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
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Other people have had the same impression. I wonder why this is. Someone also mentioned they found the "cult of nice" oppressive on journaling sites. LJ certainly has it's share of wank, but I find it . . . more avoidable, if I want. Maybe it's just because LJ is more splintered--I can hide in my corner, if I like.
There is more controversy on the boards but they rarely change my mind,
Why, though? Do you think it's a different kind of fen? Or is the nature of the medium less conducive to reasonable discussion?
That might be just me.
Oh, but I don't think it's just you. I definitely came to LJ in a large part for the fanfic--i.e., this was where the fanfic (that I liked) was happening. But it made NO sense to me that this was where the fanfic was, because it's such a bad medium for archiving.
There are usually a lot more men on the boards than on LJ
Other people have said this too. I wonder why men are less likely to use journaling sites?
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It is a factor, if someone bugs me on LJ I'm a lot more likely to simply not look their way than I would be on a board and I mostly only comment when I have something positive to say.
LJ certainly has it's share of wank, but I find it . . . more avoidable, if I want. Maybe it's just because LJ is more splintered--I can hide in my corner, if I like.
Exactly, it took a while before I ever got into actual wank on LJ, but it is of course there. Have to say here it always takes me by surprise a bit.
Lately there has been a lot of controversy about the comic books and there has been some extra unpleasant stuff been stirred.
Why, though? Do you think it's a different kind of fen? Or is the nature of the medium less conducive to reasonable discussion?
I'm not sure, I think it might have to do with the boards always attracting some people for whom the fighting is the whole fun and pushes everyone else into some camp that leaves little room for real on topic discussions.
The pattern seems to be:
superfen12: I love character A, because of a gazillion maybe sophisticated reasons.
Asterix&Obelix4evah: You liking character A makes you an idiot/antifeminist/nazi. Good upstanding citizens can only love character B.
superfen12: Hey, no character B fans are all idiots/antifeminists/nazis!
And the conversation derails from there. On a journal such a comment would probably be just deleted and the people who enjoy riling others up wouldn't get anywhere.
But it made NO sense to me that this was where the fanfic was, because it's such a bad medium for archiving.
Hm, I think it's neat for interacting with the readers though. It seems to me (though that might be misleading, because LJ is my primary space for fic) that it's the place where people are most likely to leave feedback and discuss your work with you. The archiving sites offer the option to comment too, but it seems a bit less interactive to me. I'm glad if I get a review, but comments I'll answer and probably look at the commentors site.
Other people have said this too. I wonder why men are less likely to use journaling sites?
They are probably drawn more to visual porn than to the written kind?
I think it might be because there are fewer men in creative fandom and on LJ, if your Lj has no interesting content, most people will ignore you, it's not exactly the habitat for the typical forum stag.
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