[FFML] A thought on the future of the FFML

[peter]

I've gotten into the whole "My Little Pony" thing lately, and have started 
working on a story.

That brought me into contact with
http://www.fimfiction.net/

For someone who has zero experience with the more pervasive social media, I 
don't even own a cell phone, I was amazed at the interface for posting and 
working on stories and the feedback/commentary mechanism.

Not that I've got a huge amount of feedback, that seems reserved for 
clop/lemon fiction-_-;;



A FFML version of this site would be a real winner.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Angus MacSpon
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 2:38 AM
To: The Fanfiction Mailing List
Subject: Re: [FFML] A thought on the future of the FFML


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 thi
s 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


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




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