fanworks aren’t “content.” they’re pieces of joy and wonder.
content is a placeholder word used by social media sites to talk about the pieces of flotsam and jetsam that keep people using the site so they can be advertised to.
I want to get back to talking about stories and paintings and videos. talk about the art that people are creating, fueled by their passions and interests.
when I write a post, I’m not “creating content.” I’m not filling a box for other people to to “engage” with. I’m sharing a thought for other people to consider. they can agree or disagree with it. they can share it or ignore it as they see fit.
“content creator” is a generic term created by corporations to describe a vast and multi-faceted group of people by the thing they do to benefit the corporation.
“consumer” is a generic term created by corporations to describe a vast and multi-faceted group of people by the thing they do to benefit the corporation.
“engagement” is a metric that corporations use to determine whether a “content creator” is “consumed” enough to be worth running ads next to.
I want fandom to be full of writers and artists and fans, and I want the focus to be on joy and creation and celebrating each other. fandom isn’t a business. it’s a community.
