I think part of what I see as a rise in the "new shiny" is tied to the focus on internet. It also seems to be tied to the idea of immediate gratification. "Oh look, pretty men, I wonder if there's fic. Oh gee, there is." With a zine, there was a longer turn around and money involved, not to mention having to find room for it in your house. : ) You had to really actually be interested in the fandom to get the zine. It couldn't just be a passing interest -- I think that's why you still see the older fandoms represented well in zine fandom. There's been more of an investment.
What really frustrates me is that one would think with the mass of fandoms out there and the number of fen who are multi-fandom based that there would be a rise in Multimedia zines and web archives, but you really don't see that. It isn't that these fen are truly multimedia/multifandom fen, but that they're serial fen -- one new fandom after another. Call me old fashioned, but once I'm in a fandom, I'm in it. I have more fandoms than you can shake a stick at -- I'm easy to pimp -- but while I may keep up with the new shiny, I still keep a hand in my prior fandoms. Most of my zine collection is multimedia zines because I have so many fandoms period. I have a few that are fandom specific, but not many.
Having worked on multiple cons, I have a tendency to study the changes in fandom. When you're trying to make that many people happy with the programming you have to : ) I think part of what people see as a splintering of fandom is actually that the digital age has put us more in communication with each other and so you are able to see more of the different groupings.
You do realize that I may have to do several essays for my lj thanks to the things you've got me thinking about, don't you? : )
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carisma_sensei
no subject
Date: 2005-08-12 11:29 pm (UTC)What really frustrates me is that one would think with the mass of fandoms out there and the number of fen who are multi-fandom based that there would be a rise in Multimedia zines and web archives, but you really don't see that. It isn't that these fen are truly multimedia/multifandom fen, but that they're serial fen -- one new fandom after another. Call me old fashioned, but once I'm in a fandom, I'm in it. I have more fandoms than you can shake a stick at -- I'm easy to pimp -- but while I may keep up with the new shiny, I still keep a hand in my prior fandoms. Most of my zine collection is multimedia zines because I have so many fandoms period. I have a few that are fandom specific, but not many.
Having worked on multiple cons, I have a tendency to study the changes in fandom. When you're trying to make that many people happy with the programming you have to : ) I think part of what people see as a splintering of fandom is actually that the digital age has put us more in communication with each other and so you are able to see more of the different groupings.
You do realize that I may have to do several essays for my lj thanks to the things you've got me thinking about, don't you? : )