(no subject)
The only site I could imagine being worse for fandom than Tumblr is Twitter. Like Tumblr, Twitter serves its purpose well and fills a niche in the web 2.0 landscape c. 2006. I'm not saying Tumblr is a bad site, or that Twitter is a bad site; they're both pretty good for what they're meant to do. Tumblr is a hyper-simplified blogging platform that's great for spreading memes and native advertising. Its straightforward layout is particularly suited to people who want a low-key site on which to create something like a scrapbook, an assemblage of other people's content that makes sense only to them. I also recommend it to older people who are just getting started with blogging because it doesn't rely on a knowledge of literally anything to run immediately. I'm telling you what I find compelling about Tumblr in order to point out that I really only think it's an awful locus for fandom, and that's always been my position. I hate it for fandom.
Twitter similarly does what it does just fine, though I never adopted it full-time. It's an extremely abbreviated communication tool. It lacks almost all of Tumblr's functionality by limiting posts to 140 characters in length. It quashes art and is useless for fic or any other kind of longform writing. It's best used for sharing links or brief, pithy observations. Snappy rejoinders. Like Tumblr it could play a useful and productive role as part of a fandom experience that took place on many sites. I'm discussing the main functionality of Twitter and not its behind-the-scenes workings or its bizarre, shifting approach to archiving and presenting content.
Basically, a fandom that moves onto Twitter is the most ephemeral possible version of the site. Tweets are so fragmentary and so fleeting that they effectively abbreviate human experience.
I'm posting this only so that when the apocalypse does arrive, and it will, I'll look prescient.
Twitter similarly does what it does just fine, though I never adopted it full-time. It's an extremely abbreviated communication tool. It lacks almost all of Tumblr's functionality by limiting posts to 140 characters in length. It quashes art and is useless for fic or any other kind of longform writing. It's best used for sharing links or brief, pithy observations. Snappy rejoinders. Like Tumblr it could play a useful and productive role as part of a fandom experience that took place on many sites. I'm discussing the main functionality of Twitter and not its behind-the-scenes workings or its bizarre, shifting approach to archiving and presenting content.
Basically, a fandom that moves onto Twitter is the most ephemeral possible version of the site. Tweets are so fragmentary and so fleeting that they effectively abbreviate human experience.
I'm posting this only so that when the apocalypse does arrive, and it will, I'll look prescient.