Silver Adept (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
silveradept) wrote2016-01-09 12:31 am
silveradept) wrote2016-01-09 12:31 am
Entry tags:
Fandom Snowflake 08 - Temporary Autonomous Zones
Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them.
That said, what if you want to add more sparkle to the challenge? Well, how about leaving feedback on that one fanwork (fic, podfic, fanart, fanvid, meta post, knitting pattern, etc.) that you've always loved in a lurk-ey way? People love getting feedback on their creations--yes, even if it's something they posted way back in the pre-Geocities era. *g*
Another option is to follow/subscribe/grant access to someone you want to get to know better on whichever platform you prefer.
The point is to reach out to someone you normally wouldn't and connect with them, even if it's only for the briefest moment.
One could argue that the Internet is the world's largest and longest continuously running fan convention, given the amount of output and creativity that is posted on even a minute-by-minute basis, if YouTube's claim of millions of hours of footage being posted every minute is true. There's certainly more than enough panel discussion, workshopping, celebrity interaction, tournaments and contests, Artist Alley work, video programming, spontaneous glomping and more going on in each space.
The activity of the convention, though, isn't there for the sake of the convention itself - if it were, there would be no need for attendees and the amount of money they bring in. The real purpose is convention is twofold - it brings the fans together to be fannish with each other, because many fans have always corresponded with each other through whatever remote method is cheapest, and it brings the fans out in sufficiently large quantities that they can suspend some of the rules of the society around them and create their own society, even if only for the weekend.
Sometimes the rules suspended are ones that work better when intact, which necessitates codes of conduct and explicit reintegration and enforcement of those rules that ensure a good experience from everyone, but most of the time, the changes made are ones that benefit the community - it becomes normal, at convention, to wear costume, to adopt roles, to focus on the minutia, to engage in obvious squee, to admire craftsmanship, and to function on an economy that has room for sharing your Pocky or your animation while you wait in line. To take part in a community openly, among peers, rather than having to keep that identity carefully curated so that those who do not understand or will not accept it do not know. (Principle applies outside of fandom, as many kinksters are well aware.)
So, while this challenge is complete through the acts that have come before it, as a natural consequence of seeing things that are new and interesting, the point of the challenge is making the connection. The point of the convention is making the connection. It's just that the Internet needs better maps, signs, and helpful guides to get the attendees from the place that they are at to the spot that they want to be, talking with the people that are interesting to them. (See also: essayist in meta land feels like inhabitant on island of misfit fans) It needs space for the people that are bold and dive right in, and it needs ambassadors that will walk the walls of the room and introduce themselves to the people there, to encourage them to participate and to tend to their needs and self-care decisions. Because someone bold in one context may be a wallflower in others. New situations are both exhilarating and terrifying, and the presence or absence of people whose job it is to understand and empathize with the terror can mean the difference between participation and lurking. (As can the visible presence is people whose job it is to swiftly react to breaches of good behavior in the community.)
Finding someone new to talk to isn't very easy for me, unless I know beforehand that there's a common thread to pull on that can be used as an icebreaker or conversation starter. It's why I wear fannish buttons and floral print shirts at work - they help reduce the gap between me and others sufficiently that we can have a conversation. At convention, it's easier still to start conversations - you are rarely ever in a group that doesn't have a shared purpose of some sort. The rules have changed from the world outside.
At least for the weekend.
That said, what if you want to add more sparkle to the challenge? Well, how about leaving feedback on that one fanwork (fic, podfic, fanart, fanvid, meta post, knitting pattern, etc.) that you've always loved in a lurk-ey way? People love getting feedback on their creations--yes, even if it's something they posted way back in the pre-Geocities era. *g*
Another option is to follow/subscribe/grant access to someone you want to get to know better on whichever platform you prefer.
The point is to reach out to someone you normally wouldn't and connect with them, even if it's only for the briefest moment.
One could argue that the Internet is the world's largest and longest continuously running fan convention, given the amount of output and creativity that is posted on even a minute-by-minute basis, if YouTube's claim of millions of hours of footage being posted every minute is true. There's certainly more than enough panel discussion, workshopping, celebrity interaction, tournaments and contests, Artist Alley work, video programming, spontaneous glomping and more going on in each space.
The activity of the convention, though, isn't there for the sake of the convention itself - if it were, there would be no need for attendees and the amount of money they bring in. The real purpose is convention is twofold - it brings the fans together to be fannish with each other, because many fans have always corresponded with each other through whatever remote method is cheapest, and it brings the fans out in sufficiently large quantities that they can suspend some of the rules of the society around them and create their own society, even if only for the weekend.
Sometimes the rules suspended are ones that work better when intact, which necessitates codes of conduct and explicit reintegration and enforcement of those rules that ensure a good experience from everyone, but most of the time, the changes made are ones that benefit the community - it becomes normal, at convention, to wear costume, to adopt roles, to focus on the minutia, to engage in obvious squee, to admire craftsmanship, and to function on an economy that has room for sharing your Pocky or your animation while you wait in line. To take part in a community openly, among peers, rather than having to keep that identity carefully curated so that those who do not understand or will not accept it do not know. (Principle applies outside of fandom, as many kinksters are well aware.)
So, while this challenge is complete through the acts that have come before it, as a natural consequence of seeing things that are new and interesting, the point of the challenge is making the connection. The point of the convention is making the connection. It's just that the Internet needs better maps, signs, and helpful guides to get the attendees from the place that they are at to the spot that they want to be, talking with the people that are interesting to them. (See also: essayist in meta land feels like inhabitant on island of misfit fans) It needs space for the people that are bold and dive right in, and it needs ambassadors that will walk the walls of the room and introduce themselves to the people there, to encourage them to participate and to tend to their needs and self-care decisions. Because someone bold in one context may be a wallflower in others. New situations are both exhilarating and terrifying, and the presence or absence of people whose job it is to understand and empathize with the terror can mean the difference between participation and lurking. (As can the visible presence is people whose job it is to swiftly react to breaches of good behavior in the community.)
Finding someone new to talk to isn't very easy for me, unless I know beforehand that there's a common thread to pull on that can be used as an icebreaker or conversation starter. It's why I wear fannish buttons and floral print shirts at work - they help reduce the gap between me and others sufficiently that we can have a conversation. At convention, it's easier still to start conversations - you are rarely ever in a group that doesn't have a shared purpose of some sort. The rules have changed from the world outside.
At least for the weekend.