Snowflake Challenge 2023: Challenge #15

[lebateleur]

Challenge #15

In your own space, opine on the future of fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

So if you think about it, fandom has exited online for about only two decades. That's not actually much time at all in the grand scheme of things. So I hope the future of fandom will involve participants figuring out how to combine the best elements of the various permutations of fandom in that time: the close knit community vibe of the early online years, the increasing variety of fandoms, platforms, and engagement styles of the early aughts; the ease of locating communities, participants, and content of the late aughts, and the consideration for others' experiences of recent years...while jettisoning the negative aspects of those periods (e.g. clannishness, trolling, conflating "not my thing" with actively harmful content, and so on).

これで以上です。

Comments

[muccamukk]

I would say three decades. I remember fandom in the 1990s, for sure. But it's still not a very long time on the whole. I guess that gives a feeling both that there's a lot of room, and that it's not a sure bet.

[lebateleur]

To be sure, although the 90s was the early adopter period: many people did not have access to home (or even work!) Internet, you had to pay by the minute, and you didn't really want to be online long anyway because no one could call you while you were and phones were the primary means of communication. Where you lived played a huge role too: I went from having the Internet in the US to living in a country where it's wasn't available at all during that period.

All that really changed, I think, over the last two decades, when dedicated connections became more available (and affordable) for people all over the world and then fandom as we think of it today really took off.

I definitely agree that there's a lot of room but that nothing is a safe bet, which is why I find it interesting and helpful to think through these sorts of questions.