[FFML] A thought on the future of the FFML

[Mythril Moth]

> I don't think a fanfiction.net-style web forum would quite work for  us. 
> The technology is readily available, but it only effectively  facilitates 
> comments that are short and address the fic (or a chapter)  as a whole. 
> That's fine for fanfiction.net, but the character of their  membership is 
> not the same as ours. FFML, at least historically, has  been a smaller, 
> more dedicated community with a greater commitment to  quality before 
> quantity, and a willingness to spend time looking at  each other's work in 
> detail in order to help ourselves improve.

This is one of those "very real problems" with the idea that I mentioned 
when I posted it. We'd need to utilize software that allows for a flexible 
and verbose degree of interaction, while at the same time being something 
you could noodle around with on your smartphone while at work or on the 
train or wherever.

> Personally, I don't mind that we're smaller in population than other 
> venues. When I first joined FFML it had only a few hundred  subscribers. 
> But it was still a great place to get detailed feedback.  To a lesser 
> degree it still is, and I wouldn't trade that for an extra  thousand 
> subscribers.

The main thing that distinguishes the FFML is that its subscription base 
tends to be the old guard. If you look at our history, recent post volume 
indicates that our active membership are those of us who have been around 
forever. This in itself is actually part of our "problem": most of us (I 
know I damn sure don't) wouldn't touch FF.net with a stick, even though 
statistically there is a massive volume of VERY good fanfiction there; 
conversely, writers whose style, substance, and goals are in line with this 
list's greater emphasis on detailed C&C either (a) don't know the list 
exists or (b) don't have a CLUE who any of the older, more experienced, more 
established writers are, so our constructive criticism may well be met with 
derisive, insulting, condescending and outright hateful responses.

But then again, it's fine if our population remains primarily old-guard. The 
idea here isn't so much to promote growth of the FFML so much as it is to 
expand the interactivity of the list and broaden it into a more modern, more 
accessible format.

To everyone reading, I ask for a moment of honesty here. You don't 
necessarily need to reply on-list, just answer this question in your own 
mind: How often do you even check your e-mail anymore, compared to how much 
time you spend on social media, web forums, and the like? Would you be more 
likely to read and reply to fanfics if you could easily browse them while 
you're taking a break at work, waiting in a doctor's office or such, or on 
the go? We're in an age where e-mail has become a comparative chore. Even as 
I write this, there are people who won't see it for a few hours yet, if at 
all today, but are probably busy posting on some forum somewhere from a 
mobile device. Everyone has "time" for Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, 
and even web forums while they're at work or doing other things. Nobody has 
"time" for e-mail while they're doing the same things, even if their devices 
support it. That's all I'm really getting at here: we need to upgrade the 
medium that drives this list to something that has the same likelihood of 
being attended to by list members as Farmville.

> So, I'm not necessarily against the idea, but whatever we switch to  has 
> to suit our needs as a community, one of a very different  character from 
> fanfiction.net. We *need* the ability to target a  specific line or other 
> portion of a story, to write commentaries that  are as long as the story 
> itself, and to comment off of someone else's  comment. I don't know of any 
> web software package that currently does  this. Maybe we could find one, 
> or maybe we could design and write our  own.

This I completely agree with, and there are quite a few web software models 
that can accomodate, or be adapted to accomodate, the list's needs. I would 
recommend a combination of vBulletin (as a forum) and a story archival and 
comment model similar to, but more robust than, the one in use here:

http://www.fimfiction.net/

The way FiMF is set up is considerably better than FF.net, but the major 
problem, again, is quoting large chunks of the story for reply. However, it 
shouldn't be too difficult for a savvy designer to create something based 
around a similar model, but with a more expansive quote-and-comment system.

> The other issue is that any new venue would need to be accepted by the 
> list population at large. Even if people *think* this will happen it 
> might not. Once I was adminning a political email list and suggested  the 
> idea of moving to a web forum. Everybody was positive toward the  idea. 
> But when I actually set up the forum, nobody used it; everyone  just kept 
> using the email list because it was what they were used to.

Yeah, that's the real catch: if we actually agreed as a whole to do this, 
would it work?

But again, my goal here is just to get people talking and thinking about it, 
and see where we go from there. Hopefully something wonderful will come from 
all this, but if absolutely nothing happens at all, or something happens and 
it tanks, at least I tried. :)


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Mythril Moth
www.mythrilmoth.net