Hercules and Xena |
Xenite Fandom Keeps On Growing, And Growing, And Growing... |
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Hercules and Xena |
Xenite Fandom Keeps On Growing, And Growing, And Growing... |
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| Xenite.Org News | Xenite Fandom Keeps On Growing, And Growing, And Growing... |
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Xenite Fandom Keeps On Growing, And Growing, And Growing...
Since we reorganized Xena Online Resources to make use of a database engine a couple of months ago, we've received over 60 new submissions. XOR is constantly being updated with new information now, but the addition of a new mailing list or Web site (beyond those we find ourselves) every day is a sign that fandom continues to grow and shows no sign of stopping. Eighteen months ago, when I recruited the first group of XOR Team members, I had accumulated about 500 listings and expected to see the list top 1000 by the end of the year. We've since exceeded that number but over the past few months a number of long-time sites have vanished. Actually, a lot of Web sites have disappeared. It's an ongoing process that is a part of online life. People move their sites to new URLs and don't know they are listed with XOR so they don't tell us when they move. But, sadly, some people also change the content of their sites, or they take them down. They've become disillusioned with the HERCULES and XENA shows and no longer wish to be part of online fandom. And there are a few people who also, for any of various reasons, lose their Internet access, or whose offline lives start to take up more of their time and attention. When I browse the news groups I don't see quite as many of the old names I used to encounter there. Some of the people have moved on to mailing lists. There are dozens of them. Some of the people have gone elsewhere, however. And yet the news groups are more active this season than ever before. A new generation of "regulars" has sprung up. Every year the Usenet community changes and grows, and becomes a little less intimate than it used to be. Internet access is still spreading throughout the world. XENA and HERCULES are distributed to more than 80 countries. They have been ranked the top syndicated shows in the world more than once. That's an amazing accomplishment, but to me what is more amazing is that every week I see new fans coming online to annouce their Web sites, mailing lists, or to share their ideas about shows that I once discussed with the same great passion. I feel a bit grandfatherly, and sometimes I wonder if I understand this new generation of fans. In many cases I'm not much older than they are. But I've lived through so much that they have missed. Someone recently posted a message to alt.tv.xena discussing the history of a couple of the Xena groups. She had some facts wrong and I felt compelled to correct the errors, as gently as possible. I was there. I lived through it. So did many other people, but where have they gone? Years from now, someone will write a documentary or news article about the Hercules and Xena news groups and I'm sure they'll publish a lively and oh-so-fictional history. It will be derived from the misremembrances of fans who have passed down the lore, so to speak. I see this process occurring in other news groups as well. If someone has been active in a group since its inception, there is a chance that errors of fact will be corrected. But as each year passes more and more of the "originals" for the news groups leave the fold, passing on to some new phase of online life. So, just as Hercules and Xena wander through a history that never happened but which in odd ways resembles "real" history, we online fans are living through a history that will be forgotten, and in its place the new generations of online fans will recall (fondly, sadly, wistfully, or regretfully) Great Debates, Flame Wars, and online families which never were but which -- for a while, perhaps -- may resemble some that did exist. But the Web sites will still keep coming. The mailing lists will spring up anew each week -- especially since virtually anyone can now create a list of their own through independent servers -- more message boards will be created. Life goes on. Online life goes on. We're now linked by email, news group, message board, ICQ, java chats, IRC -- and who knows what multitude of new technologies will emerge in the next couple of years. Online fandom will continue to add new corners, and maybe "live" conferences will spring up around the Net as fans meet via conferencing software. Then someone will create a conference scheduling site, and they'll have a mailing list where people can announce conferences, and someone will write an article about the conferences, and we'll list all the links on XOR. Gone will be the days of when people would naively ask for the words to Joxer's theme song in ATX -- now will come the days when 20-30 fans will convene to deliberate the demise of the series, and their findings will be published on the Web. And it will all occur within 24 hours of the airing of the last episode. You watch. It'll happen. And it will just be the beginning of something greater. Note: Because of extensive abuse and flaming, Xenite.Org no longer endorses fan participation in news groups. You may want to check out our moderated forums at SF Fandom. |
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