Fandom Snowflake - Day 14

[lebateleur]

Day 14

In your own space, talk about what you think the future holds for fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.



Like many, I hope 2019 heralds a renaissance in DW (or LJ-style) fandom interaction. I admit that I have skin in this game, since I never really cottoned on to Tumblr-driven fandom and I prefer long meta posts/threads to reblogs.

AO3 is a pretty stable and excellent place for hosting fics, but less so for group squee about how good they are. And I've personally found that group squeeing is what really increases my engagement with fandom (as opposed to just being a passive, invisible reader). As a bonus feature, I've found that group squeeing has also been an excellent way to learn about new canons and fandom authors that I probably wouldn't have discovered on my own. DW communities could provide a good, centralized fora for this kind of stuff, with links to AO3 or individual users' pages.

If it happens, I think an increase in traditionally DW-type interactions might even decrease some fandom drama. It's a lot easier to convey nuance and complexity in longer posts and comment reply threads than in reblog tags and one liners, which may decrease the likelihood that something not intended to be ill-informed or problematic appears so.


これで以上です。

Comments

[wendelah1]

I love your optimistic spirit.

[meridian_rose]

Co-signed!

[spikedluv]

Fandom = community for me, too!

I like the notion that journal-type blogging might decrease the drama.

[silveradept]

I agree with your thought that having lots of space and reply threads makes it easier for things not to erupt into drama.

I also share your hope for increased community and community interactions.

[eroprincess]

"Group squee/ing" I'm going to have to steal that! 😂

I also enjoy interacting with people in the fandom that I'm a part of. Although I'm introverted, nothing gets me going than to enthusiastically talk (or 'group squeeing) with someone who shares my similar interests when it comes to fandom stuff. Although I'll admit I never make the first move because I'm introverted.

I would definitely like to see more people interaction within fandoms again. DW is the perfect build-up for it. I would also like to see fewer politics. I'm from the old school and while fandom politics always existed, it was never to the degree that it is today. I join fandoms to escape the political madness, be creatively free, and engage with people. The last time I'm looking for is for someone to "police" what I'm doing.

[lebateleur]

By all means! Steal away. :-)

For me group interaction is a huge part of what I love about fandom. And I agree about the politics. One of the great things about the Internet is that it lets so many people link up to create and geek out over the stuff they like, no matter how obscure whatever that is may be. It's so different from the pre-Internet era when people were either stuck with what publishers or movie and TV studies decided was acceptable for audiences to see, or had to really luck out to stumble on a subculture that fit their kinks.

And because the Internet is essentially limitless in the amount of content it can host and support, I don't see the point in policing. For sure, it's disappointing when people are really into something you are, just in the "wrong" way. But chances are there's also a sandbox were folks are into exactly the same stuff as you, so just go play there.