Hopefully it will encourage beginners to be responsible fans of a brand.

Reviews are for and by consumers, whether they're by a fan or not isn't really relevant to anyone reading the review. NO review has to be written with the intent of aiding a brand owner. That said, a useful review is informative by nature.

lol, I'll be honest, I'm sitting here trying to formulate a useful response to this that answers your concerns, but I really think there may have been a misunderstanding. There seems to be a whole other issue here that desperately needs addressing. You're drawing a VERY bold line between Owner and Consumer that seems to put the two in conflict. Maybe I'm reading this entirely wrong, but I want to address it anyways, because I don't think it has to be this way.

~~ This article was never about writing reviews for owners. ~~ Or saying Anyone has to do Anything for them. Certainly, there are some... unstable/unreasonably sensitive brand owners out there whose behavior irritates Us as much as it does You. Painting every brand owner with the same brush because of the bad eggs is unjustified and unfair.

"Does it mean that, despite enjoying a brand's products, you don't have to pile onto someone that its owner points out because something a stranger said made them cry?" ~~ This is a Thing?! Why the F is this a thing? None of us support this sort of grade school BS. I'll say it right here, if you're guilty of this, grow up. ~~

"Does it mean feeling brave enough to criticize an owner whose feelings are hurt by destashes?" ~~ This isn't related to being a brand supporter, but ABSOLUTELY. Again, there's oversensitive people out there, but not every tree is an oak. ~~

"That nobody is here to pet egos and hug an owner who used their professional space as a platform or therapist couch?" ~~ Again, not related to being a brand supporter and utterly unprofessional, unsupported behavior.

“Because sure, no one is saying that owners are responsible for the actions some people take upon themselves as Brand's Unofficial Champion” ~~ This IS us taking responsibility for the White Knights. It’s a call for them to stand down and an official stance against such behavior. ~~

“but let's be honest: sometimes it's owners riling them up, no matter if that wasn't their intent.” ~~ Riling up customers against each other should NEVER be an intent and it’s our hope that this article will keep it from continuing to be an unintentional event. ~~

In the end, I think your reply was a perfect example of an overarching issue. It seems past events and misunderstandings have formed this notion of Owner as Enemy, or at the very least, Other. That doesn’t reflect reality. This gap isn’t productive for consumers, owners, and most importantly, for the community. What can we do to help?