One characteristic about life in general that I think a lot of us tend to forget is how even though we may see the furry fandom as ideal with the leaders, representatives and members we have now supporting and nurturing our community We need to understand that the incoming youth, both children and teens in the furry fandom will eventually take our spots whether they're prepared for it, or not Or this entire fandom could just stop, which I don't think any of us would prefer I know I would not like that With that in mind, it's important for us to step up in "be mentors" for the incoming next generation of the furry fandom, so they feel welcomed into our culture, but also comfortable with standing out and pursuing their passions to change the fandom for the better Yeah, you know those intros that I do where no one has the slightest clue as to what I'm talking about? Yeah, I should stop those. Oh, no, what kind of voice that was, but we're going with it Hey, guys! My name is BetaEtaDelota and today we'll be talking about some furry things The series where I talk about anything fuzzy, cute and cuddly that has to do with the furry fandom Tall. Fuzz. Ball. For today's installment, I'll be talking about a subject you guys have wanted me to discuss for a while now Fair warning though, it's taken me a long time to script this video just because I want to get this right the first time also because if I get anything wrong, I know it'll bite me in the butt And no, that was not supposed to be a innuendo Today, I'll be explaining the concept behind young furs To give a general definition, young furs are considered the youth of the furry fandom, with their name quite literally meaning "young furries" There are individuals who partake in the furry fandom's traditions and interests at an age just below adulthood. The actual age of a considered young fur has been thrown around a lot in the fandom But if I were to give an estimate, a young fur would be anyone in the fandom under the age of 16 In the case of schooling years, I'd say around "sophomore year" Even though a majority of people see the stereotypical young fur to be 12 or younger, I think 16 is a fair age to consider When putting it into my perspective, a lot of things changed in my life just around the change to my junior year in high school So trust me, when you get to that point in life, you'll see why Or not. I mean, everyone changes at some point Well, that's nice and all, but how did young furs even get here in the first place? Most people, when they "found" the furry fandom, were just getting out of high school which explains why there are more adult furries now Why is there currently a sudden emergence in younger furries joining the fandom than there was before? Good question. The best and probably most obvious answer I have is "marketing" You see, when we were kids (and this is still the case now) Companies that had products that they wanted to sell to children made use of cartoony, colorful animals with catchy names to attract young viewers Now I'm not gonna go in-depth on how the furry fandom came to be but a good 15 or so years back, when people were first discovering the fandom they were finding it through products marketed towards children, from industries like Disney, and Disney, and the Lion King Oh, wait, that's Disney. With that in mind, a lot of these classic films, TV shows and animal-like characters act as "stepping stones" for most people who are in the fandom now I say most loosely, because this may or may not apply to you But let's take a look at kids joining the furry fandom now If you saw my Budsies video you know that since the furry fandom has gotten atraction with new representatives appearing every day and support growing for a hobby that is so unique Companies have looked to cater to furries now, with different products and features that are meant to target this new audience This in turn allows kids to have an easier time discovering the furry fandom and learning about it. Oh, and also Zootopia I don't think I can emphasize enough how much that made the furry fandom stand out, and also the internet Kids have way too much free time and no one supervises them But, point being, there are a lot of factors at play. So now that we've discussed a basic breakdown of young furs I would like to discuss why they're important or good to the overall well-being of the furry fandom I know some people see them as bad for multiple reasons but they truly don't have malicious intentions If you want more information on that portion, Ace of Hearts Fox's video on young furries does an excellent job explaining the subject and gives more of an empathetic feel towards these individuals The link to that video will be in the description below But the first and most important trait about young furs that I see is their ability to bring a new talent or metachanging passion to the fandom I can't believe I just use the word "metachanging" I need to get out more, which I will at Anthrocon, this year, 2018. Come and meet me But in all seriousness, I think the youth of the furry fandom is underestimated in their capabilities in what they will be able to achieve Bringing in younger minds, especially those who will have more experience in the furry fandom can potentially change it for the better This can lead to new and emerging artists, fursuit makers, con creators and owners, online personalities and representatives to the furry fandom Try to understand what I said in the beginning of this video that kids in general are the future of pretty much anything and everything I know it's sad to think about but these younger furries in the fandom will end up replacing us in our positions like me for example I already know I'm not going to be here forever and I won't be able to keep doing what I do now What I would like is to see more younger furry internet personalities popping up online to hopefully "fill the void" that will be evident when I'm gone I don't mean to make the video dark by any means but the children of the furry fandom will eventually be the future of the fandom regardless of whether or not they are "prepared" through knowledge or even leadership skills So with this fact in mind, what can we do? Well, right now I see two clear, yet simple solutions The first and probably most effective solution is for those who are knowledgeable in the fandom to become "mentors" for newcomers, or young furs This especially applies for those that already have somewhere they fit into the furry fandom Because 1: you can't know everyone And 2: starting out in the fandom, it's hard to get acquainted with a group of people Yes, I know the situation is nowhere close to ideal and there are many flaws The point though is that the more young furs we can get into the fandom especially through proper guidance from people who have experienced the good and bad, the better And now for the second option, for those that don't want to "babysit" (my job, in a nutshell) The second option, which I would recommend all of you to do is don't bring young furries down or degrade them if they do something wrong online or at a convention This was explicitly stated in Ace's video, but kids don't know better especially if it's their first time in anything So in situations like tracing, stealing art, pulling tails, randomly hugging they're entirely new to this So giving a soft reminder is better than scaring, saddening or even enraging them Angry kids are not to be messed with. My home address has been leaked four times now Along with that, the best thing you could do is encourage them if they're taking up a passion or hobby like fursuit making or drawing Okay, here's the thing I don't believe in "bad art" or "bad fursuits" unless it's tracing, but that's an entirely different scenario but when I receive fan art, no matter the quality or level of experience I am always thrilled to receive it and thank them for it And if a kid made it, hearing that can make their day which can encourage them to pursue their drawing further This can then lead to them creating new and innovative styles or ideas for the fandom that we've never seen before In the end, I see young furs for a potential to be something great I'd say it's our duty as members of the furry fandom to help it grow But, overall, the moral of the story is just to be nice and not be terrible to people But that's it for this video, guys Thank you all for watching! Apologies for the huge gap in between uploads recently Getting these videos done every single week or a week by week upload schedule is pretty time straining So I appreciate the patience you guys have had for me getting videos out when I'm able to But still thank you guys for all the support recently But besides that I've got nothing more to say Stay LifeJacket and I'll see you later, guys Take care You all told me you wanted me to say that from now on It still sounds so weird, oh my god. Stay LifeJacket. Bye
