The Date Was 1996 And The Giant Maw of the Internet Was Opening In Front of Fandom

[morgandawn]

The Date: 1996
The Place: Mountain Media convention, a small slash friendly convention held in Colorado
The Panel:  "Paranoia, and The Net: Good or Bad for Fandom?

Conventions that held similar panels were
Mediawest 1994: Will the widespread use of computer networks have a negative effect on fandom? (The panel was believed to be popular enough to hold it 3 different times over the weekend)
Escapade 1996: The Internet. Will it eat your brain? Or  will it take you to the poor house? (at the time the cost of a computer + metered online access made the Net a pricey proposition)
Escapade 1997: NetFic vs Print Fic (panel discussed in the convention reports)
Escapade 1998: Crossing The Line (how to find print fan fic if you are a net fan, and vice versa)
Escapade 1999: Does print fandom have a future?
Eclecticon 1999: Fandom and the Internet, Writing and the Internet, Internet: Getting Connected

Helpful pages on Fanlore
Fandom and the Net
Slash and the Arrival of the Internet
Zines and the Internet
The first 10 issues of the KS Press (1996-1997) had many discussions of the impact of the Internet on fandom (ex: "DON’T POST YOUR STORIES ON THE INTERNET. Because zines will disappear. Posting your stories on the internet will eventually destroy K/S fandom.")
FanFiction on the Net (a listing of fan sites from 1996-1999)

Comments

[cybel]

This was one of the last (the last? memory fails me) cons I ever attended. Good times. Can't believe it was 18 years ago!