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Fandom far afield
When was the last time you participated in fandom on the internet not through a journaling site? I don't really mean posting fanfic to something like fanfiction.net, unless you also post and discuss in the forums there. I mean discussion, meta, the posting of fanfic, the making of graphics, etc, all being share through a medium other than LJ, DW, Insane Journal, JournalFen, etc. This would be a forum, website, mailing list . . . if you did something like a fanzine, not online, I'm interested in that too.
1) What fandom was it?
2) What was the medium? (e.g. was it a forum, a mailing list, etc)
3) When was this?
4) Are you still active in that fandom?
5) Why did you participate there, and not at a journaling site?
6) Are you more active in fandom on journaling sites or at other places?
7) How did the different mode of interaction affect your fandom participation?
8) Does there seem to you to be a difference in fen between the other medium and journaling sites? What are the differences? Why do you think those differences exist? Is it the nature of that fandom, or do you think it has anything to do with where that fandom is taking place?
9) What were the fen in the other medium's thoughts on yaoi? (No, seriously. What was the general sentiment towards slash?)
10) Was it easier or harder to get into a fandom through a medium other than a journaling site?
11) Which medium do you prefer?
If it sounds like I'm doing a study, I'm not. I'm just dabbling around in this other fandom, the fen of which seems mainly to congregate around a forum rather than playing on LJ/DW. I'm wondering how many people share my experiences there. Forums used to be my main method of fandom access. I was comfortable in them and found LJ inconvenient and not very suited to my style. I became used to it because I decided a lot of cool people were here...and now I'm beginning to think it's the only way!
1) What fandom was it?
2) What was the medium? (e.g. was it a forum, a mailing list, etc)
3) When was this?
4) Are you still active in that fandom?
5) Why did you participate there, and not at a journaling site?
6) Are you more active in fandom on journaling sites or at other places?
7) How did the different mode of interaction affect your fandom participation?
8) Does there seem to you to be a difference in fen between the other medium and journaling sites? What are the differences? Why do you think those differences exist? Is it the nature of that fandom, or do you think it has anything to do with where that fandom is taking place?
9) What were the fen in the other medium's thoughts on yaoi? (No, seriously. What was the general sentiment towards slash?)
10) Was it easier or harder to get into a fandom through a medium other than a journaling site?
11) Which medium do you prefer?
If it sounds like I'm doing a study, I'm not. I'm just dabbling around in this other fandom, the fen of which seems mainly to congregate around a forum rather than playing on LJ/DW. I'm wondering how many people share my experiences there. Forums used to be my main method of fandom access. I was comfortable in them and found LJ inconvenient and not very suited to my style. I became used to it because I decided a lot of cool people were here...and now I'm beginning to think it's the only way!
Here from metafandom
Superman/superheroes in general
2) What was the medium? (e.g. was it a forum, a mailing list, etc)
A new forum
3) When was this?
Today
4) Are you still active in that fandom?
Yes, very - I make icons and manips.
5) Why did you participate there, and not at a journaling site?
My friend started this new forum to replace an old one that closed, and I went to check it out. I didn't participate in the old one.
6) Are you more active in fandom on journaling sites or at other places?
About 99% active on LJ.
7) How did the different mode of interaction affect your fandom participation?
It was weird - I'm not used to forums, and in this one the posting went so quickly I couldn't keep up and felt kind of lost. I probably will hardly be participating there at all.
8) Does there seem to you to be a difference in fen between the other medium and journaling sites? What are the differences? Why do you think those differences exist? Is it the nature of that fandom, or do you think it has anything to do with where that fandom is taking place?
Definitely there are differences. On journaling sites it's only as busy as you make it by adding to your friendslist, but on forums you have no choice about being able to keep up. Forums also seem to be less flexible in terms of what you can do - I mean, I guess they have a lot of similar features to LJ but for example you don't need icon makers with huge posts of icons, and everybody is there for the same reason, whereas on LJ you have access to lots of different "forums" in the way of communities and who you friend.
9) What were the fen in the other medium's thoughts on yaoi? (No, seriously. What was the general sentiment towards slash?)
No idea, but there seemed to be more men, whereas most people on my flist are women. And in the forum they seemed more interested in just general snark and hanging around rather than thoughtful meta and graphics.
10) Was it easier or harder to get into a fandom through a medium other than a journaling site?
Definitely harder. If a new fandom was only on a forum, not on LJ, I wouldn't be able to get into it. My whole fandom life is on LJ.
11) Which medium do you prefer?
LJ - see above.
Re: Here from metafandom
I wonder why this is. Part of the reason I did this post is I wish I knew why people gravitate towards the fannish medium they do, and it's still no clearer . . .
And in the forum they seemed more interested in just general snark and hanging around rather than thoughtful meta and graphics.
I've noticed that in forums, too. It could be the forum or the fandom, I guess. Or it could be the lack of women. While some men do it, it's almost exclusively women who write fanfic, or create other works like graphics and vids.
Thanks for your answers--this is fascinating stuff!