This seems very akin to the "whale hunting" tactics used by many video games, especially free mobile ones: they're okay with most people barely playing and spending nothing, because what they really want is to addict some "whales" who will spend thousands of dollars on lootboxes.
I wonder how much Gamergate and its legacy has to do with this. I was a metalhead about 10 years ago, and metal was one of the oldest of the old-school subcultures, and for all the negative consequences it had, the "gatekeeping" also ensured that people who were accepted and initiated as metalheads by metalheads would themselves pass on the traditions and maintain them something as separate from corporate marketing and fan-baiting campaigns. It is almost impossible to imagine any such scene existing today, and I think Gamergate breaking the unity of not just metal but pretty much all "nerdy" subcultures and permanently linking (arguably beneficial) attempts to keep out "trendies" and proto-influencers with (unarguably toxic) attempts to keep out women and POC smashed any possibility of fandoms existing independently of the fan objects and intellectual property holders--the very tools for doing so had become discredited by association with Gamergate hate mobs.
New fans coming to Doctor Who conventions have actively sought out the traditions of classic Doctor Who fans. I remember being a little surprised at the time. They probably still are, from what I can tell, though I don't go to cons any more.
So I don't think it's actually broken that sort of scene in *every* fandom.
Certainly hasn't broken the traditions in literary SF fandom, which are entirely independent of the publishers and mostly maintained at conventions....
While there has been a long and complicated fight against racist/sexist bigots (look at the Hugo Awards), literary SF did not run into the hands of publishers (who still get a lot of side-eye), or even to adulation of all writers.
Doctor Who fandom may have been particularly likely to stay independent and keep its traditions separate from the fan objects and the intellectual property holders due to its unusual history. Everyone involved in the show (actors, producers, writers) changed repeatedly starting on day one. Except the BBC -- and the BBC tried to cancel Doctor Who repeatedly and actually succeeded, so it has a history of fan distrust.
I think you've mentioned this before, but as a k-pop fan for the past seven years or so, I feel that a lot of this seems to either a direct import of or at least affected by the influence of Korean fan culture for idols.
Most definitely-- the Korean entertainment inudsry has been very aggressive when it comes to this stuff for a really long time. I've dreaded the normalizatoin of their standard operating procedure for a while.
I was just reminded of the fandom currency Jelly coin as well--there's a lot going on that I find alarming.
Love the intellectual thinking in your articles! What are you thoughts on the possible black list that some artists have that cause them to have to use "stans" instead of social media? For example Tomlinson expressing that he has done radio shows in the past with the promise that they would play his records and they never do. Or that he'd pissed off some bigger names in the industry, leading him to have to go a different route from other performers. I'm so curious if you think that is just another tactic! This topic is super interesting and I love your takes!
This seems very akin to the "whale hunting" tactics used by many video games, especially free mobile ones: they're okay with most people barely playing and spending nothing, because what they really want is to addict some "whales" who will spend thousands of dollars on lootboxes.
Which is taken from gambling (including the term "whale").
Old-school computer gamers are pretty consistently disgusted with it.
I wonder how much Gamergate and its legacy has to do with this. I was a metalhead about 10 years ago, and metal was one of the oldest of the old-school subcultures, and for all the negative consequences it had, the "gatekeeping" also ensured that people who were accepted and initiated as metalheads by metalheads would themselves pass on the traditions and maintain them something as separate from corporate marketing and fan-baiting campaigns. It is almost impossible to imagine any such scene existing today, and I think Gamergate breaking the unity of not just metal but pretty much all "nerdy" subcultures and permanently linking (arguably beneficial) attempts to keep out "trendies" and proto-influencers with (unarguably toxic) attempts to keep out women and POC smashed any possibility of fandoms existing independently of the fan objects and intellectual property holders--the very tools for doing so had become discredited by association with Gamergate hate mobs.
New fans coming to Doctor Who conventions have actively sought out the traditions of classic Doctor Who fans. I remember being a little surprised at the time. They probably still are, from what I can tell, though I don't go to cons any more.
So I don't think it's actually broken that sort of scene in *every* fandom.
Certainly hasn't broken the traditions in literary SF fandom, which are entirely independent of the publishers and mostly maintained at conventions....
While there has been a long and complicated fight against racist/sexist bigots (look at the Hugo Awards), literary SF did not run into the hands of publishers (who still get a lot of side-eye), or even to adulation of all writers.
Doctor Who fandom may have been particularly likely to stay independent and keep its traditions separate from the fan objects and the intellectual property holders due to its unusual history. Everyone involved in the show (actors, producers, writers) changed repeatedly starting on day one. Except the BBC -- and the BBC tried to cancel Doctor Who repeatedly and actually succeeded, so it has a history of fan distrust.
I think you've mentioned this before, but as a k-pop fan for the past seven years or so, I feel that a lot of this seems to either a direct import of or at least affected by the influence of Korean fan culture for idols.
Most definitely-- the Korean entertainment inudsry has been very aggressive when it comes to this stuff for a really long time. I've dreaded the normalizatoin of their standard operating procedure for a while.
I was just reminded of the fandom currency Jelly coin as well--there's a lot going on that I find alarming.
Very interesting post. Thank you for it!
Love the intellectual thinking in your articles! What are you thoughts on the possible black list that some artists have that cause them to have to use "stans" instead of social media? For example Tomlinson expressing that he has done radio shows in the past with the promise that they would play his records and they never do. Or that he'd pissed off some bigger names in the industry, leading him to have to go a different route from other performers. I'm so curious if you think that is just another tactic! This topic is super interesting and I love your takes!