I'm less hoping that there will be pushback against this trend in fandom - for reasons I'll state in a moment - than that there will be a schism.
I think you're right that this is more likely and probably more desirable. Those of us who feel some sort of through line with the heritage of western media fandom (I have always thought of those 60s housewife zine-writers as my fannish ancestors) can do different things, and the people who have only experienced the post-social media internet landscape can do their thing.
people like influencer culture and the commodification of hobbies. A lot of people say they don't, but: talk is cheap. Why do influencers stay influential? Because people opt-in to that space, keep watching their work, and sharing their work (even if to criticize it - which is also apparently a way of becoming an influencer).
You are correct. There are a bunch of people who unironically love the influencers; there are a bunch of people who hide their love behind "irony"; and then there are a bunch of people who really do hate-follow. I don't understand any of those things, really--the parasocial relationships I have tend to be with, like, podcasters (Sarah Marshall, Michael Hobbes, Audrey Gordon) or YouTubers (Lindsey Ellis, ContraPoints) whose whole schtick is being deeply thoughtful about cultural trends. Those are the people I'm drawn to, and I find more standard kinds of influencers actively off-putting. But I am in the minority, I think!
Anyway, that was far afield of the point, which is that I think your observations are all correct.
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I think you're right that this is more likely and probably more desirable. Those of us who feel some sort of through line with the heritage of western media fandom (I have always thought of those 60s housewife zine-writers as my fannish ancestors) can do different things, and the people who have only experienced the post-social media internet landscape can do their thing.
people like influencer culture and the commodification of hobbies. A lot of people say they don't, but: talk is cheap. Why do influencers stay influential? Because people opt-in to that space, keep watching their work, and sharing their work (even if to criticize it - which is also apparently a way of becoming an influencer).
You are correct. There are a bunch of people who unironically love the influencers; there are a bunch of people who hide their love behind "irony"; and then there are a bunch of people who really do hate-follow. I don't understand any of those things, really--the parasocial relationships I have tend to be with, like, podcasters (Sarah Marshall, Michael Hobbes, Audrey Gordon) or YouTubers (Lindsey Ellis, ContraPoints) whose whole schtick is being deeply thoughtful about cultural trends. Those are the people I'm drawn to, and I find more standard kinds of influencers actively off-putting. But I am in the minority, I think!
Anyway, that was far afield of the point, which is that I think your observations are all correct.