Subject: This got me thinking...
Author:
Posted on: 2018-06-23 03:08:00 UTC
With "transformative works" replacing "fanfic," and "discussion" replacing "wank," have fanfic writers started to take themselves more seriously?
... that I’m now officially a published fandom academic. If you were on the Board at the time I posted a survey asking people to discuss their fandom platform usage and their perceptions of certain terminology, here’s the writeup of that now!
Anyway that’s new for me, as well as the oodles of fanzines I’ve been writing for, what’s up with all of you?
The topic's maybe a little too deep for me to feel like I can comment on it, though you wrote the article in a way that I could at least follow it. I do think it's important to examine these changes in online social trends over time, as we (or later generations of users) will eventually be discussing internet history the same way humans discuss, um . . . other history.
Your discussion on shorter pieces of fan discussion being treated with equal dignity to larger works actually reminds me of one of the themes of Fahrenheit 451: that one of the factors that led to that setting's disillusionment with literature was the loss of free time, which led to less introspection, and less time to consume larger sources of media.
"'Classics cut to fit fifteen-minute radio shows, then cut again to fill a two-minute book column, winding up at last as a ten- or twelve-line dictionary resume.'"
Pretty scary to think that fandom is starting to follow that trend in real life. I hope the trend reverses eventually, and fandom overall migrates back to the LiveJournal/Dreamwidth style of stage.
—doctorlit
With "transformative works" replacing "fanfic," and "discussion" replacing "wank," have fanfic writers started to take themselves more seriously?
Transformative works is more of an umbrella/legalese term covering fanfic, fanart, fanvids, and other variants of fan-created media. The thing that distinguishes it from ye olde Anne Rice’s accusations of copyright infringement is the transformative factor because the addition of a fan interpretation ‘transforms’ the work away from its original. Like how a PPC mission is transformative of the baddie, or how badfic effect on its origin canon transforms it in the PPC universe.
And it’s specifically “Discourse” that has replaced wank, not discussion. Discourse actually started from a Tumblr meme (look up Discourse Chef) but has been used to describe wank since its memetic origins.
Nevertheless, there are definitely segments of fandom that take themselves too seriously nowadays, but hasn’t that always been the case? Srsbsns has always been a part of fandom life; most of that was relegated to closed communities, or communities dedicated to wank. People on fandom_wank knew everything there would be taken lightly; this is no longer the case on Tumblr, where joke posts can get misinterpreted all the time.
Unfortunately I wasn't around when you posted the survey, but I'm glad I got to read this all the same. It actually helped me make sense of some things I've been wondering about in fandom culture. As someone who entered fandom in 2009, before most of this new wave had set in, but was too young (in actual years and fandom terms) to really get it, it offered some sense to a confusing and at times contradictory perspective.
So, as I said before, a very interesting read! Thanks for sharing!
Your findings absolutely reflect my subjective experience as an older/longer-term participant in fandom.
I find it very interesting that you seem to say that while discussions on newer platforms like Tumblr occur "at a more rapid pace with less control over the thread of conversation" and are more easily radicalized, they're being treated with "a more academic, professional lexicon" that "lends gravitas and credence to the arguments being expounded."
This puts a finger squarely on what bugs me about this shift. The conversation about fandom has become shorter, faster, less thought-through and lovingly (if self-aggrandizingly) developed, and yet treated more seriously? That seems backwards! Co-opting these serious academic terms in this way at once over-inflates the importance of one's opinions of fanstuff and dilutes their usefulness for people who do want to have a thoughtful discourse or need to express that they have a psychological trigger.
Too much like srs bsns.
~Neshomeh has to leave now, might have more to say later.
I’m glad I could elucidate what you’ve also observed about fandom’s culture shift! It really is interesting (and a bit perplexing) that fandom’s emergence as a mainstream aspect of media consumption comes at the price of what amounts to “bite size media” being radicalised and taken too seriously, but such is the nature of microblogging sites like Tumblr, Twitter, and other content-prioritised social media becoming the hub of fandom.
I don’t know if the Board knows but there is a beta platform called Pillowfort seeking to integrate Tumblr and LJ’s strong points. And another friend of mine is working on a similar project. So we may be looking at another user base shift soon!
And this is a really fascinating read! /goes to spread it around.
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/1276/1724”>here is a prettier one but the link is the same so ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Just. Ignore all of that. Clearly this is an argument not to post on mobile.