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[SoulHammer]

The Operator Symbol.

[Insulation]

The symbols don't really bother me, but the clichéd use of 'em in mad scribblings and not-so-subtle positioning in the background makes them loathed through association. If Tribe Twelve had used its eye symbol in much the same manner, it would be just as annoying, but instead it's used as a neat visual effect.

So if you can use the Operator sign in some original way, go for it. But it'll probably be easier to make your own symbol(also always you to create a backstory so it actually stands for something instead of being generally creepy) and use that.

[Noonem]

I don't know maan, but this shit was in my muffins.

[SoulHammer]

[GameGodOfAll]

I hate the Marble Hornets symbol appearing in other stuff.

[Chance]

I think a reference isn't as bad as full on taking the operator symbol and using it over and over again. I personally don't accept it as part of the mythos. I've always thought it was more a sign of someone's descent into madness rather than the theories of Slendy marking them for death or them using it as a way to watch them or using it for protection.

I think it should be a Marble Hornet's staple. I think it marked Alex's mark into madness, which leads me to think that TTA using it means Alex is TTA. However, it's not a complete killer when I'm reading a Slendy blog or watching videos. It's a starting point. It's a major indicator, it's an in your face shouting kind of way to say "Yes, this will be a Slender Man related project! Look at me!" But to use it over and over again is unoriginal and bland. I would rather that the character's descent into Slendy madness be original to them.

So when I see journals of Slendy drawings, "SEES ME", and operator symbols everywhere, I grow incredibly disinterested. It's the same scheme we've seen time and time again. I think the blogs that have been successful have been that way because they've made references to it, they've addressed it, and moved on. The Tutorial started off pretty well in regards to this but slowly devolved into asking people to draw the symbol if they felt scared. The one about doors unopened, can't remember the name, did it pretty well too. TT moved away from it very effectively. It shows whoever is doing the distortion is constantly watching, which I thought was a very effect use of symbolism for the descent to insanity.

TL:DR Symbols represent the rapid onset of insanity in characters, in my opinion. And I believe that this madness should not be uniform across the board. General references are okay, but it the character development should be unique and the symbol can take away from that.

[Noonem]

Honestly the symbol never made sense to me... Honestly it's about as lame as writing "Slender man was here"

[SoulHammer]

Thanks for the answers guys, I really wanted to get some community input before we started making this and not just do marble hornets v.2038374

Originally the symbol was to be an important plot point, not just an indication that slendy was out debt collecting. I'll talk to the group and see how they feel about it.

[DaLadybugMan]

It's not that I'm necessarily against it, it's more like I hate how it's being used. It's a MH thing, and they haven't revealed what it means yet. So why adopt the symbol when you have no idea what it does?

The thing that makes me angriest is that most people seem to use it as some sort of repellent. In MH, has it ever been shown to repel him? No. Never. So why turn it into his weakness or say it gives him protection.

If you're going to use it, do it sparingly, and keep the meaning vague. Don't make it gratuitous (like TribeTwelve did early one), and don't say "this means something." I personally liked it as a marker someone left to let other people know that the area was unsafe, but it has to have some meaning that's open to interpretation.

[SoulHammer]

In our vlog it was never going to be a repellent either. Obviously I can't reveal to much because if we ever get the vlog of the ground (our schedules are insane at the moment) I don't want to spoil anything.

I'll just say Slendy was going to be using it in a much more direct fashion..

[RatheadSyndicate]

Please come up with your own symbol, if you feel you need to use one at all. The Operator symbol automatically puts me in a less than charitable mindset toward whatever vlog uses it. I assume, "Ah, cool, here's a bunch of guys with no real ideas of their own. Neat."

[VoidCaste]

[Insulation]

Use an inverted cross, make it appear as if Slenderman is Satan. Alienate potenital viewers with Christian overtones, before slowly revealing that Slenderman is actually trying to accelerate human evolution(the special abilities he gives to the proxies, f. ex.).

[SoulHammer]

Rathead, it's not that we don't have our own ideas. Believe me we plan on twisting the mythos to breaking point (but hopefully never fully breaking it) but we were going to use the symbol due to the fact it's universally recognized by fans.

Void... spoilers and we haven't designed any symbols as of yet but we have quite a good artist on our team so hopefully she will be able to come up with something.

Insulation, I never thought of that idea but I don't think we'll using it. I know other vlogs are trying to advance slendy to be something more than just a creature that attacks people and give him a bigger raison d'etre but we're trying to stick to more to the original mythos and giving him a slightly more personal reason as to why he kills/takes these people.

[RatheadSyndicate]

Yeah, I wasn't suggesting that you actually don't have your own ideas. Just that I'm biased against blogs and vlogs that use the symbol because it SEEMS (at least at first) as though they don't have their own ideas.

I would also dispute the idea that the symbol is universally recognized. Really, the only decent story to have used the symbol with any regularity is its originator, Marble Hornets. I can't recall Everyman using it (did they?) and even TribeTwelve, with its initial dependence on Marble Hornets for almost every story and style element, has since moved in a different direction, perhaps realizing that in order to be appreciated as its own piece, it needed to distance itself from MH, and over the last several months in TT, lo and behold, nary an operator symbol to be found.

It's your blog, dude, but if you're asking for advice in regards to the symbol, I would urge you to reconsider your decision to use it. To answer your question, if I were to see the operator symbol in a series I was otherwise enjoying, I might not stop watching but I would certainly be disappointed with the creators for not standing on their own merit.