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month_of_meta:
Ten things that I've observed while being a member of small fandom and watching members of larger fandoms at work and play.
Disclaimer: This is not a guide for making your small fandom live, and it's definitely not a universal experience. All attempts to generalize have been made by a desk-chair anthropologist, and while it's true to my perspective, I certainly don't mean to imply that anyone else's view is invalid.
1. Yuletide is not "small-fandom"
On one hand, I feel this is obvious and should go without saying. On the other hand, saying it feels vitally important. And I think I just figured out why. Ultimately the difference between a small-fandom space and a large-fandom space doesn't come from the canons but from the fans, and Yuletide is sort of proof of that, that the social connections of big fandoms and the cultural norms are things that can survive—for a short time, at least—away from the canons themselves.
And perhaps more personally observed, that even in such a space, there will be canons that are more or less popular. But it's not because of the canons, so much as it's for the social structures of fandom that Yuletide builds itself on.
2. Small fandoms will never be large fandoms.
Don't get me wrong, a small group of dedicated fans can carve out a living fandom for an unlikely canon, but large fandoms definitely require a different structure that most small fandoms don't have—namely wide, easy availability, generous hype, and enough similarities to other well-known fandoms that people can easily transition between one and another.
3. Fandom spaces are redefined.
A large fandom will almost splinter itself naturally into smaller parts, just to make interacting with people about that fandom plausible. So just because someone's experience with their canon's fandom is "primarily older female fans of m/m who are mainly active on lj or dw" doesn't mean that there isn't a group of teenage female fans for their canons who prefer m/f and who are most active of fanfiction.net or even primarily male fans of debating who could beat up who on message boards who are also in fandom. Just…those fandoms aren't as likely to overlap. Whereas, all those groups will tend to either come together in small fandoms or the fandom itself dissolves into non-existence.
(…really it was weird going on a discussion board for Liar Game and having people puzzled that anyone would write fanfic because coming up with something like canon would be difficult to do. Cool story sis.)
4. Fandom activity is more sporadic.
All fandoms tend to take a downswing during periods of canon inactivity. The thing that's new and active commands attention, and things on hiatus get put on the back burner. The difference between large and small fandoms is that there's enough momentum in large fandoms that even when there's no new canon in sight, it will still take a while for a large fandom to grind to a halt, while small fandoms tend to be forgotten.
5. There is no such thing as fannish osmosis.
If you listen enough to the talk in large fandoms, it is very possible to pick up on a lot of canon, even if you've never seen a single episode or read a single book. Accuracy will vary, but most people who hang around large fandoms expect that you'll know something about it (not even just that it exists), based only on the fact that you're talking about journal-based/fanwork-making fandom. The reverse is definitely not true. And, in my experience, usually there's no expectation that anything you extrapolate in your own fandoms is going to be considered relevant to their experiences, even if you're talking about the same topic. If they read your journal they might know, but that's a very vague might there. Mostly if you want people to know your fandom, you have to sell your fandom.
6. Fandom friends usually aren't fandom-specific friends.
There are some people I talk to about my fandoms, but most of the people I interact with are people who are into meta, or people who are into anime, or who shared a fandom with me at one point and still stayed on my radar even after we've moved on to new and shinier main fandoms.
7. There is no collective fanon.
People don't talk to each other a lot over fandom, and there's no single BNF or major defining fanfic that creates a collective fanon. So there's a lot more freedom over all to explore possibilities from your own head without worrying that it will throw people too far out of the stories. There's no pressure to conform to headcanons that are not your own.
8. There is lots of stagnation.
I think this is the other side of the coin from the last point. There's not a lot of discussion, so there's not a lot of collective fanon. But there's also not a lot of new ideas being created. And there's not enough quantity of fic out there , that people need to branch off and explore new characters, new ships and new ideas to stand out. Standing out is just a matter of writing. And, from the perspective of getting the most readers, it makes the most sense to stick to the OTPs and canon-universe fic.
9. "Prolific" gets redefined.
There are two bits to this, first even a relatively prolific author in a large fandom will still only be contributing a small proportion of fic to the overall whole. The same amount of fic in a small fandom could easily be the majority of works in the fandom. Second, your fanfic never really fades away. It turns up on google searches for "[canon name] fanfiction", doesn't get buried on ff.net or Ao3. The bad thing is that everything you write seems more conspicuous. The good thing is that…
10. Reviews mean more.
Probably one of the best things. Even if you only get one or two or three comments on a fic, the people who have found the stories and commented on it have probably searched out your fic. There's definitely a much greater sense that because your fic exists, it has made someone else's day better simply by existing.
month_of_meta: Ten things that I've observed while being a member of small fandom and watching members of larger fandoms at work and play.
Disclaimer: This is not a guide for making your small fandom live, and it's definitely not a universal experience. All attempts to generalize have been made by a desk-chair anthropologist, and while it's true to my perspective, I certainly don't mean to imply that anyone else's view is invalid.
1. Yuletide is not "small-fandom"
On one hand, I feel this is obvious and should go without saying. On the other hand, saying it feels vitally important. And I think I just figured out why. Ultimately the difference between a small-fandom space and a large-fandom space doesn't come from the canons but from the fans, and Yuletide is sort of proof of that, that the social connections of big fandoms and the cultural norms are things that can survive—for a short time, at least—away from the canons themselves.
And perhaps more personally observed, that even in such a space, there will be canons that are more or less popular. But it's not because of the canons, so much as it's for the social structures of fandom that Yuletide builds itself on.
2. Small fandoms will never be large fandoms.
Don't get me wrong, a small group of dedicated fans can carve out a living fandom for an unlikely canon, but large fandoms definitely require a different structure that most small fandoms don't have—namely wide, easy availability, generous hype, and enough similarities to other well-known fandoms that people can easily transition between one and another.
3. Fandom spaces are redefined.
A large fandom will almost splinter itself naturally into smaller parts, just to make interacting with people about that fandom plausible. So just because someone's experience with their canon's fandom is "primarily older female fans of m/m who are mainly active on lj or dw" doesn't mean that there isn't a group of teenage female fans for their canons who prefer m/f and who are most active of fanfiction.net or even primarily male fans of debating who could beat up who on message boards who are also in fandom. Just…those fandoms aren't as likely to overlap. Whereas, all those groups will tend to either come together in small fandoms or the fandom itself dissolves into non-existence.
(…really it was weird going on a discussion board for Liar Game and having people puzzled that anyone would write fanfic because coming up with something like canon would be difficult to do. Cool story sis.)
4. Fandom activity is more sporadic.
All fandoms tend to take a downswing during periods of canon inactivity. The thing that's new and active commands attention, and things on hiatus get put on the back burner. The difference between large and small fandoms is that there's enough momentum in large fandoms that even when there's no new canon in sight, it will still take a while for a large fandom to grind to a halt, while small fandoms tend to be forgotten.
5. There is no such thing as fannish osmosis.
If you listen enough to the talk in large fandoms, it is very possible to pick up on a lot of canon, even if you've never seen a single episode or read a single book. Accuracy will vary, but most people who hang around large fandoms expect that you'll know something about it (not even just that it exists), based only on the fact that you're talking about journal-based/fanwork-making fandom. The reverse is definitely not true. And, in my experience, usually there's no expectation that anything you extrapolate in your own fandoms is going to be considered relevant to their experiences, even if you're talking about the same topic. If they read your journal they might know, but that's a very vague might there. Mostly if you want people to know your fandom, you have to sell your fandom.
6. Fandom friends usually aren't fandom-specific friends.
There are some people I talk to about my fandoms, but most of the people I interact with are people who are into meta, or people who are into anime, or who shared a fandom with me at one point and still stayed on my radar even after we've moved on to new and shinier main fandoms.
7. There is no collective fanon.
People don't talk to each other a lot over fandom, and there's no single BNF or major defining fanfic that creates a collective fanon. So there's a lot more freedom over all to explore possibilities from your own head without worrying that it will throw people too far out of the stories. There's no pressure to conform to headcanons that are not your own.
8. There is lots of stagnation.
I think this is the other side of the coin from the last point. There's not a lot of discussion, so there's not a lot of collective fanon. But there's also not a lot of new ideas being created. And there's not enough quantity of fic out there , that people need to branch off and explore new characters, new ships and new ideas to stand out. Standing out is just a matter of writing. And, from the perspective of getting the most readers, it makes the most sense to stick to the OTPs and canon-universe fic.
9. "Prolific" gets redefined.
There are two bits to this, first even a relatively prolific author in a large fandom will still only be contributing a small proportion of fic to the overall whole. The same amount of fic in a small fandom could easily be the majority of works in the fandom. Second, your fanfic never really fades away. It turns up on google searches for "[canon name] fanfiction", doesn't get buried on ff.net or Ao3. The bad thing is that everything you write seems more conspicuous. The good thing is that…
10. Reviews mean more.
Probably one of the best things. Even if you only get one or two or three comments on a fic, the people who have found the stories and commented on it have probably searched out your fic. There's definitely a much greater sense that because your fic exists, it has made someone else's day better simply by existing.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 01:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 02:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 01:19 am (UTC)I would add that, along with #9 and #4, I find it a lot harder to get idea-sparks in a small fandom; my most usual idea-machines are people who may not have played my tiny canons (or play them faaaaar out of sync with me) and that makes it a lot harder for the brainstorming to happen.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 01:49 am (UTC)This is a fascinating point you make because it suggests that large fandoms are largely made up of pan-fandom fans who move from fandom to fandom throughout out their fan lives.
It's been my experience that if you wait long enough you'll always meet up in new fandoms with people you knew in old fandoms, if you stick to the same kind of fandoms. In my case it used to be OTP m/m fandoms. But I put this down to my own pan-fannishness and didn't think it was more widely experienced.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 03:30 am (UTC)I have run into the same people over and over again in the big monolithic fandoms I've been in.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 03:31 am (UTC)Not everyone moves, and there's definitely fans who stick around long after a series stops, but I do think that the social element of a large fandom is self-perpetuating across multiple canons.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 03:42 am (UTC)I think the idea of small fandoms not having BNFs adds to the "having to sell my fandom" idea, since I think those comparatively prolific and active people in bigger fandoms can have an effect on fandom migration, at least to a certain extent.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 04:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 02:37 am (UTC)1. I tend to think of Yuletide as a rule of thumb measure of size rather than an example of small fandom culture. It's not 100% but it's a good way of saying whether or not a fandom can be considered small. Yuletide culture is very much that of a large fandom in it's own way. Lots of people, being really active, and half your flist/circle talking about it.
6. I don't think I share an active fandom with any of my friends right now. That'll change as per #4, but currently all shared fandoms are pretty inactive. I didn't realize that until just now and it amuses me.
10. So, so true.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 01:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 03:31 am (UTC)I think a lot of what you say here also applies to fandoms that used to be large (ish; MMV) and are now not so much (I'm thinking Star Trek: Voyager, frex).
no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 09:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 12:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 12:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 12:32 am (UTC)(And I'm sure it does count)
no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 03:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 12:41 am (UTC)I've developed a love for obscure, nostalgic shows, things that either never had a fandom, or have a relatively dead one. Still, I find it very rewarding to find other fans, and its sort of solidified my notion that the only people left after a canon ends are the hardcore fans, the sort who don't mind squeeing like an idiot, LOL =)
Here from month_of_meta
Date: 2012-03-13 10:31 pm (UTC)Snupin (Snape/Lupin) has a significant and active following, but is still a much smaller subset of the Harry Potter fandom. Haru has a large number of fans who enjoy reading the manga, but a much smaller subset who read fanfic and an even smaller subset who write it. In a way, it's nice to be part of a smaller fandom because it's easier to get to know people and the members tend to be more close-knit, but of course the downside is that there isn't as much fanfic and/or meta being written. I try to do my part and write the kinds of stories I want to see, but sometimes I just want to read some new fic rather than write. Or I'd like to get into a deep meta discussion, but all my fandom friends are busy with RL.
I've met most of my close online friends through Haru and/or Snupin, but I agree that we aren't fandom-specific. We still keep in touch even if we're busy and haven't been able to participate in fandom actively for awhile. But I guess that the fandom was what initially bonded us together.
Definitely reviews mean a lot more for a small fandom! I usually don't get more than a handful of comments per story, so I definitely treasure each one, especially the ones that turn into a deeper discussion of characterization or meta. In fact, this is how I met the online friends mentioned above.
I would say that my personal experience, at least in the Haru fandom, contradicts #7 (There is no collective fanon). It might be a unique situation since there are only about three of us who regularly write for the fandom on LJ and IJ (though others will write a story every now and then). The main characters are pretty well-defined by canon, but with the supporting characters there's a little more leeway to expand on their backgrounds and personalities, and we've discovered that we really like each other's takes on certain characters. So much so that it's hard to picture them any other way, and we have sort of built up an informal mutual fanon, though there are still slight variations due to each writer's style. But it's probably due to the writing pool being so small and close-knit--I don't see the same collective fanon in Petshop and Snupin, although there are many common fanon tropes and themes.
Anyway, thank you for the great post! It really gave me a lot of food for thought.
geri_chan on LJ and IJ
Re: Here from month_of_meta
Date: 2012-03-14 12:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-26 04:36 am (UTC)