I was just browsing MUNCLE

[leethet]

And it's mindboggling to observe that there're nearly two hundred members. The MFU fandom has moved online (by that I mean LJ, of course) in a pretty big way here - I'm guessing most of these people came along within the last couple of years. It's all good, of course, but it's very startling.

Comments

[slashpine.livejournal.com]

Well, you aren't. Well, at least, you aren't in HP. ;-)

Snerk. But Potterverse people don't lurk. And I am but the merest house-elf occasionally popping in to cheer, or roll eyes at, the active players and *cough* major names in fanfic *cough*

If I'd been paying more than occasional attention over here I'd've noticed the growth, instead of being startled by it. But it is a good thing - there's always a sort of shift in tone when a batch of new writers comes in, so it'll be interesting to examine it, now that I'm "old school" (not compared to first cousins, of course, but compared to the newer folks).

This should really take off when the DVDs come out, eh? :: wriggles in excited anticipation ::

And I think you're right - each new cohort, even when they come in separately, change the conversational topics and mood of the party. Very neat to see, and I think it will just keep unfolding even faster after the DVDs come out (knock on the wood of Alexander Waverly's briar pipe, since the furniture and building are all metal).

What will distinguish the MUNCLE comm from all others, I believe, is the presence of an active, respected and knowledgeable contingent of first cousins in this LJ comm. Excited newcomers and newly reinterested former fans will come into this community and find well-established fanon, archives, and wise older members to applaud and advise them.

This should help the getting-settled-in processes go quickly and more smoothly... decrease potential wank or rough netiquette ... in short, function as a textbook "Community of Practice" case (I think. That just occurs to me; I was studying CoP's last year and it dawns on me that this might be worth study! Oooh. My nerdly self twitches to life.)

At any rate, I think it will all be Good. Especially if when older cousins, like you, are inspired to bring out new stories to join in the festivity. That has its own awesome synergy.

[leethet.livejournal.com]

This should really take off when the DVDs come out, eh?

Oh yeah. I think there'll be lots of new folks and even new energy from old folks. :-)

And I think you're right - each new cohort, even when they come in separately, change the conversational topics and mood of the party.

This is true but I was actually thinking of the fact (well, I think it's a fact) that each new generation (and I don't mean "generation" in an age sense, although that can be part of it) brings in a perceptible shift in writing tone/style - now, sometimes that's good (harder edged stuff with less girlifying of the characters seems to be one benefit of more recent fics in this fandom [generalizing here!]) sometimes it's not so good (the tendency of fandom butterflies to dabble for a while, producing a bunch of Any Two Guys stories, then move on) - but just as I was shifting my energies into HP we got a batch of multifandom people coming into MFU. There was a shift toward LJ, which I heartily approve, and for the most part good fiction (although, yes, there was some ATG stuff in there too, IMO).