Sometimes I wish I could ask a question of the universe, and it would just tell me the answer. For instance, I'd be really interested in finding out how Welcome to Night Vale became so popular -- not the why's, but the logistics of which people stumbled across it and shared it across which platforms and how the popularity built to current levels. I'd also be really interested in finding out why some stuff gets really popular but doesn't develop as much of a "fannish" popularity, and others do; and, correspondingly, why I am more interested in reading Yuletide fic for certain small fandoms and not at all interested for other small fandoms when I've had roughly the same level of exposure to both.
Oh, man, I would loooove to hear the history of fandoms on that level. I feel like if we gathered enough info, we might be closer to figuring out why certain properties "click" with fandom, or "click" with certain people, and some don't. (Some stuff is obvious on a very general level -- books are harder for fandoms, TV shows are easier in some ways, movies tend toward the flash in the pan, etc.)
Night Vale would be a great one to do now. I had never heard of it, and then suddenly it was everywhere. And I scoped out the site and it doesn't look like they did anything different or particular. It just suddenly caught with fandom (from my perspective at least) and exploded.
If the universe every sends you answers, I would love to know!
Yeah, I only noticed Night Vale because fanfic authors I follow on livejournal and AO3 started posting Night Vale fic and I looked it up to see what it was. And then suddenly it was on tumblr, and then more people on livejournal & AO3 were discussing & writing fic, and then people on unrelated blogs were doing it. My friend pointed out out that part of the weird thing was that it had been around for a year before it suddenly got popular -- usually, really popular fandoms get popular at the outset.
If I had unlimited money and resources, I swear, I would run all sorts of Google analytics and trackers and stuff to figure it out.
Yeah, it is odd for something to get so big a year after it's been out. I mean, it sound like it was something destined to be a popular Yuletide choice, a little obscure but interesting. Instead, I keep finding new people who are fans or some other person writing fic for it!
I've seen some fandoms get bigger over time, but this one was nothing until it was something, and then it snowballed very quickly from there, it seems.
I wonder if it's even possible to do the Google analytics and stuff on this. Fandom is in such weird corners of the internet that some of our stuff seems to get overlooked a lot more often than more "mainstream" stuff...
I would be very very interested in a fandom meta panel. Or con. Or, you know, all the stuff you said. ;) And reading through the comments, I have to say, I also want to ask the same question to the universe about Night Vale! I heard about it through a friend around 2 weeks ago, and like you said, all the sudden, it's EVERYWHERE. I mean, at the con last weekend, it was everywhere, and that's an anime con! There was enough cosplay that it had it's own meet-up/photoshoot. My mind was a little blown
( ... )
I was actually floating the idea of just trying to gather some local fandom people together and getting a local space and just having an informal fandom MUSH. (Well, informal as in not-a-con. I would organize it to death.) Because these discussions! I want to have them!
I wonder if anyone is tracking the Welcome to the Night Vale stuff. Because I keep finding it in the most UNEXPECTED corners. Cosplay for a an audio show? AWESOME.
Walking around the artist alley at a con is always a great way to see what's popular, and sometimes the results really surprise me! OH MY GOSH, YES. It's one of the reasons I always try to check out the Artist Alley space even though I rarely want to buy anything -- it's such an interesting pulse on where a fandom is at the moment. (But at the same time, I weirdly limited view? Because it's only stuff that is financially viable in a certain way to a certain audience, you know
( ... )
Nope, that's officially EVERYWHERE. I wonder what it's going to be like at Dragon*con. (I wouldn't even recognize it unless it was pointed out to me. Maybe I should do some internet digging so I'm not going in blind...)
It's weird because the premise sounds kinda cool but it's specifically the things you mentioned the "gory/violent/creepy" stuff that have made me stick it on the "check it out later" pile instead of trying to juggle it into my media consumption habits now. But if it's this popular...does it have funny/lighthearted moments as well? Because that seems to be more common in popular stuff, even when the premise is more dark. But really? Who knows!
The fact that Hannibal has gone mainstream is MINDBOGGLING! Like, really? This many people are interested in this stuff? I mean, I was actually surprised when Game of Thrones made it so big, because I was talking to people who wouldn't touch a fantasy book if you PAID them, and yet there they were, every week. People! What!
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Night Vale would be a great one to do now. I had never heard of it, and then suddenly it was everywhere. And I scoped out the site and it doesn't look like they did anything different or particular. It just suddenly caught with fandom (from my perspective at least) and exploded.
If the universe every sends you answers, I would love to know!
Reply
If I had unlimited money and resources, I swear, I would run all sorts of Google analytics and trackers and stuff to figure it out.
Reply
I've seen some fandoms get bigger over time, but this one was nothing until it was something, and then it snowballed very quickly from there, it seems.
I wonder if it's even possible to do the Google analytics and stuff on this. Fandom is in such weird corners of the internet that some of our stuff seems to get overlooked a lot more often than more "mainstream" stuff...
Reply
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I wonder if anyone is tracking the Welcome to the Night Vale stuff. Because I keep finding it in the most UNEXPECTED corners. Cosplay for a an audio show? AWESOME.
Walking around the artist alley at a con is always a great way to see what's popular, and sometimes the results really surprise me! OH MY GOSH, YES. It's one of the reasons I always try to check out the Artist Alley space even though I rarely want to buy anything -- it's such an interesting pulse on where a fandom is at the moment. (But at the same time, I weirdly limited view? Because it's only stuff that is financially viable in a certain way to a certain audience, you know ( ... )
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It's weird because the premise sounds kinda cool but it's specifically the things you mentioned the "gory/violent/creepy" stuff that have made me stick it on the "check it out later" pile instead of trying to juggle it into my media consumption habits now. But if it's this popular...does it have funny/lighthearted moments as well? Because that seems to be more common in popular stuff, even when the premise is more dark. But really? Who knows!
The fact that Hannibal has gone mainstream is MINDBOGGLING! Like, really? This many people are interested in this stuff? I mean, I was actually surprised when Game of Thrones made it so big, because I was talking to people who wouldn't touch a fantasy book if you PAID them, and yet there they were, every week. People! What!
[rambling is totally awesome!]
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