Four thoughts on LJ-ettiquette

[jlh]

1. Being a Fan, only not, part 1. So, you know, we come online to find other people who like whatever we like, and that's fun, because then we don't have to bore our other friends with endless talk about our latest theory about the Lost numbers or all the possible hookups in Furuba or our current WoW campaign or the past weekend's Serenity numbers. But just like our beloved non-fandom friends, our fandom friends will have random other interests that don't overlap with ours, and hopefully they will cut them most of the time and we can just scroll on by.

But what I continue to not really understand is, why do some get so annoyed when folks on their flist post about something they don't care about? I think there are few post topics I am less sympathetic to than the "OMG I am so sick of people posting about yadda yadda" rant. Newsflash: don't read it! I'm not a Joss Whedon fan; I never watched Firefly; I'm not planning on seeing Serenity. I think that my flist has been abuzz about it for at least six months, since the preview screenings were announced. And sure, the quote meme got a little old, mostly because like most great Joss quotes they don't make a lot of sense out of context, and therefore weren't a great ad for the movie (see below for more on this). But you know, it wasn't annoying such that I felt a need to get all enraged about it. I'm not sure what it is about having to scroll that gets people so grouchy.


2. Being a Fan, only not, part 2. So we see how people bond over mutual likes, and even sometimes over mutual dislikes. And I can understand in the face of hegemony the relief that comes when you realize you aren't the only one not on the train. But why do people have to be so gleeful and really sort of mean about stuff they don't like? Is it really all that pollyanna of me to wish they could put their efforts into talking about what they do like when that's what fannish behavior is all about?

And while I'm on this topic, can we also not be so lockstep about how people choose to be fans of things? I mean, I can be a fan of CSI and not really care about Sara; I can be a fan of HP and not care about Snape. It's like we all need to genuflect in someone's general direction and it's sort of ridiculous.


3. Being a Fan, only not, part 3. Which brings me around to the recent Serenity wank, also known as the weird fight between some self-loathing fanboy on CHUD and the Joss-ster Himself. Now, I'll grant the CHUD fanboy one thing, that the Serenity folks scheduled those preview screenings too far in advance of the film, such that when it finally opened I thought it had opened months ago, and possibly they made the tickets a little too scarce given the general hysteria on my flist about getting tickets.

That said, I cannot imagine for one single second that fan behavior led to people not going to this film. I mean, people dressing up for Star Wars movies is a national joke, and "mainstream sci-fi fans" (fanboy's term, not mine) still went on opening weekend (just maybe not opening night). I reckon any "mainstream sci-fi fans" who have random Browncoats on their LJ flist (or even know what that term means) are pretty inured to rampant fandom craziness.

There is, however, which is somewhat related to the whole "being the right kind of fan" issue I raised above, something to be said for feeling that one should not go see a certain fannish thing if one is not sufficiently involved in that canon. For example, I didn't see LOTR because I hadn't read the books and had a vague (though completely ridiculous I admit) sense that I shouldn't see the films if I hadn't read the books. Despite my usual reluctance about Joss Whedon, I also didn't see Serenity partially because I hadn't seen Firefly, though I'm not planning on seeing Firefly anyway so that may not quite scan. But you know, the Serenity fans were more proselytizing than anything else, so I don't think they would have cared.


4. Cross Posting. Before I started reading CSI fic, I had been in a bit of a lull in fic reading. If it wasn't written by a friend, or on deamus or sometimes erotic_elves, I probably wasn't reading it. But now I have a bunch of CSI comms on my flist, so I'm finally getting the phenomenon of cross posting—by which I mean, posting the story in one place and then putting up a whole bunch of fake-cut links in other places. Since I'm on a Nick comm, a Gil comm, and a Gil/Nick comm, sometimes I see the same story posted three times. And I have to say, I personally would rather that writers post simultaneously than spreading it around. I think it's smart of them to want to post in as many places as possible to get as many readers as possible (who doesn't?) and for me, I'd rather the thing show up three times in a row on my flist than dribble in over a week, making me think, haven't I already read this? So here, take the superquick!poll:
[Poll #589778]

And in the time I wrote this entry, I formulated my research question. Go me.

Comments

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Thank you! However, I understand that there was a big fascist following for Serenity.

That's actually what I meant by cross-posting; most people post in one place and then post with fake cuts every place else.

*runs to edit*

[heinous_bitca.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. I thought you meant people posting the same fic in multiple place, which I have seen.

Then all at once, please!