[FFML] A thought on the future of the FFML

[Robert Geiger]

 I believe that we will need to change to survive and agree with the points you made. Making sure that the fic archive is kept is vital since we can offer the large library of stories we have.

 

________________________________
 From: Mythril Moth <mythrilmoth at mythrilmoth.net>
To: FFML <ffml at chez-vrolet.net> 
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 12:25 PM
Subject: [FFML] A thought on the future of the FFML
  


The recent post by Gary Kleppe, and responses to that post, concerning the ever-waning post population of the FFML has gotten me thinking.

I believe, and I'm sure many will agree with me, that a large part of the reason this community is in the diminished state it's in is because interactive technology has outstripped us. Mailing lists as discussion and interaction forums are, quite frankly, archaic and inefficient. Writers are flocking to Fanfiction.net in droves for this very reason: they're more likely to get massive, timely responses, if not necessarily the detailed C&C upon which this list was founded, from a web archive with a commenting and forum interface than from an e-mail based list.

Most of those remaining here are old-school, having been around since the late 90s or so, and few of us are as active now as we have been in the past. And that's another part of the equation: the AGE of this list. We were here before FF.net existed. We were here before social media existed. We're dinosaurs. And it shows in the sharp decline of list traffic. It's not likely to get any better.

So we've got three problems: old guard, old list, old tech.

Then we've got the problem that an e-mail based list isn't attracting new users because a lot of people don't even want to deal with e-mail anymore. iPhones, iPads, and their ilk are encouraging more browser-based, app-oriented online behavior, and e-mail is just a thing that's there to be there.

This is of course nothing new or shocking to anyone. We all know these are the problems we face.

But this is what I've been thinking about:

Do we want to commit ourselves to the preservation of the FFML in its original form, and watch it slowly become extinct? Or is there any possible room for the notion of evolving the FFML into something more modern? There are, of course, some very obvious problems with that concept, but it's a thought that needed to be voiced.

I'll leave it to everyone else to discuss this notion, and hopefully this will provoke some thoughtful, insightful discussion.  I really think this idea has some merit.


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Mythril Moth
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