Online community

This post is for WeblogPoMo AMA, a challenge to write AMA-style (“Ask me anything”) blog posts during November.

Read about the challenge

The question

Lou Plummer sent me this question:

Can you describe the online community you have treasured the most in your life online?

My answer

Being part of online communities has always been my favorite thing about the internet. When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time in forums, geeking out over sci-fi and fantasy media with fellow fans.

The site I spent the most time on was Supernatural.tv (which is no longer online, RIP). It was a fansite and forums dedicated to the show Supernatural.

I was an administrator on Supernatural.tv from the very beginning. We launched right with the pilot episode in September 2005. I helped set up the forum structure, wrote initial content, and invited people from other fansites to join.

Because Supernatural.tv was the first fansite for Supernatural, it attracted all the fans from all over the world. At the site’s peak, thousands of people visited the forums after a new episode aired.

The forums included areas to share fanfic and fanart. I organized writing and art competitions with the moderating team. In the summers, we held awards so members could vote on their favorite aspects of the show and the site community.

Keep in mind — This was before major social media platforms were mainstream. Sharing your work in an online community was the social aspect of the web. People were not splintered across different platforms, and that helped in getting to know members and building the community. If you were a Supernatural fan, and you wanted to find fellow fans online, Supernatural.tv was the place.

I loved that community for how thoughtful the discussions were. People really enjoyed sharing theories and debating ideas. The community was so creative with all kinds of art and writing. Yes, there was some in-fighting and cliques, like any fanbase. But most of the time, the positives outweighed the negatives, by a lot.

I stopped watching Supernatural in season 5, but I was still active in the forums for several years after that. I didn’t make many lasting friendships, but the art and writing aspects of the community stuck with me. Supernatural.tv was the main community where I shared my art and writing and found people to collaborate with online.

‘Lanterns’: Kyle Chandler Set To Star As Hal Jordan In DC Series For HBO

100% yes to this 😃

📺 Kaos (mini-series streaming on Netflix)

I like that this is a modern telling of Greek gods. Cars, concerts, and cell phones, and everyone knows the gods exist. At first glance, Jeff Goldblum seemed like an odd choice to play Zeus, but he does a really good job portraying someone so powerful and so paranoid.

Watching the relationship between the humans and the gods was really interesting. Most of the gods think humans are beneath them and don’t matter, but at the same time, the gods pay a lot of attention to human actions.

I recommend watching it if you like Greek mythology. But content warning: There are a few gory scenes in every episode and when it’s gory, it’s really gory.

📺 Currently watching Terminator Zero on Netflix. I like that they aren’t rehashing stories from the movies. It’s the same universe with new characters.