What Is Fandom Culture?
Feb. 23rd, 2015 09:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morgandawn1. The focused love of a subject matter (TV, knitting, hockey)
2. Active engagement with the subject matter vs passive consumption. Active engagement can be thinking about the show, discussing it, writing fic, making gif sets etc. Passive engagement is turning on the TV and watching it and then forgetting about it. Note: one can passively consume the products of active engagement. Media fandom does not only consist of artists or fanfic writers, it also includes readers and lurkers and organizers. Also note that the active engagement does not have to be social - you can still be a media fan if you never connect up with another media fan and all the engagement takes place inside your head.
3.Non-commercial (fanzines were always supposed to be non-profit, artists would often get paid for their fanart prints or originals, and if fans turned their fanfic into pro fic - well it was no longer fanfic.)
Everything else: concrit, (n)etiquette, visibility, 4th Wall, warnings are all community specific and even among communities these "norms' or "rules" vary and are not universally accepted. To argue that someone is violating "fandom culture" is like arguing that everyone in the fandom world belongs to a single faith. In fact it argues that even if there are many fandom faiths, that all members of the faith hold the same beliefs. While it is true that some faiths will not accept you unless you believe in and adopt their specific tenets, there are always those who claim a religious identity while disagreeing with some (or all) of the doctrines of their faith.
Fandom is multitudes. Fandom is IDIC. Fandom is wherever you are.
2. Active engagement with the subject matter vs passive consumption. Active engagement can be thinking about the show, discussing it, writing fic, making gif sets etc. Passive engagement is turning on the TV and watching it and then forgetting about it. Note: one can passively consume the products of active engagement. Media fandom does not only consist of artists or fanfic writers, it also includes readers and lurkers and organizers. Also note that the active engagement does not have to be social - you can still be a media fan if you never connect up with another media fan and all the engagement takes place inside your head.
3.Non-commercial (fanzines were always supposed to be non-profit, artists would often get paid for their fanart prints or originals, and if fans turned their fanfic into pro fic - well it was no longer fanfic.)
Everything else: concrit, (n)etiquette, visibility, 4th Wall, warnings are all community specific and even among communities these "norms' or "rules" vary and are not universally accepted. To argue that someone is violating "fandom culture" is like arguing that everyone in the fandom world belongs to a single faith. In fact it argues that even if there are many fandom faiths, that all members of the faith hold the same beliefs. While it is true that some faiths will not accept you unless you believe in and adopt their specific tenets, there are always those who claim a religious identity while disagreeing with some (or all) of the doctrines of their faith.
Fandom is multitudes. Fandom is IDIC. Fandom is wherever you are.