Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-40192166-20190718083112/@comment-38078079-20190718095220

"In my day . . ."

I think you're viewing things with nostalgia-goggles.

Fandom has always had issues; back in the old days, we had ship wars and divisions and censorshp and all sorts. The only difference today is that with social media, how people argue and bicker has changed. . . it's like "x sucks so you so suck", but "x is problematic so you're problematic". If you want to argue the merits of fanworks, I think it's fanworks that keep people engaged and active in a fandom and keeps the franchise alive.

Heck, 'slash' came about because people decades back were creating fan-content for "Star Trek" and the like, and so none of this is new. . . it's just before people were consigned to newsletters and e-groups, but now they have entire online archives and stalls in conventions. Why be such a kill-joy? If people like to analyse and theorise, or create fan-content, let them.

Everyone engages with fandom in different ways.

There's no "one way" to be a 'true fan'.