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Fandoms don’t die unless you let them : a thread for TLOU fandom
In 1977 when Star Wars A New Hope was released, the internet wasn’t a thing and twitter definitely want a thing, and yet the fandom managed to THRIVE because they’d take hand drawn art, fanfics, theories, and news and print them in physical books and snail mail them to everyone
You can still find those old magazines today bc fans would lovingly preserve them and keep them despite magazine mailing lists being an extinct form of fandom consumption.
And here’s the reason I mention this bc trust me it’s not out of some nostalgia for the “old ways”:
And here’s the reason I mention this bc trust me it’s not out of some nostalgia for the “old ways”:
The strength of a fandom is not based on how many people you have posting at one time or even the QUALITY of what those people post. It’s about the amount of love and support the people in the fandom have for their fellow fans.
You want a fandom to thrive? Encourage others. Like their posts even if they aren’t fandom related. Retweet them if they are. Compliment people’s art. Encourage new fans to engage. Don’t say mean things to others in the fandom for opinions you don’t agree with.
But you need to have this for EVERYONE! Not just your friends, not just your mutuals. Leave a like on a new artist’s piece, even if you don’t particularly think it’s the greatest. Give a kudos on an obscure fanfic. I’m not saying you need to follow everyone or
be everyone’s best friend, but if you take two seconds out of your day to leave a few seeds for newer/“lesser” fans to grow, the fandom has a chance to keep growing long after even you are gone.
On the flip side of this, it cost 0$ to not DIScourage fans. Both new and old. Stop talking about how the fandom “used to be better” when it was smaller—it didn’t. Maybe in your small group it technically was, but by not encouraging others you were inviting the fandom to die.
On another note, don’t be nasty maybe? If you have a problem with someone and they aren’t actively hurting/abusing/harassing someone, just block and move on. You don’t need to engage with every corner of a fandom, especially if it’s a corner that already angers you.
If you keep engaging with people you don’t like, you will slowly ruin the fandom for yourself, as well as for the dozens of people seeing your negativity and thinking this is just how it is and has to be in the fandom.
But all of this aside, if you can’t take any of my other advice, take this: keep going FOR YOURSELF. keep posting your photo mode pics. Keep posting your art and your writing. Don’t just tweet about the fandom dying, because that doesn’t help anyone, especially you.
As long as you’re here the fandom won’t die. And as long as you have love in your heart for others, the fandom can thrive.
I am going off of private SPECIFICALLY so people will rt this so you BETTER LISTEN
