Are people in fandom still in interested in building community?
It's so interesting to see how things shift and change. Fandom is like a living, breathing, growing, changing, dying organism—probably because it literally is. And I find it curious to see just how it shifts.
It seems like the newer people who've come into fandom recently approach it so differently than I did even two years ago. They don't have socials, they don't respond to ao3 comments, they don't have any interest in discord (which, in my experience, is the best place to find community.) And to each their own, but it's fascinating to basically watch the community aspect of fandom die with the existence of TikTok. That seems to be where most people engage with fandom these days. They don't comment on fics or respond to their comments on ao3, they comment and comment back on TikTok. They don't see a need for socials elsewhere, they just chat with people on TikTok. They don't have interest in making friends, they only have interest in getting people to read their fics.
Stats are becoming a drug that's on par with views on social media.
It isn't supposed to be that way. Fandom isn't supposed to be where you go to get capitalist validation, it's supposed to be where you go to get away from it.
And like I said, to each their own, but lately I've been missing bonding with people in the comment sections of their fics. Or making random friends through fests, or because we followed each other on tumblr.
Now it just feels like an empty room. But I guess, at least it's cozy.