internet useage critical mass

:pokes internets:

You know how there's that timeline for the internet memes? (when 'all your base belong to us' and rickrolling first hit the web)

I have decided there really needs to be a trends aggregator. Specifically, when it got to be critical mass of how people used t'internets.

For example : communities used to be based in email groups. (onelist, egroups, yahoogroups) Now they're mostly on places like lj (especially fic) because it turned out to be a hell of a lot easier to organise and archive, you didn't get a full inbox, you didn't have the spam problem, etc. When did the critical mass happen?

Another one : people get music in all kinds of ways. Download sales have now overtaken cds. We all know youtube is the main place if you want to watch vids and short clips, most big media organisations have their own channels, *theatre* groups have their own channels for advertising, etc.

However : when did it get to be people's jukebox if they just wanted to listen to a song? (not download, just listen to it, like on the radio - good for 'look, this is what it sounds like') Used to be that you'd google for the mp3, now you're more likely to check youtube.

any other critical mass examples?

In other news, yours truly would really like to know when I started referring to Terry Pratchett as 'Mr. Pratchett' in conversation. And where I picked it up from. I don't refer to other writers like this. I used to say 'Terry', or 'Pratchett'. I say 'Terry' to his face. Now if there's a conversation *about* him and his work when talking to people who've never met him, I always say 'Mr. Pratchett'.

Btw, gmh and clanwilliam, have you got your copies of the newsletter? There are some fabulous photos of you two. Me, it's all fuzzy. :sigh: But several quotes. Gideon got one too. Though really not sure why Jacqueline Simpson seemed to think I was a junior version of whoever it was the Raven haired.

Also : fuck me it's cold out there. Actual *winter* appears to have set in.

fandom stuff

...bollocks.

There's nothing like that point when a baby pairing in a small fandom suddenly gets adopted by a very prolific author that you can't stand. I fear for that pairing, I really do.

other fic reading news :
....you're at part 81, (not including interludes), and you still have no idea when it'll end. No, really. put it down. I was looking in vague horror at the partwork that's 36/55, but at least she has some idea when it'll end. Also, that 81/? is a fucking *sequel*. I FEAR YOU.

oh fuck. vampire fic in merlin. FUCK. OFF. (no, despite the years spent in btvs, and the while spent consuming Vampire the Masquerade sourcebooks, the Being Human adoration, liking Blade, I was never a fan of vampires themselves. I like it even less when they invade fandoms where they're not part of the canon. Seriosuly. There's a WIP in Torchwood that has Ianto as a vampire and I just...eyurgh.)

been tracking the general stuff in merlin fandom. Robin hood, I was always smugly proud that the comm I modded was the biggest with most of the action. Merlin - I may have got my foot in the door first, but other comms are heavier traffic and have more members, though plenty gets cross-posted. On the other hand, interesting patterns - merlinxarthur is the biggest and heaviest traffic. merlin_tv is where most of the news gets posted first. merlinbbc is for some reason the discussion community, with a giant episode post. And where you pimp new communities. Even though it gets the least cross-posting.

But new fandom. I'm on most of the main comms, and like I said, tracking it. And watching so many familiar faces (especially icon makers) get sucked in by the shiny, sparkly pretty.

Merlin : it's like Mamma Mia. Shiny sparkly fun at the point when fandom needed it - mamma Mia got the economic downturn, Merlin got the lull in Torchwood and Who and SGA (the previous big slash fandom) winding down on tv.

..And you know how fandoms get crackish tropes quite early on which the old hands reference and then newbies reference without knowing the original source, and then one day someone screams 'WTF is this thing for doing *this* to a character and why will no-one explain the in-joke? I HATE YOU ALL, IT'S STUPID.' SGA - penguins and the crack it led to. Torchwood - mpreg. (which was actually canon). For some reason merlin fandom has a thing for putting Merlin in a dress. No, I don't know why. I saw the first fic and I *still* can;t figure out why everyone latched on so fast.