i'm a teenage girl who's quite active in the youtube community as a viewer and has been for years, so naturally i was a little on edge when ross started to talk about the stampedes. i thought that he'd be cutting toward the fangirls for their enthusiasm about youtubers in general, and that by extent he would lack respect for anybody who fits the same demographic. that sort of thing upsets me because i think it's fucked up that people are impudent to teenage girls for doing things that hurt no one. they're also quick to lose respect for teenage girls everywhere, even though the overzealous actions of these ones specifically don't even begin to reflect the nature of them all. sure it's not healthy to have a parasocial crush on some teen heartthrob guy on the internet, but who cares? it makes them happy and eventually they'll get over it. just let them do their thing, on the condition that no one is being seriously harmed. that being said, i totally agree that if you want to be treated with respect you should treat others with respect as well. some girls stampede, and i guess that's alright if all they want is to quickly get where someone is expectantly standing. but if somebody is just walking around, hanging out, or trying to get somewhere, treat them like a human being. that's what they are, not an idea or a character. they're not familiar with you like you're familiar with them, so it’s a totally different experience from the other side. barry and ross went on to say that they couldn't see female gamegrumps doing something like that. i can only speak for myself here, so i am. they're right. as it stands, vidcon is just not the environment for me. i attended the convention in 2013 and it was okay, but i haven't gone back and don't really want to. i saw plenty of stampedes and heard the type of screaming ross talked about. it made me feel like i was in the wrong place. freaking out that way is probably natural for some, but i think '''fangirl culture''' (or arguably: celebrity culture? idolatry?) encourages it. so stampeding just happens a lot there. personally it's something i would never, ever think to do. i don't blame the convention for the fact that it happens, because you can't just make people calm down for the sake of others who would prefer a more mellow and casual environment. vidcon is what it is. just not the best place for me to go. finally, and i promise i'm almost done: while personal respect is something earned, human respect is inherent. you shouldn't treat fangirls like they aren't human beings, either. or at least that's how i feel about this. rather than write them off and get upset, i think people who don't really identify with their characteristics should try to explain it in a way that makes sense to them. i genuinely don't think they mean harm by stampeding. most just don't understand what it can be like on the other end. the end goal of everyone's opinions seems of be for people to respect others, but if nobody reaches out to talk, it's just going to remain the way it is. cultivate conversations about how to treat each other well. that'll result in a more positive change. TL;DR- i think we need to be open, listen, and speak between demographics to develop a culture of mutual respect in environments like vidcon. but take this mini-essay with a grain of salt because i didn't spend much time polishing it for clarity. i hope you have a great day :)