okay re: this poll. I chose the option that's currently "winning," which is about capitalism turning fandom into a passive commodity. I think the answer is really a combination of factors (and my second choice would have been the option that's currently in second place, about people being siloed in discord servers) but I guess I just find the commodification of art the most appalling thing at play here. I think binge culture also plays a role, and I would file that under the same heading. I'm not the first person to point this out, but a weekly release schedule fosters community, discussion, theory and analysis, proliferation of fanworks. but many people are now so used to viewing shows in a single binge that they'll wait until the entire thing is released to watch it.
that attitude carries over to fanfiction. I get the fear of starting a WIP for fear that the author will abandon it, but people are making this claim in A Certain Fandom I Am In that's too new for any fics to be considered abandoned. (yeah there was the book fandom before that but y'all know what I mean.) putting that aside, there are readers who simply won't read a fic one chapter at a time, because they want to binge the whole thing at once. that's okay! I'm not saying you're wrong for doing that if that is your preference. but I think this preference is becoming more and more outsized to the point that it results in less overall engagement for authors. (and of course you have the vicious cycle of people not wanting to read WIPs because they might be abandoned -> authors abandon WIPs because no one is reading them)
there just is also this general trend of People Behaving Badly, but that is NOT new. the last time I was active in a big fandom was all the way back in 2012 and I left and didn't want to touch fandom at all with a ten foot pole for a long time after that. because people were just so fucking awful. there was in-fighting, there was out-fighting - people not even part of the fandom coming in to yell at those of us who were for being problematic. and again it was just so bad I didn't want to be anywhere near it anymore. is it worse now? hm, not in those specific ways. two things that are really bad, though:
(1) I am seeing more vile parasocial behavior than I've ever encountered in my life, but maybe I was just sheltered from it before?
(2) the affect of gen AI. this is bad no matter how you spin it. if you accept that there is a major problem of fanfic authors using AI and lying about it, then the tag is glutted with slop. if you don't accept that there is a major problem of authors using AI and lying about it, then innocent fanfic authors are being harassed. (if you are an author using AI and lying about it, fuck you.) it's brewing a culture of distrust and paranoia. nobody is winning.
so yes there is a factor of people behaving badly but I just don't think those people are naive newcomers, I think EVERYONE including fandom olds have been blindsided by the impacts of social media and LLMs and no one knows quite how to respond in a way that's constructive.
...that, too, I guess you can blame on capitalism.
see I knew this wouldn't fit in the tags lol 😭
jacobvanloon
origamiaround
tangentwithtanner
