Why Join Fanlistings? June 27th 2006
Your first reaction when you read the title of this article was probably something that started with “Why ask? You obviously join them because…”. I realize that people who have been active in the fanlisting world for awhile may find this an unnecessary question, but to some newcomers it might be hard to grasp.
Newcomers like me. A couple of years ago, that is. I didn’t see the point of adding my name to a long list of fans, often seeing that name appear several times and hardly being able to figure out which one of them was referring to me. But as I’ve always been someone who loves to browse the net for websites on my favorite fandoms, I stumbled upon fanlistings more and more often. And sometimes I did find myself joining some of them. In the beginning this was usually because I liked the layout, or I was crazy about the subject and I would join whatever was the slightest bit related to it.
Later on, though, I started joining fanlistings on a more frequent basis. Mainly because I’d created my own collective and I could add one of those nice linking back buttons to it. I thought: “If anyone asks me who I am and what I like, the only thing that will be left to do is giving them a link to my joined fanlistings page”. Looking back at it this obviously sounds a bit ridiculous, because people prefer to get to know you in real life and not through some pixels on a computer screen. But it was a start, and I actually enjoyed having a tidy list of everything I liked.
So if you are new to fanlistings and you really don’t see the point, I think you should try and start a joined fanlistings page, like I did. Trust me, you will enjoy seeing the little pictures of all the subjects you love together, nicely sorted into several categories. And gradually, maybe through running some fanlistings yourself, you will find it more fun to actually add yourself to the lists. You will enjoy being part of a collection of faithful fans of the subjects you care for.
Yes, I mentioned running fanlistings yourself. Although most of us don’t see the amount of members as a determinant of whether you like a listing or not, you will still feel very happy when you see that someone has joined your fanlisting. The reason for this is that in the end, the ideal fanlisting is one that has gathered all the fans of the subject it is for. Although this ideal will probably never be reached, every new member brings you a bit closer to it.
The last reason is in fact something that doesn’t happen on an everyday basis and it shouldn’t be your main motivation, but you might also be contacted by other fans to talk about the subject. It can be a lot of fun to find friends through a fanlisting. Personally it has only happened to me a few times and I’ve heard others say they never got contacted, but you just might be. You could also help faith a bit by browsing the list yourself. Are there any other fans from your country who joined? Did they allow their e-mail address to be displayed? Then they probably wouldn’t mind being contacted by you.
In short, there are three good reasons for joining fanlistings. One: You can display buttons of fanlistings you’ve joined on your own website. That way you can have a clear list of everything you are interested in. Two: You can help the fanlisting owner out by gathering as many fans as possible in order to get closer to the ideal of having complete list. Three: It is a way of getting in touch with other fans. I hope this answered the question to anyone who was wondering about it. If you are still unsure about something, don’t hesitate to ask for information on TFL Boards and you will get a friendly reply from the fanlisting community.
Newcomers like me. A couple of years ago, that is. I didn’t see the point of adding my name to a long list of fans, often seeing that name appear several times and hardly being able to figure out which one of them was referring to me. But as I’ve always been someone who loves to browse the net for websites on my favorite fandoms, I stumbled upon fanlistings more and more often. And sometimes I did find myself joining some of them. In the beginning this was usually because I liked the layout, or I was crazy about the subject and I would join whatever was the slightest bit related to it.
Later on, though, I started joining fanlistings on a more frequent basis. Mainly because I’d created my own collective and I could add one of those nice linking back buttons to it. I thought: “If anyone asks me who I am and what I like, the only thing that will be left to do is giving them a link to my joined fanlistings page”. Looking back at it this obviously sounds a bit ridiculous, because people prefer to get to know you in real life and not through some pixels on a computer screen. But it was a start, and I actually enjoyed having a tidy list of everything I liked.
So if you are new to fanlistings and you really don’t see the point, I think you should try and start a joined fanlistings page, like I did. Trust me, you will enjoy seeing the little pictures of all the subjects you love together, nicely sorted into several categories. And gradually, maybe through running some fanlistings yourself, you will find it more fun to actually add yourself to the lists. You will enjoy being part of a collection of faithful fans of the subjects you care for.
Yes, I mentioned running fanlistings yourself. Although most of us don’t see the amount of members as a determinant of whether you like a listing or not, you will still feel very happy when you see that someone has joined your fanlisting. The reason for this is that in the end, the ideal fanlisting is one that has gathered all the fans of the subject it is for. Although this ideal will probably never be reached, every new member brings you a bit closer to it.
The last reason is in fact something that doesn’t happen on an everyday basis and it shouldn’t be your main motivation, but you might also be contacted by other fans to talk about the subject. It can be a lot of fun to find friends through a fanlisting. Personally it has only happened to me a few times and I’ve heard others say they never got contacted, but you just might be. You could also help faith a bit by browsing the list yourself. Are there any other fans from your country who joined? Did they allow their e-mail address to be displayed? Then they probably wouldn’t mind being contacted by you.
In short, there are three good reasons for joining fanlistings. One: You can display buttons of fanlistings you’ve joined on your own website. That way you can have a clear list of everything you are interested in. Two: You can help the fanlisting owner out by gathering as many fans as possible in order to get closer to the ideal of having complete list. Three: It is a way of getting in touch with other fans. I hope this answered the question to anyone who was wondering about it. If you are still unsure about something, don’t hesitate to ask for information on TFL Boards and you will get a friendly reply from the fanlisting community.