyone the right to harass and verbally abuse other people."~

 ~"As a parent, I love to see my child express her creativity in a fun way online - we are signing this petition on behalf of all the Young Justice fans who have grown to love these kids and their blogs. After spendng months cultivating their projects, they were shut down because of Critics United. Is it fair?"~

~"  fanfiction.net should be fun, it's about expressing yourself. As long as the story isn't hurting anyone, or truly overstepping the rules it should be left alone. Authors work hard on their stories, and to have people criticize their work rudely and then take it down is just another form of bullying. Those authors who's stories are taken down may not have copies of their story saved, so now their hard work is simply gone! Critics United is not a good group of people, just a bunch of bullies targeting authors who do not deserve this kind of treatment. These 'Critics' are not doing the writing community any favors and need to be properly taken care of."~

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Please stand up for us, follow this, and sign the petition.

Thanks!