Is Fandom Dying?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed in a reader or by email (see the box to the left). Thanks for visiting!

Loyd Case of Extreme Tech thinks so. In an article he wrote posted Aug. 6, 2007, he claims that the ease of which fandom can be procured is part of the poison killing it. The Internet is also to blame.

“Today, of course, anyone with a credit card can trumpet his or her obsession. You can get T-shirts, you can get posters, you can buy books dissecting and analyzing your favorite obsession to the nth degree,” he writes. “What’s more, marketing has discovered there’s gold to be made from fans— lots of latinum, if you will.”

Once upon a time, being a fan and finding others who shared your fannish interests was a challenge. Today, you can find books, TV shows, movies, conventions and more to fill this need. All your really need is an interest, time and money.

My question is, just because fandom has become a bit more “main stream” does it cease to be fandom? When I look at all the kinds of fandom out there, it still seems that the science fiction flavor is still quite different that other flavors.

What do you think?