It stops being fun when it becomes Very Serious and Important.
And for some of us, that's where the fun starts.
Seriously, I'm intrigued by your implication that being in (a) fandom is something negative, as opposed to being a fan of the thing -- and also by suela's very high bar for self-inclusion; not in any "I'm right and you suck" way in either case, but because the whole definition of fandom is so different from mine. I use the word almost exclusively in the broad and multifandom sense -- fandom at large, as a culture, a group, a set of activities, maybe even an identity. I've gone long stretches in the last few years when I haven't had an active text that I'm even bothering to follow, let alone that I've written or argued about, but I've never been out of fandom; that's more a way of seeing the world than anything else.
Which isn't to say that there aren't fandoms for particular texts; I'm not at all into some of them, bitter about others, newly in love with one or two, and I can certainly use and recognize the term as an identifier: but
I'm not in HP fandom
is the same as
I'm not that into HP.
And it's never my first definition of the word "fandom".
eta: I vote "fuff"
Well, I view every single person here (including myself) as part of that fandom. Of course, people here can generally spell, however.
I wouldn't agree that posting on a bulletin board about anything makes one part of fandom.
I consider myself footloose and fandom free.
My last fandom was NSYNC. Before that it was BtVS and Angel. Before that I was without a fandom.
Huh. I burned out real fast on the whole fandom thing, didn't I?
I know people who consider fandom their fandom.
Hmmmm. I have no flag in any particular fandom, anymore. I am fandom peripheral.
Third "fuff".
I kind of dig the how-you-view-fandom thoughts. For the most part, I think of it how amych does, but when using it about specific texts, I get more precise. Kind of.
I consider myself a part of any fandom where I can muster up enough energy to comment on a regular basis about episodes *and* read or write fic. When I can no longer be bothered with either, I no longer include myself in the fandom. Firefly, I think of myself as a fan of, but not a part of fandom for, despite watching from the beginning, transcribing The Train Job for a script resource, and hosting the Seattle Serenity Postcard Party. Up until the movie, however, I felt no real need for fic, and, despite being on FF lists early on, never read anything much beyond shrift's zombie fic.
So my bar for self-inclusion is low, but not on the ground. And certainly revolves around fic production or consumption.
It's also murky. Despite regularly writing Shallow Alias Thoughts and having one Alias/AtS crossover drabble under my belt, I feel like less of a member of Alias fandom than I do, say Due South fandom, where I haven't written a word, but I'm more invested in the source text.
I like BtVS and Angel. I even got cable for them once I had a real job. But it took Firefly to get me involved with fandom. While I still think that Firefly was perhaps the best show ever and the movie is great, and while I fear many of my friends think I've gone over the edge, some of the utter devotion I've read about recently makes me want to sit folks down and say, "It's a
show."
My utter devotion occasionally makes me sit myself down and say, "It's a
blank.
"
Occasionally. But then I realize I kind of enjoy getting worked up about crap that doesn't matter one whit, and get over getting over myself.
Sad, but true.
But then I realize I kind of enjoy getting worked up about crap that doesn't matter one whit, and get over getting over myself.
Plei is me.
I'm unbelievably flattered.
