I'll never be internet famous!

[schmevil]

I've gotten addicted to reading Fandom Secrets. Curse all of you who've linked me to it over the years. (Although hey, maybe I shouldn't be cursing, since I've actually made a few friends through the comm). Recently there was a secret bemoaning the maker's lack of BNFness. Basically, "Been in fandom for years. Still not a BNF. What's the pooooooint?"

Ok, been in fandom for years. Still not a BNF. The point is having fun.

It's been a few years since I came back to fandom. In those years I've done what I've always done: written some fic and meta, fangirled some stuff, ran a few communities for my fellow fans. Still not a BNF, alas - possibly I'm less known now than I was back in the day. But these have been the best years of my fandom life. I helped my community weather a TOSing and a Titter war. I've grown as a writer, producing some stories that I'm truly proud of. I ran my first ever fic exchange. I've reaffirmed my commitment to anti-oppression activism, this time online as well as offline. I've made some realizations about my own privilege and personal fail, and helped others to realizations of their own. I've made some awesome, irreplaceable friends.

In short, I've had some fantastic experiences, some harrowing experiences, and all in all, a lot of rewarding experiences. Still not a BNF, but man am I having a great time.

Comments

[valtyr]

I don't know what a Titter war is but it sounds like marvellous fun.

[schmevil]

Everyone wants to know what a Twitter war is! It's a flamewar on Twitter, so... nasty and fast-moving. It started with the Zeus Comics folks and spread to on comm anon trolling. We didn't make a big fuss about it because we didn't want to give them more attention.

BNFs

[jazzypom]

Really? The thing is though, to be a BNF, you have to work hard at it - and pretty much be willing to fan service. I... think that would be a tad difficult.

A titter war? Is that where you tsk at each other all the time?

Re: BNFs

[schmevil]

This is true. Sustaining BNFdom requires focus. You don't necessarily need to set out to be a BNF, but you've got to do one thing really well, and do it over and over (meta, a type of fic, reviews, whatever). I'm too scattered in my fannishness for that.

Remember chatroom flamewars? Twitter wars are kind of like that.

[kitewithfish]

(Followed the link from fandomnews)

"Dear Diary: Still not king BNF."


Been lurking since 2000-ish. Fandom is about the fun, and about the awesome generosity of people who follow creative expression just because it's a part of their soul. And now, it's becoming about finding connections through random sources- because, when you think about it, the fact that two people happen to like the same show is a really weird reason to become great friends online, but it's about as good as any other reason. I don't think I want to be a BNF, honestly. It might be nice to get a more comments, but that's really about it.

I confess I am also curious about how one wages wars on Twitter. Do you get siege weapons?

[schmevil]

Twitter would be so much cooler if there was seige machinery!

Being a true, panfandom BNF is probably not so much fun. It's the fandom version of stardom, right? Which means that while you get lots of positive attention, you get lots of negative attention too. You also get a lot of people feeling that you owe them something, be it more fic, more meta, more attention.

Fandom is about the fun, and about the awesome generosity of people who follow creative expression just because it's a part of their soul. .

Exactly this. :)