fandom abandonment

[burntcopper]

Specifically, BtVS/Angel.

I've just moved my fandom sites that were on burntcopper over to darkisrising.net due to burntcopper's space issues, and posted up 'moved to here' signs, as well as notifying katemonkey that they'd moved. Then started flicking through the sites at btvswritersguild. Now, people that read this journal know that I've pretty much divorced myself from the full-scale fannish involvment of BtVS and Angel, aside from going to the conventions (actors and partying are far different), and barely ever read the fic since the shows finished, aside from recs and the gunn/wes list. My updating has been... sporadic at best. However, I feel less guilt since the most people are updating theirs with is the occasional new fic, since it is a tad difficult to write essays on new developments and such once the show's finished. The sites are still up mostly because they're still visited regularly and thus providing a resource.

What is interesting, however, is the amount of sites that have disappeared. 404'd without a moving address. And is it wrong for me to point and laugh at the fact that most of the sites that are gone were run by the *cough* fannish butterflies? They came, they were applying for new ship sites every couple of months at the height of it - sometimes up to five at a time - and now they're gone. The ones still there are for the most part the elder statesmen lot. People who've been around fandom for a few years. JennyO. Kate. Sheila. And so on.

Hmm. Can we say 'told you so?'

Comments

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

I have three. it's a fair few. jennyo had five at one point. It just got very scary that the ones the fbs designed all looked the same. Whereas, say, Unnatural, the connor/dawn zone, had been going for quite a while as a fannish resource/archive as it was. And is still. I think for a while there the guild was the slightly more serious equivalent of the fanlistings at their height.

[wackinessensues.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I mean all my sites have a similar feel navigation wise, but when they all start looking like cookie cutters and don't have any personal feel left I think I will be very sad.

I'm still in love with the fandom, but I think maybe it's because I've only been in the BtVS/Angel fandom for like five years. I can see how those who were around since day one would tire of the maintenance aspect if not the friends they made in fandom.