#or get obsessed with numbers and engagements

[kasienda]

To come to the conclusion fandom is not slowing down you need at least two data points. Comparing say may 1-may 17 2025 to may 1-17 2024. More than two data points would be better, but difficult to truly collect in any kind of controlled fashion as the number of users on ao3 (or any archive site) is also changing.

Your data does show that there are fandoms that are active and engaged. It does not establish the rate of change.

But I concede that activity on one site/fandom/etc can be slowing while it’s exploding somewhere else. And any individual’s experience is not reflective of the whole.

I do feel like 10-20 years ago getting daily kudos/favorites was not a thing (kudos emails were sporadic - few and far between) and now I almost always receive one daily. Which tells me people are reading daily. But the comment rate after an update is way down. Maybe that’s just because my library is bigger and my fandom is smaller than it used to be. Or maybe people are squealing about my story is a discord server somewhere. Or maybe fandom is just a hell of a lot more mainstream now and so there are more people who are just reading, but the number of people interacting is the same but feels smaller because the number of people reading is definitely higher?

I used to be able to find new stories every day in old and small fandoms. And now that’s not a thing. I feel like this is possibly a consequence of living in a world that is inundated with books, anime, shows, cartoons, games, etc. That as soon as your thing is done, there’s something else to move onto. Whereas before there weren’t that many pieces of media to obsess over, so you stayed with the one you loved, and were motivated to create for it because you wanted there to be more and there wasn’t more unless you made it.

This is all conjecture on my part of course. Again, without multiple years of data, it’s hard for us to be able to say one way or the other if creation/interaction rates are changing.

I can say that being in fandom now feels very different than being in fandom in 2018 which felt very different than being in fandom in 2012 which felt very different from being in fandom in 2006 and very different than 1998, which is when I first discovered that fandom was a thing.

I do think it will always exist, but the form of it will change. It’s inevitable.

Idk if it's just me but it seems like fandoms in general are just a lot slower than they used to be, as in people don't post as much fanart or fanfic as they used to and people in general interact with fan content (so, less likes, reblogs, replies, comments, etc.) no matter what site you're using. Even discord feels oddly dead, to the point where I've had to leave some servers because there was absolutely no activity anymore. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this recently or whether it's just my own specific experience.

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It's your own specific experience.

It's also a sign that we're in a transition phase rather than one where people are easy to find and centralized.

People used to make a billion unneeded mailing lists for every hot new show or blorbo. Now, they make discords. The vast majority die in a week.

But if you were to get into whatever the latest hotness is and post some excellent art or a fic with the right tropes at the right time, you'd see tons of activity.

I've seen your type of complaint as long as I've been in fandom, and it's a very natural part of one's own experience as one stops being into the hip thing or loses track of old acquaintances as one's social groups scatter to different platforms. In terms of lived reality, it's a huge pattern...

But, just to choose an easy example, if I go to AO3 and pick a big tag, then filter it for May 2025, I see tons of updates. Here's the sidebar for the m/m tag filtered that way:

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (4291)

僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) (2325)

Original Work (2090)

9-1-1 (TV) (1739)

Stray Kids (Band) (1513)

原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game) (1443)

방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS (1434)

Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) (1339)

Formula 1 RPF (1310)

崩坏：星穹铁道 | Honkai: Star Rail (Video Game) (1264)

87,659 total works have been updated May 1st-17th 2025. Sorting by comments, I see plenty with thousands.

Now, I do see people who were once into your classic due South, Stargate, etc. who didn't jump on the Untamed train and still haven't been dragged over to Asian fandoms, don't like video games, don't read RPF, etc.

There can for sure be changes in what type of thing is seeing the most action, especially within one's own platforms or friend groups. The f/f shippers complain "I don't like cartoons". The m/m shippers wonder "Where's the next big sff or buddy cop live action English language show?"

It's possible to be starving in the midst of plenty. But no, fandom overall is not slowing down.