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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!
no subject
I used to write lists of questions, but that doesn't really get things going most of the time. People answer like it's a survey--which is great if you want answers, but not if you want to get people generally talking.
You know, now that you've made me sit down and think about this, I feel like there are three big things that REALLY get people going:
1) Wank. This is sort of non-viable, since I don't think you or I really want to be wanky ourselves (though I like to watch). One thing you could do though is post about an issue that is controversial in the fandom, or take a stance on it. If there aren't many wank issues in the fandom, you can almost always find one--even if you don't have a stance on it one way or another, you can state a case, then say, "I don't really believe this, but what do you think?"
2) The right question at the right time. It's usually not a general question, like, "hey, what's up with this theme?" It's more like, "Why *is* Spike a bitch? Discuss!" or something. The thing is, I've totally tried that and it just didn't manage to catch anyone's eye. You've got to have luck, or else some kind of charm in phrasing the question.
3) Meaty meta, and this is my default. I pick out something interesting, come up with several points about it, which leads to several conclusions. After my points and conclusions I try to have mini-lists of questions, like, "what do you think? do you agree? IS Spike a bitch? Am I crazy?" etc. Writing good meaty meta can take a lot of time, and there's always the risk people won't read it. But if you're thoughtful about it, usually you make other people thinky too, and they appreciate what you've said, and want to say something about it themselves.
That said--I've never mastered the art of making people talk to me. I'm pretty heavy-handed on lj, in that I ask lots and lots and lots of questions in order to try to get people to answer. It doesn't always provoke the most scintillating conversation--sometimes just lists of answers. But even those can turn into something interesting, if you comment back with thinky thoughts. It's what I'm doing on this post right here!