fan participation

[story645]

My lj time has gotten so low that lately I'm not sure if I'm checking my user info to see if I was friended or defriended, or which I would prefer. I don't defriend if someone doesn't drop me first, but I feel guilty when I can't check things. *shrugs* If you've been meaning to drop me, now would be a good time to do it.

It's funny, everyone was

Comments

[dome36]

Chana

After one year, some things start to fade.

Like the old and nice saying: "Time fades away"

I think we really need the last book. Then the final analysis, works, fics, studies can begin!

From your LJ Friend

Dome

[story645]

But I think that the last book will also bring this weird closure with it. Debates will rage, sure, but it's different if there isn't a next book to look for to answer questions. But yeah, it would be fun to study HP as a finished work.

[stmargarets]

I don't know if the actual numbers are down, but I do think that people have scattered from the older sites and are creating their own, smaller communities according to ship or interest. And it's true that life circumstances change - esp. in the number of years that the HP fandom has been going strong.

As soon as the OotP comes out in theaters, I'm sure there will be a resurgence of interest. The thing is, there isn't a lot left to talk about now that HBP has answered quite a few questions and has closed some doors.

Still, we're all still interested in each other and the friendships that have been forged in this fandom - and that keeps me coming back. :)

[story645]

I'm also sure OoTP will bring in some more fangirls and bad fic, but I wonder how long they'll stick around and in what context. I don't know, the roles people take on in fandom are interesting.

HBP is weird, cause it's such a transition book. It answered questions and sealed some things, but it totally blew away the setting of the last seven books, which fits perfectly with the books, but is in some ways very surprising. The problem is that a lot of the conversation now shifts to the what's she gonna do next? And that can get pretty old fast, depending on just how outlandish the theories get.

A lot of people seem to still be in fandom for the people, which makes me wonder if they're in fandom proper anymore, or just associated with fandomers. How much participation is needed to be considered part of fandom? Or is saying that you're in fandom enough?

[stmargarets]

I think the true definition of fandom is if you can still tell the difference between the books and the movies. ;) *kidding* (Although I wonder how many in the fandom have re-read the books recently *rolls eyes*)

Oh, it's hard to say - the bad behavior toward JKR after HBP came out and all of that msscribe stuff has kind of made 'being in the fandom' a dubious distinction. I started at the Quill for literary analysis and stayed for the fanfiction. I'd say it's writing that I'm hooked on now.

[story645]

*shrugs* I've never reread books 4-6. No time ever. I started on four, then gave up. But I've skimmed through 4-6 a bunch of times.

Those shifts are interesting too. I started in fandom for the fic and debates. I've sort of phased out of both of those. Did a stint writing essays, sort of phasing out of that. Now it's much more about the people, though I still read the occassional fic and plan on going to the Toronto conference. *shrugs*

[kerosinkanister]

I would think a large friends list could get overwhelming. I don't see myself ever having hundreds of friends or possibly being able to keep up with their posts if I did! I understand other interests will get in the way as well. But I won't defriend you unless you want me to; your posts are usually interesting and I hardly ever post so there's not much to respond to.

I've been in fandom a fairly short time but I imagine it's become increasingly fragmented over the years. Shipping is probably the largest issue as it's a so divisive and HBP seems to have left some people bitter now that ships are settled. I couldn't say whether actual numbers are down or not but the fragmentation is going to make them appear to be down.

In other news, explodingdog has lots of drawings to do: http://explodingdog.com/maildrawings/

[story645]

I don't want you to defriend me, you're great. You always have something to say, plus you found out where my icon is from. ;)
Rather disappoint that you only find my posts usually interesting, rather than always interesting. ;)
I'd love to actually figure out if fandom numbers were down, but it'd be impossible to get a real estimate.
Did you mail in a request?

[kerosinkanister]

All the posts of yours I've read have been interesting. I just didn't want to sound ingratiating.

My envelope is one of the large white ones in the pile. It looks like it may take a bit, given the number he recieved.

I would have responded earlier but I spent the evening installing linux on my laptop. It went smoothly and is 95% of the way there with just a few things I need to fix. Fonts look a bit odd on the LCD screen. It doesn't hibernate/suspend/go-to-sleep properly (it crashes on waking). And apparently I need to map the scroll wheel to page-up and page-down to be able to scroll a screen a time.

Reading some of the comments below, I don't see the next book ending wank and I bet OOTP brings a crop of Tonks/whoever fics. If book six left people disappointed because ships sank, book seven will leave them crushed when their favorite character dies. *cough*snape*cough* Though even death doesn't seem to be an obstacle for some authors.

[story645]

*laughs* Don't worry, I was kidding anyway. It's part of my sense of humor. You have to imagine the phrasing in really overdramatic tones.

Yay that you went for it! Hope it doesn't take too long.

Good luck with Linux. Last year, I tried to install Linux on my desktop, and it wouldn't support my motherboard. (I tried Red Hat, Gentoo, and Ubantu.)

Canon creating writing obstacles? Never! Seriously though, I'm with you that wank doesn't end just cause the canon is finished. There are still the movies to finish. ;)

[story645]

You can always skim the flist stuff. I do, cause so much of my flist is into things besides hp. And yeah, with you that tastes change a bit. I like fic, but at this point I just don't want to torture myself with the bad stuff when I need to relax, and I can't afford the time to get lost in good fic. (Or even trainwreck fic)
I'm definitely with you on having the same discussion 8 times. Same reason why I'm out of most of those at this point, though maybe book 7 will add some fire? Probably not though cause it's the wrap up. *shrugs*

[story645]

I just don't have time to read anything. Lately it's more of a "oh, wait, you're on my flist, I haven't commented in a while, damn, I should check your lj" type thing. When I've got more time then that, I also just skim through stuff I'm not into. I used to be real big on commenting, now it's just the time factor. I like to leave long comments, and if I can't get together a solid comment, I won't bother. Unless it's someone whose lj I haven't commented on in ages.

I kind of get what you mean about fandom just fading. No guilt if it's fading and all that jazz. Though really, I figure that fandom's gonna start looking more like LoTR and Star Wars fandom.

[texasmagic]

I am a subscriber to the idea that HBP narrowed canon to the extent that new interest isn't as feverish. Oldies are segregated off into their own areas of interest and emphasis. They're divided by ship, style, ways of creating, type of participation, and unless a debate is sparked, everyone is happy with their circle of friends and those who share their interests.

Hard data would be very cool to look at. I'd love to know the percentage of folks who just look, verses those who comment, those who produce and those who help run sites. Ships would be yet another. Of course you have so many multishippers it could be a statistical nightmare.

[story645]

Though multishippers would be a seperate catagory, and then broken down by ship. The data could either be integrated into larger shipping data, or kept aside. I've seen some polls on fandom, but all of them are so limited that you can't pull much out of them. Fandom is just too spread out, and cause its so segragated, you can't even do accurate sampling.