#don't start THAT kind of debate of Real Fans on the official twitter account??

[noramachwitz]

ok, but why are they using the tag 'legit robroners'? *deep sigh at ed twitter team for the 1000th time*

please i’ve been rolling my eyes at them all day because to nobody’s surprise now that there’s robron spoilers suddenly they’re super active again when they didn’t even didn’t even tweet one single thing during the episode last friday once again the inconsistency is just unprofessional

[goodwoodpod]

this might be too late to still be included but i still wanted to offer my opinion about your questions on change in how fandom is done! sorry this ended up so long 🥴

a lot of how people approach fandom in general (& criticise/talk about how fandom is performed today) depends on how they first engaged with it.

i'm gen z, so my first "real" fandom activity was firmly on centralised fanfic sites (like The german fanfic archive, wattpad and ao3) and then on social media like twitter and recently tiktok. i think this is quite similar to how most younger folks today got into fandom.

in my experience, this way of doing fandom makes for a more passive (more consumerist than productive) fandom experience, especially in massive fandoms like HP or popular bands. it ends to be very public and open; you might even interact with official twitter accounts, maybe comment on twitch streams, etc. often, fans attach their face or at least name to their fandom activity and there is virtually no barrier of entry to the content (opposite e.g. to password-protected vintage forum fan communities)

but: my actual first experience with fandom or the core activity of fandom - expanding on existing universes - was roleplay forums in the early/mid-2010s. it wasn't (always) building on a "classic" fandom but operated in a shared universe where you HAD to create new content yourself in order for the format to work (basically LARPing but online!)

this format of forums feels very "old school fandom" (i.e. pretty private & built on personal connections to anonymous users you came to know). i think it might also be why i do fandom more actively (and am also more conscious of privacy) than many others in my age group.

at the same time, it feels like discord groups are bringing back the closed universe-feeling of old-school fandom - but in a slightly different way i can't quite articulate? in my experience, they have less emphasis on anonymity and absolutely no regard to any kind of archive function, but at least establish the boundary between fandom in- vs non-fandom out-group (including creators/objects of fandom) again.

i'm super interested in what you all have to say about this topic!

I am full-on "how do you do fellow kids"-ing you with this response, because as someone on the cusp of the generational divide I feel like I really straddle the millennial-gen z cusp, even for fandom (being that I missed the livejournal heydays and was around for infamous 2014 tumblr), but oh my god does hearing about kids getting into fandom via tiktok make me feel OLD ahahahaha.

it blows my mind, and I also find it interesting in light of debates happening on tiktok about fandom cringiness (mostly around cosplayers and the stranger things fandom, from what I've seen). for those out of the loop: the collision between fandom-goers and non-fandom-goers is continuing, in that people who don't "get" fandom are deeming those in fandom (in this case, con-goers who are REALLY into the tv show stranger things) "cringe," and it's resulting in some interesting conversations about which people get exposed to fandom and which don't.

back to your ask: the roleplaying is so interesting! I also did roleplaying (on facebook, oh how times have changed) waaaaaay back in the day. I totally feel like you're right in saying you starting with rp might've encouraged you to be more open and active!

I wholly agree that discord has abolished senses of privacy... which has some upsides, and (in my opinion) a lot of downsides. I'm of two minds on these things, because while I'm an optimist at heart, and I love making connections, I've also seen that go awry a time or two. I feel like I knew how to navigate the "old" internet really well (tell no one your name, or what country you're from, and BY GOD tell no one how old you are," but the new internet, with its radical openness (name, age, pronouns, location in bio with tons of identifying features ready for consumption), sometimes still makes me wary!

but then I'm like, oh, well, I want to connect with people... and you connect by being open with them... and it very much feels like I want to have my cake and eat it too re: what to put online. it's a weird place to navigate! all I know is that I'm grateful I'm navigating it right now as an adult, as opposed to a kid. I really feel for the young gen z'ers and gen alphas who are truly growing up in this environment. it's a convoluted one!

-bec