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nrgburstSo TQG fandom is now a year old (yay!) and is still hanging in there, which I think is pretty good for a "one hit wonder" kind of canon? Like it's not getting a season 2; there are no spin-offs etc., so the fact that it's still going is pretty remarkable, IMO. But I think it's definitely shrinking, and it has been pretty much since the beginning - it basically hit its zenith of fandom content production and engagement in its first couple of months, and since I've been writing/GIFfing for the fandom since almost the beginning, I can actually track the dramatic fall in kudos/comments and likes/reblogs of GIFsets with actual numbers. And I think attrition like this is totally normal and a well-established cross-fandom pattern? Most people get interested in new things and move on to other fandoms (I think the Hot Fandom Property is Squid Game RN), and a few people will enter the fandom late, like a revolving door where the trend is usually more out than in over time. But I also know fandoms that are still chugging along strong despite their canons ending years ago, and I think the key to retaining people is robust positive feedback for content creators. And I think that's lagging in TQG fandom, and I worry that it's actually because of the discord server I helped make in the first place.😬
So I noticed this weird thing when I posted the last chapter of An Exchange of Kings: unlike literally every other longfic I have ever written, there were fewer comments on the last chapter than the penultimate one. Even people who had been commenting all along did not check in with their opinion about the ending - they just clicked the link to the server in the final A/N and started chatting in the server instead. Which. Ow. I should have expected that but didn't.🥲 They wanted the instant feedback of conversation (and maybe a GIF battle in general or to talk in all channels at once - it was INSANE, like 100+ unread messages in all channels. As one of two mods at the time, I wanted to cry at how impossible that job had instantly become and how I'd done it to myself! 😅) But it's a pattern of engagement that has seemed to continue even for authors/fanartists that don't do this?
The pattern is: person posts link to fic/art on server, people on the server look at linked thing then CLICK BACK OUT and emoji react to/maybe reply to the poster ON THE SERVER. They rarely leave anything other than a like or kudos on the actual creator's work, even the original poster.
What's interesting is, I've noticed this isn't true for other fandoms that I'm also in servers for? There is a robust comment culture in Ted Lasso, Miraculous Ladybug, Lucifer, MCU and Gendrya (GoT) fandoms, for example (yes, even now, more than two years after that ending!) and the communities thrive, and a great deal more content is constantly produced. This makes total sense to me: when you post fic/art, getting positive feedback on it helps you feel seen; talking to people about your creation/the canon is rewarding. So you are more inclined to stick around and create more for these people giving you the feedback. And most creators (especially fan artists) are not on the server, and even for those who are, I can say that from personal experience, a server comment isn’t the same as one on your actual fic/set/etc.? It's very "words are wind" and completely gone in a couple of days, because the conversation obviously moves on.
So what's the difference in how these fandom cultures grew, and more importantly: is it possible to change a fandom culture like this? Do any of you have experience reviving a fandom/encouraging engagement? Obviously, the server still helps us make some content: just see the fic I posted last month off somebody else's prompt. But I think we need to change or we're going to end up in dead fandom territory soon, especially since we've had (Dramatically) shrinking numbers of people on the server, too.😓 I've been trying to Be the Change, but I just don't think one or two people commenting is enough, and TBH, it feels like a Sisyphean task, like bailing out a sinking ship with cupped hands. So how, oh how do we get us a bucket already?
Any thoughts, oh f-list? I think a lot of you have been in fandom longer than me, and I would welcome any suggestions. I've been thinking of hosting a giveaway on the server with "entries" being comments on fic/art. Is that weird? Does it feel transactional? Or would you be excited about something like that? Also, do you think it would help form the habit of leaving feedback for authors/artists, or at least entice you to try facing the anxiety/intimidation if you'd never done it before? I'm basing this off how I give extrinsic rewards to students to achieve more at say, an extensive reading program - eventually they do it to kind of compete with themselves/each other rather than needing the candy, but they sure do like the Haribo at first! 😅
So I noticed this weird thing when I posted the last chapter of An Exchange of Kings: unlike literally every other longfic I have ever written, there were fewer comments on the last chapter than the penultimate one. Even people who had been commenting all along did not check in with their opinion about the ending - they just clicked the link to the server in the final A/N and started chatting in the server instead. Which. Ow. I should have expected that but didn't.🥲 They wanted the instant feedback of conversation (and maybe a GIF battle in general or to talk in all channels at once - it was INSANE, like 100+ unread messages in all channels. As one of two mods at the time, I wanted to cry at how impossible that job had instantly become and how I'd done it to myself! 😅) But it's a pattern of engagement that has seemed to continue even for authors/fanartists that don't do this?
The pattern is: person posts link to fic/art on server, people on the server look at linked thing then CLICK BACK OUT and emoji react to/maybe reply to the poster ON THE SERVER. They rarely leave anything other than a like or kudos on the actual creator's work, even the original poster.
What's interesting is, I've noticed this isn't true for other fandoms that I'm also in servers for? There is a robust comment culture in Ted Lasso, Miraculous Ladybug, Lucifer, MCU and Gendrya (GoT) fandoms, for example (yes, even now, more than two years after that ending!) and the communities thrive, and a great deal more content is constantly produced. This makes total sense to me: when you post fic/art, getting positive feedback on it helps you feel seen; talking to people about your creation/the canon is rewarding. So you are more inclined to stick around and create more for these people giving you the feedback. And most creators (especially fan artists) are not on the server, and even for those who are, I can say that from personal experience, a server comment isn’t the same as one on your actual fic/set/etc.? It's very "words are wind" and completely gone in a couple of days, because the conversation obviously moves on.
So what's the difference in how these fandom cultures grew, and more importantly: is it possible to change a fandom culture like this? Do any of you have experience reviving a fandom/encouraging engagement? Obviously, the server still helps us make some content: just see the fic I posted last month off somebody else's prompt. But I think we need to change or we're going to end up in dead fandom territory soon, especially since we've had (Dramatically) shrinking numbers of people on the server, too.😓 I've been trying to Be the Change, but I just don't think one or two people commenting is enough, and TBH, it feels like a Sisyphean task, like bailing out a sinking ship with cupped hands. So how, oh how do we get us a bucket already?
Any thoughts, oh f-list? I think a lot of you have been in fandom longer than me, and I would welcome any suggestions. I've been thinking of hosting a giveaway on the server with "entries" being comments on fic/art. Is that weird? Does it feel transactional? Or would you be excited about something like that? Also, do you think it would help form the habit of leaving feedback for authors/artists, or at least entice you to try facing the anxiety/intimidation if you'd never done it before? I'm basing this off how I give extrinsic rewards to students to achieve more at say, an extensive reading program - eventually they do it to kind of compete with themselves/each other rather than needing the candy, but they sure do like the Haribo at first! 😅
no subject
Date: 2021-11-02 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-03 04:26 am (UTC)I was thinking a fest would be good, but there are so few content creators in the first place! Still, it's a possibility - thanks!
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Date: 2021-11-10 10:33 am (UTC)You mentioned a couple of other fandoms, but they seem more like uh, cruise ships compared to TQG's rowboat, and thus maybe find it easier to retain the critical mass necessary to stay afloat?
The giveaway idea does feel a bit transactional, but I think I have seen more neutral, 'this week's challenge is to comment on x fanworks you've read but never commented on before' or as
no subject
Date: 2021-11-12 01:05 pm (UTC)You mentioned a couple of other fandoms, but they seem more like uh, cruise ships compared to TQG's rowboat, and thus maybe find it easier to retain the critical mass necessary to stay afloat? True enough! Some are definitely very well staffed ships. 😅 A couple of the servers actually have (or had) far fewer people than ours and have more robust fandom activity and engagement though. Like their servers have been a boon rather than a detriment. :/
There's been a "comment-a-thon" happening in Tedbecca fandom/server where the prizes are ficbits/drabbles for committing to 5-20 comments? I think the challenge thing feels hollow without a prize of some kind, TBH, and since one admin bought me a month of nitro, I feel like doing a TQG fanart/sticker giveaway is paying it forward too! 😅 One admin did worry that it sounded like we were "buying" love for creators, but I don't think it's buying their love, just trying to encourage them to express things that they already say in the server to the creators directly as well?
I actually just linked this fest to the server a few days ago and there's been a lot of interest, so hopefully we will get some holiday/wintery works made too! 😁 https://newyearcntdown.dreamwidth.org/ I am definitely going to bring up those kind of weekly challenges with the admins though! TY!
no subject
Date: 2021-11-24 10:10 am (UTC)Ficbits for comments sounds like an artificial (if that is the right word?) creation of the situation you want to create; a kind of instant-karma instead of the more slow-working, organic way it happens on the AO3? I confess that I would find stickers a more immediate motivator though, haha. (Er, at least I've matured beyond Haribo? But extrinsic rewards as a nudge would definitely work on me.)
Best of luck, also with the fest! ^_^