What makes a fandom popular?

[feliciacraft]

(ETA: Anonymous replies screened but enabled.)

So I’ve been thinking about what attributes in canon material-be it a book, a movie, a TV show, an anime series or whatever-tend to create large, popular fandoms.

Comments

[shapinglight]

Other fandoms I've participated in apart from BtVS? In a word, none. It's the only show I've got involved with enough to produce content of my own.

I couldn't really say why. It may be because for most of its run it skated a fine line between fan baiting and fan servicing without coming down too heavily on either side, plus that its imaginary world wasn't so tightly realised that there wasn't room to fill in gaps and blanks. Also, ultimately, it left everyone wanting. No one got exactly what they wanted out of it, so many people had an incentive to write/draw what they did want for themselves.

I'm sure it's different for other people, but I think for me what draws me to a fandom is three parts love to one part sheer frustration.

Mind you, for some I suspect it's as simple as 'hot guys/girls', and there's nothing wrong with that.

[feliciacraft]

> I'm sure it's different for other people, but I think for me what draws me to a fandom is three parts love to one part sheer frustration.

Love this formula! And not coincidentally, that's exactly where Joss excels, striking that balance between fan-baiting and fan-servicing. I mean, all these years later, we're still debating Spuffy vs. Bangel, because, regardless of how much we hate the wishy-washiness, Joss was clever (and frustrating) enough to not have closed the door on either on the show. (I'm aware of what happens in Season 10 comics, but a lot of people ignore the comics.)

I will admit to having quit another show when TPTB dashed all hopes for my OTP and instead, paired the lead with someone I absolutely could not stand. The frustration overpowered the love and I stopped watching (and got my fill in fanfiction for a bit).

[torrilin]

In some ways, getting what you think you want can be worse. Having a pairing go from hinted at to canon (along with a literal trash can death for a female lead) made me basically quit Arrow. Plus they killed off my favorite villain... who was the hero's mom. Blargh.

[feliciacraft]

I think I know what you mean -- for example, the comic canon Spuffy is so...insecure and mild (for Buffy and Spike) that honestly I prefer fanfic imaginings. :) How awesome is this fandom that some fanfics are more in-character than the official comics?

[the_moonmoth]

In addition to what people have said above, all of which I agree with, I think fandom itself can play a part in fandom, which is just as moebius-like as it sounds :) In years gone by, esp when LJ was The Place for fandom, a BNF switching allegiance to a new show would usually be sufficient to bring their legions of fans with them. I remember clearly the big switch from Star Trek: Enterprise to Stargate: Atlantis, and later to BBC's Merlin *g* Each time it took pretty much the same fannish mega-structure with it, largely conducted by the BNFs.

[shapinglight]

I must admit, I'm glad we don't really have that BNF thing on LJ any more. It's not a structure I ever had any fondness for, and I don't miss it now it's moved elsewhere (if it has).

[the_moonmoth]

Yeah, same. I mean, I remember spending an inordinate amount of time trying to get noticed by the BNFs, and then feeling vaguely dirty afterwards :) It was almost like solar system formation, though. The show or source of the fandom at the centre, with the BNFs as planets orbiting it, and everyone else sort coalescing around the BNFs like moons or rings. Whereas now we're like... the clumps of material left over after the supernova *g* BtVS fandom might be much smaller now but I'm not sorry to have missed it during that period.

[shapinglight]

It wasn't much fun at times. There was a lot of bitching, and a lot of bitterness left over from it. There are certain names I still can't see without coming over all spiteful. ;)

[feliciacraft]

Yeah, I expect it's like falling in love -- exactly like falling in love, in fact, and you can't explain it. It's not (entirely) logical. It's not even a (conscious) choice sometimes. It just happens. :)

I love the BtVS fandom for its fanbase, too. So it's not just the canon material that's drawing me here, it's the fans and the fan-created content as well. I've tried other fandoms and the quality of fanfics for those, at least based on what I'd stumbled upon...left much to be desired. :P

[snogged]

I think the gaps in storytelling, being able to relate to characters, and the friends found in the fandom keep me coming back day after day. I've made multiple friends thru my activities in the BtVS, How I Met Your Mother (which is basically a dead fandom on LJ now), and Harry Potter and I think that triggers my desire to continue participating.

There are other shows I like with fandoms, like Doctor Who and Supernatural, but I don't get involved in those fandoms. Not really sure why.

[feliciacraft]

Yeah, personally I barely have time and energy enough for one fandom, so I had to choose carefully. I absolutely love the BtVS fandom, for the canon source material as much as the fan-created content. I've tried Harry Potter (I'd started reading the early books as a teen!), but at the time, the quality of the fanfics left me unimpressed (probably had something to do with the young age of the average fan), and I couldn't get into shipping the students (they forever feel like children to me...don't know why).

[snogged]

Harry Potter, for me, was more about participating in an inclusively awesome online-RPG site called Plano Hogwarts. I've written a few HP fics here and there, but mostly, I enjoyed the fact that I got to take and be tested in a Potions class.

[feliciacraft]

That does sound great! Somewhere in my basement is a collection of apothecary bottles that I'd amassed because I'd loved the look of the Potions class...

[slaymesoftly]

Can't help you much. It's just Buffy for me. I did enjoy Torchwood, and Jack, but aside from two related crossover fics with Spike (and then Buffy and Faith), never got much of an urge to write about those characters. Most of my favs are probably books, and I don't feel like I can improve on what's already been written.

ETA - This is one of those LJ discussions where I wish we had a "like" button. LOL So much on here that made me nod my head in agreement.

[feliciacraft]

Yeah, I think some of a fandom's attraction cannot be expressed precisely. I like the comparison to falling in love. :)