[FFML] A thought on the future of the FFML

[Angus MacSpon]

On 25/06/2013, at 9:31 AM, "Mythril Moth" <mythrilmoth at mythrilmoth.net> wrote:

> 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.

Moment of honesty?  Okey-doke.  I check my email at least daily, and usually more often.  But ... well, I really don't read a lot of fanfic any more.  (Let alone *write* it.  I am still working on SM4200, but not often.)  Don't watch a lot of anime, either, so I tend to ignore a fair bit of what does get posted because I'm unfamiliar with the series.

Back when I was more active, I posted each new chapter to the FFML and to FF.net, more or less simultaneously.  Predictable results: I got better commentary from the FFML, but more readers from FF.net.  Both of these were good things.

(And the *best* commentary was from pre-readers.  The last couple of times I posted a chapter to the FFML, I had the same experience that Gary complained about recently: I didn't get a lot of replies at all.)

My own thought is: by all means improve the interfaces to the FFML -- whether via a web site, or an iPad app, or whatever.  Can't hurt.  But I kind of get the feeling that the world has moved on.  The 'old days' of groups like the FFML aren't over yet, but they're pretty close to the brink, and I think in general there just isn't a much of a place any more for general forums where you can expect detailed commentary.  Not *general* forums, that is.  Private ones do still seem to work -- I've seen a lot of big-name authors with their own private discussion groups -- though I wonder how long even this will be effective.

Where all this will end up is anybody's guess; but the world of fan fiction has gotten bigger over the years, not smaller, and mostly due -- for better or for worse -- to FF.net and its ilk.  One way or another, we simply have to adapt.

Angus


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Angus MacSpon                                  Email: macspon at ihug.co.nz
ICQ: 65719513                          http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/