Tikatu's Travels Through Time

That's the title of the warning posts that I've been spreading around the fandom this morning as I got the news that Lycos Europe is shutting down both their email and their Tripod webhosting services next month. For some fandoms, this being a European thing isn't all bad; the US isn't affected (yet) and most of the active sites on Tripod (if there are any) would be on the US servers. However, for my fandom, this isn't good. The UK is where the widest fan base is, and I know there are still sites on Tripod. Tripod has been around a long while, and some fans moved on to other places - like MSN groups, which is also closing down next month.

Adding in the AOL Groups closure last year, I get the distinct impression that the fannish world is shrinking. Like being on an ice floe and all the edges are falling off, floating and melting away into the surrounding ocean, leaving less and less space to stand on. Many of the webmasters/groups owners have moved on in fandom; some have dropped out entirely. Now the information, pictures, discussions and fanfiction stored on these remaining sites, abandoned or not, will drop out as well.

Is this necessarily a bad thing? In a way, yes. A lot of unique material is going to be lost forever. I went hunting through Tripod's search engine, looking for sites specific to my fandom. None were terribly active, but one had some fanfiction that I've seen nowhere else, and another had some unique computer generated art. Will these be saved by their creators? Will they be posted elsewhere? At this point, I doubt it. How much more of this is tucked away in abandoned Yahoo groups, or Angelfire sites, or Geocities sites? What happens if these are shut down, too, as being "unprofitable" or not "best of breed"? In the greater scheme of things, I suppose they're not much of a loss. Fandom, as important as it is to some now, won't necessarily be important to the same people later. But even in closed canon fandoms, such as my own, there are still fans that come along, all fired up by their new shiny, and it's good to see where others have been before. It's good to know what the clichés were, who the BNFs were, where to find the fanworks that aren't in the mainstream, or where that plagiarist might have found the work s/he is stealing. Those unique contributions are lost, and it stings.

That's what's got me so determined not to let my own MSN Groups go quietly. I've spent the past couple of days copying all the custom pages and downloading any pictures that I don't have on my own hard drive. I hope to use them in building a new site elsewhere... but will that one day go the way these others have gone? I guess only time will tell.

I must say I'm not impressed.

There is a bland uniformity to the site, and it seems that the entire group is dedicated to chat and discussion - not necessarily sharing information or being a repository of such. My MSN groups were more than just discussions and messageboards - they were/are a place to go and have questions answered, to find both information and pictures, to post creative ideas in an eyepleasing format.

They are unique, and easily identifiable. When you visit, you know what they're all about. Not so much Windows Live Groups.

Just for comparison: screencaps of IR Central at MSN Groups and Tracy Island at Windows Live Groups. Which one is more distinctive? Which one is more appealing? Which one promises more dedicated information? You tell me.

(I drafted this entry before the events of September 8. See the relevant post for more details on that. Didn't want people connecting the two... which shows my state of mind since, I think.)

"That's the main thing I've found with fan-created sites; as real life closes in, the site suffers because, let's face it, real life trumps fan-stuff every time." Me, August 23, 2008.

I wrote this when I recounted the revival of an archive that I'd thought had been dead/dying, but that has been resurrected in a new form. My question was - and still is - will the owner's commitment to his archive endure? I hope so, but knowing his past history, I'm skeptical.

However, during the past couple of weeks, I've come to realize something else that affects fan-created sites of all stripes: the "bright, shiny, new". This happens when a new, cool show/movie/book/what-have-you catches someone's attention and they basically drop the fandom(s) they're currently involved in like a lead weight to reach after the new thing. This isn't always a bad thing; people do mature in fandom and moving out of a fandom isn't always precipitated by a new one coming along. Sometimes it's not a dropping of one fandom, but an adding of another, with a fan giving both equal attention. But, in my own experience, it's often the first case that leaves archives, websites or messageboards abandoned by their owners - unless they turn the sites/boards over to someone who is responsible and enthusiastic about carrying it on.

Why is this particular observation coming to me now? Because I think I've got the "bright, shiny, new" myself. Not for another fandom. But more for other websites, other opportunities on sites where concentrated participation is de rigeur. Sites where, if you want to be read, reviewed, whatever, you must reciprocate - and reciprocate a lot. Sites that require focused daily attention.

Now, this isn't always a bad thing, either. For any one site to have a lively, panfandom atmosphere is rare, I think, and can be an interesting place. FanLib was like this; a lot of writers bravely read outside their fandoms, outside their comfort zones, and not only read but reviewed and gave good constructive criticism. I enjoyed that immensely, both from the giving and the receiving ends.

It's just that, for me to participate to the level that was expected, I found I had less and less time to devote to those fandom-specific ventures that I myself have started, or that have been entrusted to me by others. My own sites, in particular my MSN Groups, have languished, with only the occasional news item and the monthly caption contests keeping the sites from looking like they've been abandoned. My C2 community has been comatose for the past couple of years; I keep wanting to revive it, but never seem to have the time. I have seen so many things happen to other sites - their owners don't want to destroy them, but they don't have the time or inclination to keep up with them, or add to them. It makes me sad and irritated when the only posts I find on an otherwise interesting site are from "lonely singles" spammers that a somewhat interested group owner could remove with a couple of clicks.

And it's not just sites, it's fanworks, too. How many WIPs have fallen by the wayside due to this? I've been moving like molasses on my own three, and I get angry at myself about it. I'm determined not to abandon them, but it gets harder and harder to make the time to write each day. There are other storylines clamoring for my attention, not just in fanfiction, but in my role play as well. The role play comes first, the WIP second. When will the new ideas get their time if I'm determined to finish what I've begun before I start something new? (Not to mention that NaNoWriMo is just around the corner!)

So, which way do I go? Do I reach out to the newer sites, give them my time and energy? Do I go back and concentrate my efforts on my older sites? Do I shrink my fannish circle or do I expand it?

It's time to reprioritize and decide what is most important to the fan in me.