Maria Haskins
If you grew up in the pre-internet era, you might remember the torturous pain of being absolutely obsessed with something (a book, a movie, a writer, a show, a subject of any kind) and not knowing anyone at all in your everyday life who cared about it.
Nov 21, 2022 at 5:49amWeb
Show threadMaria HaskinsNov 21, 2022

And, like, there was no way for a kid to find other people who were interested in those things, maybe especially if you grew up in a small community.

I know the internet is a mess, but the ability to connect with others who care about that Thing you care about, is a blessing.

Show threadMaria HaskinsNov 21, 2022
That connection to others, the communities gathering around some weird outlier of *something* can descend into chaos and badness, but it can also be the flame that lights up your life and keeps you warm.
Show threadMaria HaskinsNov 21, 2022
It's hard, even for me who is An Old, to really remember what it was like before *gestures vaguely* all of this.
Show threadMatthew ClaxtonNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins Been thinking about this a lot lately – how all social media (and reddit, and forums) all work with that ability to connect, but they also have different levels of being a megaphone, of being a distraction machine, of being a chaos engine, etc.
Show threadMaria HaskinsNov 21, 2022
@Ouranosaurus Yes, there are so many drawbacks and pitfalls and dangers with the way it is now, and yet I think there are so many awesome and amazing things that are possible with this level of connection. All these communities that we can be part of. Such a complex reality.
Show threadneatcheeNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins
Show threadLarry Nemecek Nov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins Oh, I am An Old too, but I remember! I came out of SciFi and Trek fandom… and while we had clubs & cons & zines/newsletters… still there were niches, and if you weren’t a Spock fanfic author then you were pretty nichey. I was convinced me and 8 others in the country tracked continuity, or collected prop or graphics clips for anal visual points, or charted the stars.
Show threadHarshad SharmaNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins I chose to move to a remote farm few years ago and got to live that isolation all over again, amplified by the pandemic. As much as I loathe much of the Internet, I need this wide communication channel for retaining any sanity 😅
Show threadElysia MachtNov 22, 2022

@mariahaskins Oh, no worries. I'm still always a #FandomOfOne even when it comes to established fandoms or semi-popular series.

I always like characters few others like, and if there are 1-5 others into a figure, they usually ship that fave with someone I don't like as a character. Or bc I'm entirely a proud self-insert MarySue type instead. ;)

I've yet to manage listing my Fandom of 1 shows as tags, but no one talks obscure Canadian filmed scifi series from 1999 in online circles, alas.

Show threadSoonLeeNZNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins It's a mixed blessing. The power to connect people allowed me to find more geeks like myself. But it also allows extremists to find each other...
Show threadMina Li (she/her)Nov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins called. out. 😭
Show threadWhiskerchops Von FuzzybuttNov 21, 2022
@CodenameMinaLi @mariahaskins
Show threadImogenWritesNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins Oh god it was so hard. You had to drag your actual real life friends into it, and you were never sure if they liked it as much as you did or if they just went along with it because they were your friends.
Show threadMaria HaskinsNov 21, 2022
@ImogenWrites Yes! And the joy when you met someone who was into something even remotely like what you were into? So joyous.
Show threadNerineNov 21, 2022

@mariahaskins Oh gosh. Yes. My friends at school thought my fascination with an obscure 1980s fantasy film was ... silly.

Only much later did I discover an entire FANDOM out there. The internet really helped in that regard.

My only sadness now is seeing how the communities tear themselves apart because fans are inflexible and aggressive in their opinions.

Show threadDr Dan MarshallNov 21, 2022
@Dorman @mariahaskins gatekeeping :/
Show threadNerineNov 21, 2022
@DrDanMarshall @mariahaskins Yeah. It's particularly sad. I'm not seeing so much of it in the fanfiction communities, although you do get the occasional bad players, but it's like some of the bigger fandoms out there have lost their collective marbles.
Show threadChris QueenNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins the absolute incredible joy of finding *someone* who did was strong enough to create lifelong bonds
Show threadCL_HellisenNov 21, 2022
@chrisqueen @mariahaskins yes, this!
Show threadJelenaNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins Oh yes. I was a lonely nerd growing up. I still remember the guy who gave me my first copy of LOTR and made me realise there were more people like me around.
Show threadAlexanderNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins I feel this. I was SUCH a fan of The X Files when I was young in the early/mid 90s. But there was no one to connect with. I never knew there was an entire fandom for it!
Show thread📎🖐️ Alan Taylor 🎬 📚Nov 21, 2022

@mariahaskins

YES! Growing thru the 60s and 70s you HAD to capture everything in that passing movie...shots, music, gesture, dialogue, there was no repeat, no download.

Then it was gone. You were on your own...

Show threadLilly EvansNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins Oh how I remember! Specially if you had interests that were not expected - mine was atomic physics!
Show threadRaitaNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins I feel this in my bones.
Show threadFrancisca StainesNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins Oh I remembered all of it. The annoyance of every person around me who I had tried to talk about the books I like. Even your friends rolling their eyes. The sense of isolation. This feeling of thinking how can I be the only one who likes this? Yes, the Internet is messy but when you find your people, it's also a great place.
Show threadKatie MGNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins so true! The weirdest part is now I’m older I see some people I went to school with posting on social media about the geeky stuff I love too! Did they always love it?! Were we all just geeks in hiding?!
Show threadjasmin 🌙Nov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins meanwhile I was trying to drag my friends into my interests and ended up becoming 'the weird kid'. 😭 thankfully we can share our interests way easier today and find like-minded people.
Show threadAndyNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins
Aren't we back there again, with non linear TV and all that?
Show threadBennynogoodNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins I was in a few sci-fi clubs, wrote newsletters, all that. I was an early contributor to TheForce.net and Blue Harvest Magazine, as well. As the internet grew, a lot of that stuff fell off. TFN was the go-to source for Star Wars info in the early days (late 90s-early 2000s), until it wasn’t.
Show threadclemmymNov 21, 2022
@mariahaskins This is such good insight!! Only yesterday I was liking and discussing Tracey Thorn talking about Liz Fraser of The Cocteau Twins.
Show threadBlueKatNov 22, 2022
@mariahaskins Yes .. and when you found someone who liked what you liked it was almost instant friendship!
Show threadMikeHicWriterNov 26, 2022
@mariahaskins And wasn't it wonderful??
Show threadHouse of WynNov 26, 2022
@mariahaskins And that's why I was such a loner. Me and all my freaky interests. Reading Jane Eyre in the 5th grade and listening to Gregorian chanting. Would have been great to find my people back then. 😂