Fod posted this picture which you may've seen before (or may've even linked to?) Anyway, her point is that LJ is on the edges of the etherworld, and that fandom is a reason for that. (She goes on to say that this is attractive to some advertizers 'cause LJ accesses a niche that might not be accessed otherwise, but I disagree with what she says about hurting LJ. If LJ loses fandom and thus some of its uniqueness, 6A will be more than happy to march straight into the mess of a galaxy or whatever and make money there just like MySpace.)
I said to someone else below: fandom is by definition non-mainstream. It exists on the fringes. But the metaphorical internet universe (as pictured) is expanding. And the way I see it, any place that fandom chooses will swell on its own, and everything else will swell to meet it, and I think that's what's happening here with LJ. So fandom, by definition (if it is to survive) has to keep on picking up and moving to the outskirts. And...that sucks, but I'd rather do that than get swallowed by the mainstream, and thus not have the stuff that makes fandom unique, the place where you can explore the things you don't otherwise get to.
So even if fandom eventually does construct it's own place, it's probable that in time, that will be bigger, need money as you say, get swallowed by something like 6A, and then get swallowed by mainstream restrictions. But to me that just says--we have to keep moving, and keep trying, or that which is so precious to us won't exist any more. Ya know?
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I said to someone else below: fandom is by definition non-mainstream. It exists on the fringes. But the metaphorical internet universe (as pictured) is expanding. And the way I see it, any place that fandom chooses will swell on its own, and everything else will swell to meet it, and I think that's what's happening here with LJ. So fandom, by definition (if it is to survive) has to keep on picking up and moving to the outskirts. And...that sucks, but I'd rather do that than get swallowed by the mainstream, and thus not have the stuff that makes fandom unique, the place where you can explore the things you don't otherwise get to.
So even if fandom eventually does construct it's own place, it's probable that in time, that will be bigger, need money as you say, get swallowed by something like 6A, and then get swallowed by mainstream restrictions. But to me that just says--we have to keep moving, and keep trying, or that which is so precious to us won't exist any more. Ya know?
It's so inter