paraka | How Fandom Has Changed

How Fandom Has Changed

So, I've spoken to people about this in various places in various ways, but I kind of wanted to put this out there, and get people's opinions.

Maybe it's just the fandoms I've been in, or it could just be me, but it seems like fandom has changed how they present themselves a lot since I joined. The area that I notice this the most is with vidding.

I remember making my first vid, and then having no idea how to go about sharing it. I was a poor student! I couldn't afford to buy webspace! I also was stuck using WMM (Version 1!) because you couldn't get downloads of better programs, and that was all that was available to me. It took me *months* to get my hands on all the aired episodes of QaF, because there weren't all the communities available, and while there was probably bit torrent, I certainly didn't know about it. I used Kazaa to get all my eps. :P I remember, even as I got started, there was meta going around saying that vidding was beginning to lose some of it's quality because what with WMM being on most new computers, and episode downloads more readily available everyone was trying vidding now, even if they hadn't any talent for it. I took exception to such meta, mostly because I was one of those talentless n00bs taking advantage of the new fangled technology suddenly on my computer (I still don't really agree with that idea, because for all the less than stellar vidders, there are a lot of amazing vidders who wouldn't have tried in the old days, and even if you're not an amazing vidder, I still think your work has merit if you enjoyed yourself. Hell, if I was that kind of elitist, I could never have made anymore vids, and I'd like to think that I've moved beyond the mediocre vidder I started as).

Despite it giving me problems when I first started out, I think the thing about vidding today that annoys me the most is the fact that people don't have personal webpages for their vids anymore. They just post them to Youtube or Imeem, and so, so many don't even offer a download link anymore, or if they do, they're often hosted on temporary sites such as sendspace or megaupload. I'm one of those people that always downloads vids, I watch them as I do other things on my computer, I hate streaming vids. I won't watch them if there is only a streaming option, and I like being able to go to a vidders website and downloading more of their vids if I find something I like. Half the time if I want to do that now, I end up having to root someone's LJs tags or memories, only to find that the download link has expired.

And it's not just vidders that I've noticed giving up on personal websites, it seems like so many author's have decided that their LJs are the only place they need to post fic. I had a big long discussion with

paradise_city about this, she was wondering why anyone would need more than LJ in fandom, and no offense to her, but that idea really... worries me and drives me crazy. Because LJ? Not really the best archive. Unless the author takes the time to maintain a master fic list, I find it so frustrating trying to find their other fics. Tags just... aren't really enough for me, and people can be really bad at keeping them updated (I know *I* am). Do people even *use* the memory feature any more? I've been lucky in SGA, that it has enough fic appearing on my flist, that I never really have to search any out, but it's not so with all fandoms. I've pretty much given up on reading Numb3rs fic, because it's always so much effort finding it. That's really the reason why I wanted to start an archive for Numb3rs, to help centralize it, but for reasons having to do with stupid eFiction those idea have been put on hold.

I know that when I started in fandom, it was literally *months* before I even found LJ, I happily did all my reading initially from personal webpages of authors, and then later from archives. Even once I was on LJ I did most of my reading off it. I really miss that. For one thing, as someone who doesn't bookmark fic as I read it, it was a lot easier for me to go back and find the fics that I had read previously, because it's a lot easier to remember a webpage than it is to remember someone's LJ.
I find myself missing the days when more fic was stored off of LJ, and not just because I feel that LJ isn't a reliable place for fandom. It's funny how fandom moves, I wonder where we'll be next.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

1) I hate having to go to YouTube to watch vids because it affects the image quality, and Imeem streams so badly for me that I don't even bother following links there anymore. ITA with you that I've noticed the lack of permanent (or at least long term) links for vids, and it's a large part of why I don't watch many vids now.
I understand that Youtube is nice because it can increase your visibility, I won't lie, I use it myself (but I have a link going back to my webpage with each vid) and some people like being able to see a vid before they download it, to see if it's worth keeping, but I just don't understand why someone would *only* use Youtube. The other day, someone on a comm on my flist posted a vid, which was hosted on Youtube, I watched it, and really enjoyed it, so left a comment asking for a download (since one wasn't provided) and she pointed me to software that would allow me to download from Youtube! I already have that kind of program, I don't *want* the Youtube crappy quality.
And it really gets me that vidders can shoot themselves in the foot like this. It takes a *lot* of time and effort to come out with a good vid. I know in my early days, I could make one in a week, but now that I'm a more conscious of the process, it generally takes me at least a month to make one. If I'm going to put that kind of effort into make a vid, I want to know that people can *use* it. I would rather people continue to watch my vid, not just enjoy it for 5 minutes.
And I'm with you, the way vids are presented has really turned me off watching them. When I first got into fandom, I was more into vidding than anything else. I was in fandom for *months* before I read my first fic. For a while, it seemed I had every QaF vid ever made on saved to my computer. I certainly can't come anywhere near saying that for SGA. In fact, since I haven't really been downloading new vids, I haven't even really been watching the ones I have, which makes me sad, because I really do adore vids. It also bothers me the habit I've started noticing where vidders, I guess, are trying to centralize comments, so have you click to their journals to get the download information, but then still make you click away from there (to their webpage, or to some other hosting site) to download the actual vid. That seems like a lot of extra clicking for me, I don't want to have to click away from my flist. And the funny thing is, with my latest vid, even though I posted direct downloads for it on a bunch of different comms, I only got one comment that wasn't on the post in my journal. I think commenters realize that vidders prefer getting comments there, and will go to their LJs to leave comments (or, like me, I save the name of the vidder in the file name so I can find them again should I want to leave feedback.

(apperantly I like to hear myself talk, cont...)

2) I love LJ because it gives me a way to feedback without having to sign up for yet another board/archive site, but if I read someone's story and really like it, the first thing I do is check their user info to see if they have a website, and I bookmark those.
You know, something I've noticed, is that some authors post their fic to their LJs, but still post it to their webpage, and at the bottom of the story where they leave their info for feedback, they are not only leaving their email address, but also a link going back to the LJ post so that you can leave a comment there. That seems like a nice compromise to me.

Websites tend to be cleaner and it's great to have a good author's fic all in one place, and be able to avoid having to wade through all the other fic I'm not interested in reading.
And that's really what it comes down to for me. I like having everything there. I like that a story can be all on one page (since webpages don't have character limits like LJ does) or the breaks are more natural if it is broken up. I like going in, being able to see if a fic is finished, or how many parts it's in. And, even though it can sometimes be really badly done, I like how webpages look *distinctive*. Some people have their LJs set up so everything is in their style, but a lot just go to the generic black on white with blue trimmings LJ default. It's also nice, because you can see if the author writes in other fandoms that you like, or if they also vid, or whatever. LJ just has too much other stuff, and you have to skip back, and a single fic can be multiple posts, websites are just cleaner.

My guess is people are moving away from the personal sites because the free ones are chock full of ads and the pay ones are getting more and more expensive.
Really? I know the free ones are full of ads, but I would say that the pay ones aren't all that expensive. I have multiple websites. In fact, if you're willing to shop around and look for deals you can get websites pretty much for free. I have gotten websites for $10 for the full year, $1 for the full year, and even my main webpage that I pay for is only about $100/year and it has so much bandwidth and disk space that I don't know what to do with it (I'm currently hosting, like 5 webpages on it and never really have a dent in my bandwidth or disk space). And the thing is, and I *know* I'm not alone in this, I'm totally willing to share this space. One of the sites I host is a fic archive for a QaF writer I met years ago. I host

raxhels vids, I host my own, and another SGA/SPN vidders, and have put out an open call to anyone else who'd like to have their vids hosted. I know that with the deals going on out there, it is just as inexpensive to get a webspace with a ton of space and bandwidth as it is to get one with only a little, and the abilities to give individual people access to their own part of the webpage. If you think about it, it would be *super* easy for a group of say, 10 authors to get together and purchase the plan I have, host all of their fic/fandom stuff, as well as having some room for personal stuff, and then only have to pay $10 for the whole year.

(cont. some more)

but I would say that the pay ones aren't all that expensive.

I'm only going by what I've seen grumbled about on my flist, because I've never had a personal website. I would love to start a McShep/OT4/Porne archive but I don't know the first thing about doing that, and I probably don't have the time to run it the way I want to anyway. But it'd be nice when the fandom dies back to have the stories I love still be available. There are days when I wish I could go back and read the Spike/Angel stories I really liked but can't because the sites are gone. :(

On the other hand, the drawback to that sort of site is that the author is sort of at the mercy of the site owner. I had my Vigorli fic archived and now wish I hadn't because I don't want them to be public anymore, but the owner has apparently disappeared. I've emailed her several times over the past two years asking her to please remove my stories but have gotten no response. Luckily they're under my previous LJ name but I'd still rather they be gone. :/

I would love to start a McShep/OT4/Porne archive but I don't know the first thing about doing that, and I probably don't have the time to run it the way I want to anyway.
Ha, should you decide you want to try your hand at it, I'd happily host if for you, and could even help you set it up. ;)

But it'd be nice when the fandom dies back to have the stories I love still be available. There are days when I wish I could go back and read the Spike/Angel stories I really liked but can't because the sites are gone. :(
Yeah, regardless of whether people truly use archives while a fandom is active (although SGA is the first fandom where the archive *hasn't* played a major part in the fics that I read) they are really helpful once the fandom is no longer fresh.
That's why so many authors/readers are drawn to places like FF.net, because it's one place that can keep a record of their fanish activities as they change, and it draws on all fandoms. I just can't respect that site for all the stupid rules they've put in place trying to bend over backwards to outside pressure. That's why I'm excited about the OTW. And as I was saying to

paradise_city below, they have a plan to start a project to adopt archives if the people running it decide they no longer want to run it. That way people running archives can go in knowing that their hard work won't disappear or fall to the wayside should they lose interest in its contents.

On the other hand, the drawback to that sort of site is that the author is sort of at the mercy of the site owner. I had my Vigorli fic archived and now wish I hadn't because I don't want them to be public anymore, but the owner has apparently disappeared. I've emailed her several times over the past two years asking her to please remove my stories but have gotten no response. Luckily they're under my previous LJ name but I'd still rather they be gone. :/
Hmm, what kind of site is it? Most archiving software used out there gives authors the power to edit or delete the works they've put on the site...

(Last one, I promise!)

I know many of the better QaF writers quit posting their stories at BJFic because they didn't want the association with the overwhelming bad!fic that got posted there.
It makes me sad that archives in general are getting such a bad rap. I really, really think that archives are one of the best ways of presenting fic, if only because they tend to be more timeless than any of the other means out there currently; LJ is great for announcements, not so much as an archive. Once something is posted, it quickly gets buried, even personal websites aren't necessarily forever, how many QaF websites were shut down once the show ended and the people running them decided to move away from fandom? Archives present new fic right along side the older fic. I sometimes still interact with people active in the QaF fandom, and it always surprises me how much that fandom has changed. I don't recognize any of the big names anymore, they've all changed. I posted a podfic of one of

valerie_z's fic, and pretty much all the comments I got were from people saying they had never heard of that author before, but wasn't she awesome? And the fic being produced today just has such a different *feel* to it. I think, because the author's writing today have the whole of the series presented to them before they write, it inspires a different impression of the show. They saw Brian and Justin go through their changes all at once, so the fics more show off how their personalities were at the end of the show, and there's less exploration of the various aspects shown, because they saw them being disproved later on. And certainly for season 1 and 2, QaF had amazing cliff hangers, that just had the writers in the fandom going crazy and hypothesizing over it, and fic to show for it, but that sort of thing isn't being written anymore. And it seems like such a crying shame that the new fans are missing out on that kind of history because fic get buried on LJ, or they avoid the archives because there's more badfic than good. Or that they might think that those early fic are badfic, because the characters seem OOC.

I wish there was an archive for SGA like Gio's Queer Eyes
I... never actually used Queer Eyes for fic purposes. I don't even think I knew it had a rec section, I mostly just went there for icons, and in season 4, to download the new eps. SGA does actually have things like that set up, just google SGA McShep rec list, you'll get quite a few, I know I have a couple bookmarked. The trick is finding a rec'er with tastes similar to your own.

Gio actually archives fic at QE. There are a few author's page links but most of the stories are archived at the QE site. I used it a lot because Gio and I tend to have the same taste in fic (hot smut and happy endings!).

I don't know any of the new people. I got so fried by the post S5 wank that I had to take a fandom vacation, and by the time I started paying attention again nearly all the people I knew and trusted for fic had stopped writing it (if anyone knows what fandom Tricia is writing in now, please tell me!). I did read a few writers that were recced at first(like xie_xie_xie), but I think you hit it when you said the tone had changed. Then I got into McShep and they sort of kudzued over everything else in my brain and I kind of stopped trying to read the new QaF stuff. The only one I was still following was Plum's BTYBR, but I got lost about ten or so chapters back and have no idea what's going on anymore.

I got so fried by the post S5 wank that I had to take a fandom vacation
I was actually already gone by the time the season finale aired. I had all the episodes like a month before they aired (but I still managed to fall behind on watching them). I think I got burned out on all the pre S5 wank, and then when I actually saw what happened, I just... that was pretty much it for me. I left the country soon after and went for months without my own computer, only able to borrow

raxhels computer. She had fic saved there, but not any QaF stuff, so I ended up falling into the HP fandom instead. By the time I was back in Canada, it was all SGA all the way :)

I did read a few writers that were recced at first(like xie_xie_xie), but I think you hit it when you said the tone had changed.
Yeah

xie_xie_xie and her group are really keeping the fandom alive over on IJ, but, it's just a totally different fandom these days. One of the things that surprises me, in that I totally can't understand it, is that the current fandom is somehow less anti-Mikey and *more* anti-Mikey at the same time. If you read fic he's not villainized as much as he was in our days (they tend to write him in fics more as he appeared on the show, rather than, you know, trying to kill Justin and hide the body while seducing Brain) but if you go to the major B/J comms, they pretty much all have rules saying you're not allowed to talk about Mikey or the Brian/Mikey dynamic (not the pairing, which I can understand, but you're not even allowed to talk about their dynamic!).
Getting back OT here, I know that for me, the first season was my favourite, then the second and third, and by the fourth, I was beginning to lose interest in the canon, and it was just the fandom keeping me there. I *loved* reading all the fics from the first and second season finales where the author didn't actually know what was going to happen and made up their own ideas. They were awesome! Even if they did turn out to be wrong or completely OOC later on. The season 3 and 4 endings didn't interest me as much, and well, the season 5 ending just left me angry. But, by default, the current fandom can never really write the fics that I loved most, because they already have the answers, and they are going into AU areas if they try (but are still going to be influenced if they want to be or not, but what they know happens later). And so much of the fics I see out there are post season 5 fics, and I just don't really care to go there. I liked my happy pairing in Pittsburgh.

I've been thinking about this since our archive conversation -- thanks for your thoughts, by the way. I haven't gotten a chance to respond, but this post hits on everything I wanted to say, anyway.

I think the relative importance of archives depends on the reading habits of the person in question. I find little value in archives because I never read there and I never read there because LJ is sufficient to meet my reading needs. I don't read a lot of fic, I rarely go looking for a particular type of fic, and I find LJ's default comment page easier to read than most archive or personal site pages. And luckily, as my main fandom, SGA provides enough effortless fic via newsletters and rec lists to provide more than enough reading material.

The only time I ever actually used archives was when there wasn't enough LJ fic available -- early on in House fandom and before Nick/Greg CSI fic had an active LJ comm. That shortage hasn't ever happened again.

Mabe I'm just not an active enough reader, but I just don't need to read anywhere other than LJ. And while I agree that archives are much better for actual archiving purposes, I just don't have a personal need for them.

Maybe starting out on the vidding side makes a difference? Most of my flist comes from the fic side and they rarely positively discuss archives (though some have an interest in the OTW's archive project).

I'm not at all trying to rain on your archive parade by any means, just explaining my side. :)

thanks for your thoughts, by the way. I haven't gotten a chance to respond
Yes well, when my response is so long I have to email it because it won't fit in 3 comments, then it's not really surprising that you didn't have a response right away :P

I find little value in archives because I never read there and I never read there because LJ is sufficient to meet my reading needs.
I will admit, I don't use the SGA archive overly much myself, just because, well, you've seen my To-Read list, and it's only gotten longer since I sent it to you.

I rarely go looking for a particular type of fic
I think that can make a big difference, because I'm totally a moody reader, and I love the archives with a lot of warnings available (the Wraithbait doesn't have enough for my liking) because I'll search by those. In SGA though, before I got such a wide variety of fic in my To-Read list, I was more likely to check out Cross Roads than I was Wraithbait.

I find LJ's default comment page easier to read than most archive or personal site pages.
As I was saying to

equusentric, I actually kind of miss going to various webpages and see how they have their layout. Sometimes they'd hurt your eyes (although that's easy to fix), but it's nice to have variety. In fact, I dislike how a lot of people will add the ?style=mine or the light format to links, because, for one, it really throws me to see someone else's LJ in my style, but also because I like see how other people choose to view their journals.

And luckily, as my main fandom, SGA provides enough effortless fic via newsletters and rec lists to provide more than enough reading material.
And that's actually one of the reasons why I feel that archives are necessary. Because, yeah, it's great for us, we're at the height of a big fandom right now, but that's not always the case. Take, for example, the Due South fandom. That show was aired from 1994-1999, and while it was airing it had a nice fandom for the show, that kind of died out when the show finished airing, but then a few years ago the DVDs were released and suddenly fandom is starting up again. Now, they are probably turning out enough fic that you can go by newsletters, but just think of all the fic that was written while the show was still airing that the new fans are going to miss? As I was saying to

equusentric above, there is a really different quality to fics written while a show was airing compared to fics written after the show has ended. There seems to be a little less exploration, since they've already seen things resolved (a little harder to write "what happens next" fics, when you already know what happens next) and you see the character fully grown too, and don't really have the opportunity to examine certain aspects. If the fandom doesn't have an archive than the fans to come are going to miss out on all that, because the BNF fans that wrote the first ground breaking stories, may be unknowns now, or are writing in other fandoms, so if you were to go to their LJs, you wouldn't be able to tell/find that they have writing for that fandom in the past.
I just feel that archives can offer that kind of stability, even more so than personal webpages, because sometimes people let their personal webpages go. Archives are sometimes let go, but there are generally people willing to take it over, and, once the OTW is up and running, they have a program that they are implementing where they will take on the maintenance of older archives if no one around is interested in running it anymore.
I just feel that LJ is great for the here and now, announcements and comments, but it just isn't built for any kind of longevity, and fandoms don't just die when the show is over. Think of all the renewed interest in SG-1 as SGA gains more viewers? Or brought new viewers into the franchise when it started up. Or all the people that wanted to check out Farscape when Ben and Claudia joined SG-1. I've seen Traders or First Monday fic crop up now that David and Joe are on SGA (although I'm not sure how much of a fandom was there originally). I'm sure starting up Dr. Who again brought a renewed interest in the older fandom, or the people flocking to the comic book fandoms after all the movies that have been released. Or books even, and not just from movies, I just discovered Good Omens, and I know it has a fandom out there, but I don't think they have a central archive, which has made it kind of hard for me to find fic in that fandom, and it takes quite a bit of searching.
If you're (general you here) the type of person that is only in a fandom once it's well established and is at its peak, then yeah, LJ is just fine for you, but if you are interested in fandom anywhere outside of that shortish time frame, especially if you're a veracious reader, it can be an awful lot of work finding what you want.

raxhel is one of those people, and at any one time she's active in literally *hundreds* of fandoms just because she'll read whatever she can find that's worth reading.
And that's not even really bringing up fandoms outside of the media fandoms (I mentioned books). Anime fandom is hugely different, since a lot of the shows over there are only 13 episodes, or similarly short. There aren't all that many animes that go on for seasons (although some of the popular ones do like Inu Yash, Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist to name a few off the top of my head). People find these shorter animes at different times (there are different times between when they air originally, when they are fan translated, and when they are legitimately translated, all points bringing in new and different fans) so the fandoms have different, and multiple peak points.

Maybe starting out on the vidding side makes a difference?
To be honest, I don't think so. I think vidders need webpages for very different reasons why I feel writers should post to more than just LJ. I mean, Stargate is very unique as a fandom to have a vidding archive. It was the first I ever saw that had one. And the only multifandom vidding archive I know of is animemusicvideo.org

Most of my flist comes from the fic side and they rarely positively discuss archives (though some have an interest in the OTW's archive project).
I really have gotten the impression since I joined fandom that the feelings towards archives has changed a lot. I think part of that reason is that fandom has just become so much more mainstream, and the more people aware of it, the more people who participate, and that means that there are more people participating who just haven't any talent for writing or vidding or graphics or whatever. I have heard of some archives trying to put standards in, but the thing is what is "good" and what is "bad" is so subjective, that most of the time the standards at those webpages is "spell checked" and "proper grammar" and has nothing to do with plot.
Also, I have to wonder if maybe it's just that on LJ it's a lot easier to rec fics, and to find out what you're friends are reading, because it's not like there are any standards over here either. Most comms only block people from posting if they are being asses, and hardly ever do so based on their writing. Anyone can post to most of the announcement comms (sga_noticeboard, mckay_sheppard, etc.). It's not like the newsletter reads the fics it posts either, they just follow the big comms and do a round up. Why is it so much easier to find good fic over here?
And I have to ask, you say that you don't use archives all that much, but is that because you just don't find a need very often? Or do you actively avoid it? If I were to say, rec you a fic, and give you a Wraithbait link, would you still go read it? I ask, because I know that if someone gives me a link to ff.net, even if it sounded interesting, it generally gets moved to the bottom of my To-Read list, but that's based on the rules I know exist on that site, and not on the fact that it's hosted on an archive.

I'm not at all trying to rain on your archive parade by any means, just explaining my side. :)
Oh, no worries, I feel no rain. You make valid points, and I understand that people aren't feeling a need to post to archives as much anymore, or actively avoid them because they feel there's too much badfic there (which, by not posting there, they are kind of perpetuating...).
Also, random though, I have to wonder if maybe ideas are different in different fandoms, because when I think about my time in the HP fandom, pretty much all the fic I read was read off of LJ. All of the rec sites out there seemed to have links going to the main archives out there. Probably since that fandom is so old and so prolific, but still...

Despite it giving me problems when I first started out, I think the thing about vidding today that annoys me the most is the fact that people don't have personal webpages for their vids anymore. They just post them to Youtube or Imeem, and so, so many don't even offer a download link anymore, or if they do, they're often hosted on temporary sites such as sendspace or megaupload.

I totally agree with this, and it's one of the main reasons we changed our policy on Kawoosh! and The Impala and don't allow temp/streaming links - we want our archive links to be available for as long as possible.

Also, I think vidders who don't collate all thier vids onto a webpage are disadvantaging themselves - so often I've gone to watch one vid and ended up watching more of that smae vidders stuff cos it's all their and something caught my interest - that isn't going to happen if all the vids aren't in one place.

Not very articulate, sorry about that, but basically I'm saying I agree =)

I totally agree with this, and it's one of the main reasons we changed our policy on Kawoosh! and The Impala
Oh, did you used to not have to have your vids hosted?
I know that when I first got into Stargate and wanted to check out vids, I actually found the SG Music Awards, which lead me to find your site, and it was awesome. Also, I find it completely awesome that there are video archives. You see a billion and one fic archives out there, but other than the ones you run, the only other fanvid archive I know of is amv.org. I wish all fandoms had vid archives (is your coding open source? Because I think one of the main reasons why there aren't more vid archives is because there isn't any software available...).

Also, I think vidders who don't collate all thier vids onto a webpage are disadvantaging themselves
And really that's what gets me the most about all this. Even if people say they write/vid/whatever for their own enjoyment, getting feedback is still nice. I know that whenever I get feedback, it always makes me want to vid more. It's not the reason why I love vidding, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a big motivation for me.
Most archives out there allow you to remove your material whenever you want, I don't get why you wouldn't spread your work out wherever. Keep a list if you're paranoid, only choose places that give you the power to remove your work whenever you choose, but why close yourself off?

I'm exhausted from just posting all the stuff for my story, so I'm just going to say "word" for now and I'll see about adding more commentary tomorrow.

Word.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way, because with the way fandom is changing it really makes me feel like an old stick in the mud, talking about the good ol' days.

You know, funnily enough, I'm in the middle of making my first vid atm and its taken a bit of a backseat lately because of this exact reason -- I have nowhere to post it. I don't have a personal website and even though I have an LJ I'm not sure if it would be even worth posting it up in an entry. I think a lot of it is a self esteem thing, I'm usually very shy about posting something that is personal to me (and my art is usually quite personal to me, as I'm sure it is for everyone) so lately I've been persevering just purely for my own fun and enjoyment and sense of achievement. A friend of mine had suggested just throwing it up on Youtube, but that really feels so cheap to me. I'm in the same boat as you -- I will rarely watch a vid if you can only stream it, I usually like to have a (high-res... ahem) version sitting on my harddrive.

As for LJ, I'm old fashioned and still use the memory feature. I used to have a huge long list of Bookmarks however I tend to avoid relying on that these days as I recently had a Harddrive corrupt itself on me. At least with LJ links, its permanent and always accessible no matter what computer I'm on. At least thats my reasoning for it :P

Oh hey, if you'd like a place to host your vid, you're more than welcome to use my site; if you just want a link, to a page, to becoming part of the site (I had always planned on making more vidders part of my site, but just never really got around to it). And if you want any other kind of help with the vid (from technical questions to a beta), please, feel free to ask, I'm always there trying to spur on new vidders :)

As for LJ, I'm old fashioned and still use the memory feature. I used to have a huge long list of Bookmarks however I tend to avoid relying on that these days as I recently had a Harddrive corrupt itself on me.
I never really use the memory feature, unless it's specific posts in my own journal, or a series of things, like meta on other's LJs.
As for bookmarks, do you use Firefox as a browser? Because if you do, there's a great little add on called Fox Marks that will back up your bookmarks online for you and actually allow you to sychronize your bookmarks if you have more than one computer. I would have died more than once without it.
I also use that list I sent you as a way of keeping track of the fics I want to read. I have that list saved as a draft in my email, so I can easily add new fics that catch my interest, and delete fics once I've read them. I remember I once tried putting fics that caught my interest into memories, but it became to bulky and a mess, for me, I then went to just bookmarking fics, which I used for quite a while, but really, I like my system now most, because I can put a summary, or describe what caught my attention in with the link. And, as you said, I can access it from anywhere. *shrugs* It works well for me.

Oh, you are so very generous, thank you so much for your offer. My vid is kind of stagnant at the moment, not really moving very far. I only have about 2 and a bit minutes of it so far and I'm kind of having a break. I'm almost sick of the song, even though I picked it because I love it :P Have you ever experienced that before? Just worked so hard and obsessively watched and rewatched it checking for errors that you're getting a little sick of the song? I'm feeling a little obsessive compulsive about it. Could be the perfectionist in me.

I'll totally take you up on the offer when I have it done though, espcially the beta. I would be incredibly honored to have someone whose vids I really enjoy to look over mine :)

As for Bookmarks, I do use Firefox, although I've never heard of Fox Marks before. Interesting concept and I'll definitely have a look into it. I used to have lists and lists of bookmarks, a whole subfolder (more like 10 subfolders) full of fic, and then computer went bye bye. Quite heartbreaking :| Having a backup online sounds good to me. I also very very much enjoy your system of fic archiving -- been going through your rec's so far and I'm loving it. The summaries really help, so far I've just been going through the summaries and reading what jumps out at me. I'm probably gonna start going in order to keep track of what I've read and what I haven't soon though ;)

My vid is kind of stagnant at the moment, not really moving very far. I only have about 2 and a bit minutes of it so far and I'm kind of having a break.
Well, if you'd like some stimulation with the vid (either now, or when you think you're ready to start working on it again) a midway beta can really help, and can help in the overall vid because sometimes, a vidder can be missing something, and by the time they're finished it's kind of too late to fix it, or else requites a major overhaul (like if your POV is all over the place, or if certain clips are bringing up associations you don't necessarily want [I removed a section of my last vid, because one of my betas though I was commenting on sex in the show :S]).

I would be incredibly honored to have someone whose vids I really enjoy to look over mine :)
Awww. *blushes* Now I feel the need to make more vids :P
Do you watch Numb3rs? Because right now I'm thinking my next vid will be for that fandom, but I'm not sure...

I used to have lists and lists of bookmarks, a whole subfolder (more like 10 subfolders) full of fic, and then computer went bye bye. Quite heartbreaking :|
Oh man, I've had that happen. I started obsessively backing up my favourites, but I love how with foxmarks I just don't have to worry about it. The most I'd even lose is a link or two, since I'm pretty sure that they update your links daily.

The summaries really help
They really, really do. I know that I used to just have a giant huge folder of fics to read, and I'd end up spending forever clicking on links, or else I'd end up reading something I wasn't really in the mood for since I didn't really know what the fic was about before going in.

I'm probably gonna start going in order to keep track of what I've read and what I haven't soon though ;)
I'm not sure if you'll find this helpful, but what I actually do is keep the list saved as an email draft, that way I can go in and edit it whenever I've read a fic, or add any new fics that sound interesting, but I don't have time to read right away.
You could just copy and past the whole list into a draft of some sort (I like email, since I can access it from any computer then, but a document would work just as well :).

Thats a good point, although I'm not sure if I could subject this monstrocity on someone just yet :P Even though I have around 2 minutes done its still feeling a little too much like a mishmash of clips for me. Again, like I said, I'm a perfectionist. However, an outside perspective would definitely help. When I feel like having a look at it again (not to mention after giving it a bit of a clean up) I'll give you a holler if thats ok with you?

LOL @ commenting on the sex in the show. Was that QAF by any chance? It must have been a little hard not to go too over the top with the sex scenes in a vid, considering a lot of the show WAS sex.

I don't watch Numb3rs, no :( I don't tend to watch a lot of T.V. really, although that will probably change now I'm not playing WoW anymore :P If you do make a Numb3rs vid, even if though I'm not in the fandom, I'll be watching it ;)

I was actually thinking of doing the whole draft email thing, as a compliment to the list you sent me. Your email will be a backup as such, and the draft I make a sort of progress list. Might go set it up now, actually :P

Even though I have around 2 minutes done its still feeling a little too much like a mishmash of clips for me.
May I ask what fandom and what song you're using? I don't know if this helps at all, but lately, I've gotten into the habit of writing my vids out on paper before I even open up a vidding program. It helps give you an overall idea of what the vid is going to be about, even if the final version is really different from the initial version (sometimes clips just don't fit like you thought they would). It also really helps to sit down and consider: What is the vid supposed to be about? What story are you trying to tell? Whose POV is it coming from? What are some significant canon sources that fit this scene (if it's something where there are a lot of canon moments, like Brain/Justin moments, that's not as important, but if it's something rarer, like when I made that vid about Vance, it's best to think of the major scenes ahead of time, so you can spread them out to the best advantage, you don't want to get half way through your vid and find you're run out of scenes)? And similar questions, if you go into the vid with the answer to those questions in the front of you mind, you'll find that it's a lot hard to put random clips together. It's much easier to present a solid storyline, because you *know* what that story line is.

When I feel like having a look at it again (not to mention after giving it a bit of a clean up) I'll give you a holler if thats ok with you?
Yep, whenever you're ready. You have my email address, and if you forget, it's just my livejournal.com one. :)

LOL @ commenting on the sex in the show. Was that QAF by any chance?
No! That's the thing, it was an SGA vid, so it caught me completely off guard! I had a section of the vid devoted to the Team going out and meeting the natives of the Pegasus galaxy. The thing is, for all that the main premise of the show is the team going to other planets, there aren't all that many good shots of the Team greeting the natives. Often they'll do shots of the Team, and then cut to the Natives, so you don't get them in the same shot. And if we do happen to get them in the main shot, there's only like one person, instead of a few. Two episodes where I was able to find out guys in a group of natives was in Irresistible and The Tower (when John was being goosed by that lady), and since very few episodes of SGA deal with sex, and those two did, the beta thought I was trying to bring that theme out.

I don't watch Numb3rs, no
*sigh* Numb3rs is such a small fandom, it makes me sad sometimes. :(

If you do make a Numb3rs vid, even if though I'm not in the fandom, I'll be watching it ;)
Cool, thank you. If it's any consolation, the vid idea I have is pretty much just an action vid with lots of things blowing up, and car chases an flaily hands, so it won't requite much canon knowledge.

Sorry for taking so long to reply! Time has yet again got away from me.

As for fandom/song -- its an SGA vid and the song is "Accident & Emergency" by Patrick Wolf. I've also got another vid I'm working on thats SGA and the song is "My People" by The Presets. That one I've only got about 15 seconds of ;) didn't go very far. Oh well.

All those questions are definitely things I'll have to rethink. I started the vid with a very clear image in mind as for what I was wanting, but it got a bit clouded half way. I think I need to rethink it and re-edit and clear my head a bit before I start up once more.

I've found that too re: team shots. It really is very difficult to find team-y kind of shots, and its exactly that kind of shot I was after for the vid I was doing to "My People" by the Presets. Very difficult indeed.

As for Numb3rs being a small fandom - I hear ya, I'm in a few fandoms that are very very small and make me sad. I usually love to share my love of a show/band/etc with someone, and there are very few someones in some of my fandoms :P

I'm very open minded anyway with vids and whatnot, so I'll be interested to see your vid for sure :)

Sorry for taking so long to reply!
Pfft, I finally just went through and archived comments it's far too late to reply to, and those were like a year old. I'm perfectly ok with late responses, and don't really consider a week late :P

its an SGA vid and the song is "Accident & Emergency" by Patrick Wolf.
I just looked it up, I can see it. Would you be at all interested in reading vid meta? After this discussion, and similar ones I've held with others on my flist, I've sort of started writing up a post on vidding for newbies. I'm not sure how many people will find it interesting, but it's been kind of fun to write, although I keep delving into stupid examples instead of properly explaining myself. I think I've rewritten it a zillion times. :S

It really is very difficult to find team-y kind of shots, and its exactly that kind of shot I was after for the vid I was doing to "My People" by the Presets. Very difficult indeed.
I know! It's so annoying! For my vid, I ended up using scenes from Childhood's End, The Tower, that... episode with Cheya, you see them walking through a crowd. There are a decent amount of people in The Game, Poisoning the Well (which I didn't use because they were mostly dark), oh the one where John is stuck in the time dilation field, Irresistible and I think Irresponsible. There are more if you're willing to have single members of the team with others rather than the whole team.

Just a random person cruising in from a bookmark on my del.icio.us network and I agree enough to comment, though I'm coming in more from the fic rather than the vidding side of things.

Half the time if I want to do that now, I end up having to root someones LJs tags or memories, only to find that the download link has expired. This is one of the great things that annoy me about the lack of archives/personal pages hosting vids. I am a serial monogamist when it comes to fandoms so I am often NOT following as the vids are announced and by the time I find them, they are long gone. It is very frustrating to hunt through tags and recs lists only to not be able to get at the video in the end which happens to me on a regular basis.

Even if the vid is still there, tags really aren't sufficient when it comes to hunting them down. I don't mind going through a LJ if there is a master post, but I'm likely to give up otherwise even if I like a vid by that person. If I have all of them listed in front of me, I'll probably just download them all and then delete what I don't like. I don't really enjoy doing this on YouTube because I can't download decent quality videos anyway.

Because of these two issues, I don't watch many vids anymore unless someone recs one to me, even though I love them. I just can't take the frustration and go back to my old favourites which I have saved to my hard drive.

And it's not just vidders that I've noticed giving up on personal websites, it seems like so many author's have decided that their LJs are the only place they need to post fic.

This is very true. As a replacement for personal websites, as long as the author creates a master post and updates it, LJ works rather well. The problem is that many don't do that. This is especially frustrating for multi-chapter posts since if the tag is missing or misspelled, finding that one missing chapter of a WIP for something posted a few years back isn't fun. This is one of the reasons I think people should post to archives for a backup. Sure, there is badfic, but keeping track of chapters is much easier.

About archives and badfic in general. I hate how archives have gotten a bad rap. I honestly would rather search through an archive of badfic for one good story than try to find it on LJ. Why? Because I can find exactly what I'm looking for without having to search Google, del.icio.us, storyfinders and everything else I can think of with a ton of variations in spelling, pairing etc. and still not find what I'm looking for. I may be just expressing some frustration here after attempting to enter a few new fandoms over the past month and having real trouble finding fic that interests me because everything is so decentralized. There are too many communities, everything is on LJ and I know that I am missing stories I would like to read simply because they are buried in several years of posts.

Turning the clock back a few years, I could have gone to the major archive(s) for the fandom and found enough stories to keep me interested without spending more time digging than reading. I could have gotten a good grounding in the fandom, found all the BNFs and iconic stories, as well as lesser known ones that may have gotten neglected, and built my way up to the continual postings of new fic. Now, I spend way too much time trying to find what I want to read in the first place. If I don't like a fic, I can always hit the back button after a paragraph of spelling mistakes. LJ is fine if you've already worked your way through the fandom and are just keeping up with the new stories, but it isn't so good when you are just getting started or like something other than the *OTPOMGtheirloveissocanon* since they never show up on recs pages.

And I've run out of characters so I'll be double posting you... Sorry.

I know that when I started in fandom, it was literally *months* before I even found LJ, I happily did all my reading initially from personal webpages of authors, and then later from archives. Even once I was on LJ I did most of my reading off it. I really miss that.

Yes, exactly. While I'm not an old-timer by any means since I did start with online fic, I started reading fic pre-LJ and I really miss it. I think that is why I continually fall for older fandoms since I can still get back into that groove of marathon reading sessions when I'm in the mood for a certain type of story. However, commenting and the ability to carry on conversations such as this one in response to a story/post are where LJ has the advantage. It would really be nice to have a combination of the two.

For one thing, as someone who doesn't bookmark fic as I read it, it was a lot easier for me to go back and find the fics that I had read previously, because it's a lot easier to remember a webpage than it is to remember someone's LJ.

I'd recommend del.icio.us. It can interface with FireFox, can be accessed anywhere and allows you to have both multiple (and combination) tags and a summary. Plus, you can share what your reading.

I find myself missing the days when more fic was stored off of LJ, and not just because I feel that LJ isn't a reliable place for fandom. It's funny how fandom moves, I wonder where we'll be next.

What I wonder is how soon it will be as much as anything. I am, however, sort of excited about the OTW archive. We'll see how well it turns out.

Wow, that was a really long post for me. Hope you don't mind a complete stranger using your post for a few mini-rants. Finally, a completely different aside. Seeing you are a vidder who likes personal pages, I clicked on your profile looking for your SGA vids and have discovered we reside in the same city. Thus, I would like to extend an invitation to

ottawa_slashers. Unfortunately, you just missed our last meeting this past weekend, but I think there is a plan to go see Iron Man next week so you would be very welcome to join us.

Actually, Indiana Jones. Sorry.

And now I'm spamming you :P
I just took a look at the group, but don't see any mention of the movie, am I just missing it (is it in the comments somewhere)?

Glad to have you on board.

I don't think that a date has been decided yet since not everyone could make it for brunch on Sunday (long weekend and all), but the person who suggested it will probably post this weekend with the date/time :) Either that, or I'll do so myself 'cause I think it would be fun.

While I'm not an old-timer by any means since I did start with online fic,
Heh, I'm only an old timer if when you take into account that a minute online is like a day in RL. I only started in fandom in 2003.

However, commenting and the ability to carry on conversations such as this one in response to a story/post are where LJ has the advantage. It would really be nice to have a combination of the two.
Oh god, I was so excited when I heard that the OTW was making a journal with their archive, but then I found out it wasn't an LJ kind of journal. I think it would be awesome to have some kind of fandom webpage that allows people to post like a journal, but do a special kind of post that tags it as a fic, so that when people want to search for fics (either on a specific journal, or in a fandom or pairing specifically) they can go over to the handy search engine and use that.
Actually, I read a great meta post about "fandoms next home" let me dig it up... here it is.

I'd recommend del.icio.us. It can interface with FireFox, can be accessed anywhere and allows you to have both multiple (and combination) tags and a summary. Plus, you can share what your reading.
Yeah, I've tried del.icio.us, but the thing is, the reason why I don't really bookmark fic is because I don't often feel the need to go back and reread a fic. If it's one of those fics that totally knocks me off my feet, I'll take the time to bookmark it, otherwise, if I really want to find it, and can't on my own, I'll go to a storyfinders comm. I've only done maybe 5 fic searches my entire time in fandom, and some of those have been because someone told me about a fic, and I wanted to read it. *shrugs*

What I wonder is how soon it will be as much as anything. I am, however, sort of excited about the OTW archive. We'll see how well it turns out.
Yeah, I'm super excited about the OTW in general too. Especially with how unreliable LJ has been in the past year. :S

Wow, that was a really long post for me. Hope you don't mind a complete stranger using your post for a few mini-rants.
Like I said, I always go over comment limits, and I have a habit of poking my nose in everywhere, so I fully encourage others to do so as well, especially on my journal.

Thus, I would like to extend an invitation to ottawa_slashers.
Ohh, very cool, I just joined. I love being able to meet fandom people in RL. I used to be a part of the Ottawa Stargate group, but I just got an email this weekend saying its now officially dead :(

Actually, I read a great meta post about "fandoms next home" let me dig it up.. Ooooh... thanks for the link. I really wish someone was crazy enough to create that archive. Sometimes I wish I was crazy enough/had enough time and money to do it.

Yeah, I've tried del.icio.us I was thinking of del.icio.us more for tagging toread fic, though I use it to do fic recs personally.

I used to be a part of the Ottawa Stargate group, but I just got an email this weekend saying its now officially dead :(
Well, we do have some stargate people. Maybe there is overlap. Either way, it is kind of fun to to be able to connect fandom and RL with people who actually 'get it'. I stumbled across them when looking for 'Bon Cop, Bad Cop' slash back in September and it's been really fun. I blame them for my new fandoms. *grin*

Just a random person cruising in
Hi! :)

I am a serial monogamist when it comes to fandoms so I am often NOT following as the vids are announced and by the time I find them, they are long gone.
I'm stretching a bit when if comes to my fandoms, but I'm also pretty much a monogamist too, so even if there are other fandoms I'm currently interested in, it's pretty much just one that gets my attention, I would like to think though, that I could go back and enjoy those fandoms later if I decide to, I'd hate to think that my chance is gone.
Also, word on vid links going up. In my first fandom, one of my favourite vidders didn't have a webpage, so I'd constantly want to rec her works, but she wouldn't have working links! It drove me crazy, because people were missing out on how awesome she was (well, she still is :)

Even if the vid is still there, tags really aren't sufficient when it comes to hunting them down.
God, I know my own tags aren't sufficient. I started on LJ before there were tags, I think all but two of my vids were posted before there were tags. I have a "My Vids" tag, but I don't think it actually has all my vids on it. I figure since I have a link of my webpage with each vid, and in my user info that people can just go there, others though, don't have either.

Because of these two issues, I don't watch many vids anymore unless someone recs one to me, even though I love them.
Me too, and it makes me so sad to see that.

as long as the author creates a master post and updates it, LJ works rather well. The problem is that many don't do that.
Word. And also, it helps if their fic list is somewhere prominent, like the webpage link in their info, or the first post on their LJs.

I hate how archives have gotten a bad rap.
It really is bad. I mean, the more people that think that way, the more likely it is to *be* that way. If most people won't post their fics there, well, then we're not going to be getting the variety that makes fandom fun.

I honestly would rather search through an archive of badfic for one good story than try to find it on LJ. Why? Because I can find exactly what I'm looking for without having to search Google, del.icio.us, storyfinders and everything else I can think of with a ton of variations in spelling, pairing etc. and still not find what I'm looking for.
Yes! That's the thing! A lot of archives are easier to search, especially if you're not completely sure of your facts. If all you remember is that someone is turned into a penguin, well, pop penguin into the archive search engine and you're good to go. Even if the archives search engine isn't that awesome, get Google to search that page (god I almost cried with joy when I found the "search term site:www.whatever.com" ability on Google.) A lot of people have their journals set to block search engines. Also, with the way LJ URLs are now username.livejournal.com it's not really possible to search all of LJ that way. And LJseek kind of sucks.
You know, after making this post, I realized, I had never seen a storyfinders comm before I came over to LJ. Sure on some of the fic comms I'd occasionally see a fic search, but

sgastoryfinders gets updated multiple times a day and is actually one of the busiest SGA comms on my flist, what does that say about the search ability of things?

You know, after making this post, I realized, I had never seen a storyfinders comm before I came over to LJ. Sure on some of the fic comms I'd occasionally see a fic search, but sgastoryfinders gets updated multiple times a day and is actually one of the busiest SGA comms on my flist, what does that say about the search ability of things?

This is it exactly. I actually use busy storyfinder comms in order to find fic I missed more often than to search for fic that I've read since if someone asks for it, it must have been memorable. But, this wouldn't be necessary if things were easy to find.

I actually use busy storyfinder comms in order to find fic I missed more often than to search for fic
Heh, you should see my To-Read list, it's all summaries taken from storyfinder comms, with descriptions like "The one where they get amnesia and go to Texas, but then fall in love" or whatever, the descriptions in those comms always tend to be ridiculous, but interesting.

I really wish someone was crazy enough to create that archive. Sometimes I wish I was crazy enough/had enough time and money to do it.
When I was confused about what I wanted to do as a career, and actually went to school for programming because I kept thinking about how useful it would be for fandom, too bad I wasn't any good at it, because I would totally love to be able to make some huge awesome fandom site.

I was thinking of del.icio.us more for tagging toread fic
I've actually worked out a system of organizing my To-Read list that I quite like. I just have a list going in an email draft, that I add and take away from. I find it slightly easier than del.icio.us, just because I can do it on any computer easily (I know you can tag from any computer, but the buttons may not be there, so it's more manual, but if I've been on a computer long enough to come across fic, I definitely have my email up, because I'm a junkie like that :P). *shrugs* To each their own.

And I'll definitely keep an eye on

ottawa_slashers. I promised a friend I'd go see Indiana Jones with her tomorrow, but if the movie is good, I'll see it again.

I know that I am missing stories I would like to read simply because they are buried in several years of posts.
And that's really my biggest argument against LJ as an archive. It's great as an advertising site for something new, but really things get buried so quickly, and there are a lot of fandoms with high turnover (book fandoms for example), or media fandoms that have their peaks but still continue on with second, third or more waves afterwards. Anime fandoms tend to not have a definite start and end since the material is made available to various people at various times. It's so frustrating being new somewhere and trying to get started. I know that there are a couple fandoms that I'm interested in, but am not currently reading fic for, for those fandoms, I put the comms on my flist, and bookmark interesting looking fic, because I know if I decide to join the fandom after, I'll have a bitch of a time finding those fics again, and the frustration of trying to join in and find what I want might make me never join.

Turning the clock back a few years, I could have gone to the major archive(s) for the fandom and found enough stories to keep me interested without spending more time digging than reading.
And that's something that kind of confuses me. People talk about how it's so hard to find good fic on archives, but how is it any harder on LJ? LJ doesn't exactly have higher standards than archives (actually, sometimes it's the opposite, since some archives approve fic once they've been checked for spelling and grammar), most comms will let anyone advertise their fics.
With archives, you can go into a pairing section and skim through what's available, sometimes use various warnings/ratings/genres to narrow the focus, and then, you have a big list of fics with author's names attached, and summaries, and ratings and # of comments all on one page. It doesn't really get much easier.

If I don't like a fic, I can always hit the back button after a paragraph of spelling mistakes.
Exactly! And often, you can tell right from the summary/author's note if you're going to have issues, and you have to do the same for LJ anyways, unless you're going exclusively off of rec lists.

LJ is fine if you've already worked your way through the fandom and are just keeping up with the new stories, but it isn't so good when you are just getting started or like something other than the *OTPOMGtheirloveissocanon* since they never show up on recs pages.
*nods* If I want to read a rare pairing, or a pairing that isn't my main pairing, my first place to look is the fandom archive, because I may never want to read that pairing again, or not want to have comms for it on my flist, but I know if there are fics for that pairing, there will be some at the archive. As a slasher, I don't really want a bunch of het or gen comms on my flist, but sometimes? I just want to read het or gen. The local archive is the go-to place.

And I've run out of characters so I'll be double posting you... Sorry.
Yessss. I'm not the only one who does it! Although honestly, LJ needs to increase their comment character length. Lets see if I can post this in one comment... *checks* No.

Hi! I discovered your post through

veni_vidi_vids and I really appreciated reading it. It makes a lot of sense to me, and is alike some of my recent (or so not recent) thinking about where fandom goes.

I started vidding almost 3 years ago, but been checking vids for like 7 years, and I'm kind of mourning the loss of personal sites. Not that much for fanfic, but I confess I don't have much time for fic reading.

I'm a huge anti-youtube for various reasons. First, I'm a vid DL girl, I like storing them on my computer and have time to properly (re)watch them. Youtube is kind of crappy about quality/ratio most of time, and it also kills my browser on a regular basis though I'm not on dial-up. And browsing only a youtube page is something I find quite bleh. (As for vid theft, I'd better not start on it I think).

I'm a huge LJ girl personnally. But I use it in parallel as my site, as a kind of announcement place (for the open posts). But I always take time to tag everything perfectly, with the tags showing on the main page, so that people don't take hours to browse them. When it's done this way I like LJ. It's easy to have updates and to leave feedback. But a personal site is still something more than useful and that I enjoy pretty much to browse. And it means DL links!

The temporary links are quite boring as well, especially when there are a few free sites that allow enough room to store loads of stuff there, on a permanent basis and that you can link either to a little personal site, or to a LJ well sorted out (like 4shared for exemple).

I guess I'm not such an old vidder, but an old fashion one for sure! And I'm afraid I just posted a novel on your LJ! Hum... *waves* Nice to meet you! =)

Hi! I discovered your post through veni_vidi_vids
Oh, that's exciting, I keep meaning to friend

veni_vidi_vids, but keep forgetting. Very cool to be linked there.
And welcome to my journal. :)

Not that much for fanfic, but I confess I don't have much time for fic reading.
I don't actually notice the change in fics as much, because LJ turns out enough fic that I always have something to read, but with vidding some of the changes have gotten me to stop watching vids as much, and that is just so much worse.

I'm a huge anti-youtube for various reasons.
I can understand the appeal of YouTube, so many people use it, and the average Joe, who doesn't know about fandom, is more likely to find your vid that way, and it can be a way of finding new vidders, since generally once you finish a vid, it'll suggest a similar one, but I certainly wouldn't want it to be the only place I watch vids. As a vid watcher, I don't decide "I'm going to spend the next hour watching vids" I download vids as I find them, and then set them to play, while I do the rest of my searching, glancing down and watching them as I go. Sometimes when a favourite one comes on, or new one catches my interest, I'll full screen the vid, but most of the time I don't devote all my attention to vid watching as I watch, so the idea of going around YouTube for vids has no appeal to me. But I understand that it might for others. I admit, I have posted my vids there (mostly, because I discovered that they were all up there anyways :S), but not only do I list my webpage in the credits of each vid, I also have it in the description on YouTube so that no one has to live with just the YouTube quality if they don't want to.

First, I'm a vid DL girl, I like storing them on my computer and have time to properly (re)watch them.
*nods* I watch my vids all the time, sometimes when I'm not on the internet, hell, I have a couple DVDs made of my favourite vids that I'll watch if I'm on the treadmill at home, you don't want crappy YouTube quality on your *TV*.

(As for vid theft, I'd better not start on it I think).
That's... actually how I found out about YouTube, someone on my flist had their vids posted there, and as I said, most of my vids were up before I decided to join.

I'm a huge LJ girl personnally.
I love LJ too, I just look at fandom these days, or at least my corner of it, and have to think that we're all kind of putting our eggs in one basket. I also know, for as much as people like LJ, I still move around on mailing lists, and I've heard quite a few rants from people saying how much they hate it, and don't want to join at any cost.

And I'm afraid I just posted a novel on your LJ! Hum... *waves* Nice to meet you! =)
Ha, don't worry about rambling away on my LJ, I do it all over the place too. Actually, I'm kind of surprised that I was able to keep this reply small enough to fit in one comment.
And it was really nice to meet you too. :)

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How Fandom Has Changed

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Vidding

LJ vs. Websites

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QaF Fandom

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Changing Fandom 1

Changing Fandom 2

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