The future of HPFGU (was TBAY debate)

[davewitley]

Kneasy wrote:

> We have a sort of 'problem' on HPfGU that other sites, dedicated 
to 
> other
> books don't have.
> 
> HP is a work in progress; the canon is incomplete. This leads to 
> theoretical
> speculation of all qualities and probabilities. TBAY, IMO falls, 
for 
> the most
> part, within the realms of speculation. TBAY as such will probably 
die 
> when
> the series is completed (assuming that JKR does not leave the way 
open 
> for
> sequels), along with SHIPS. From then on they will be sub-sets of 
Fan 
> Fiction
> and that is where they will find their final resting place.
> 
> So far as I can trace it, speculation has been rife ever since the 
site 
> was
> founded. Good. Splendid, in fact. That was one of the main reasons 
why I
> joined. I love to speculate. (This can cause problems too; I have 
ideas,
> indeed written posts, that do not comfortably fit into general 
post, 
> TBAY or
> Fan Fiction. What do I do with them? 

I would, as a fellow list member, encourage you to post them.  If 
you have honestly tried to follow the list conventions, then I think 
the worst that can happen is that the admins will send you a polite 
letter pointing out something that you missed.  Honestly.  I really 
don't believe they issue howlers for posters who clearly are trying 
to keep to the rules.

> when the canon is complete. The site will become a very different 
place.
> Analysis will rule. What else will be left? Especially if 
categories 
> that  are
> reckoned to be only loosely tied to canon are hived off.

I do not share this vision, to be honest.  (I don't mean I think 
it's a bad thing, just that I don't think that's what will happen.)  
Some prominent shippers have already declared that their favoured 
SHIPs are post-canon, and will probably continue to argue their 
case.  It is true that the overwhelming likelihood is that JKR will 
tie up the major mysteries of the series at the end of Book 7, but 
so much of the appeal for posters is the world she has created that 
there will be plenty of speculation, IMO.

> Expect many fewer posts and posters; there will not be the scope 
for fun
> and games that there is now.

Again, I think the sense of fun that pervades the books (if overlain 
with a darker angst in the later ones) is infectious.  People who 
are attracted to the completed canon will still find ways to 
have 'fun and games', IMO.

 There is even a faint possibility that the 
> site
> may fail; I hope not, but it will if you can't attract posters.

Now, I see a greater likelihood of this.  HPFGU is not the fandom, 
just a part.  Other groups may arise that do what we do, but better, 
and people may simply drift away.  I am sure that social researchers 
have studied the life, growth, death and population dynamics of 
internet communities.  (Shaun?)  It may be too early to draw 
conclusions about a medium little more than ten years old, but I 
would not be surprised to hear that HPFGU likely has a natural life 
span, and may die an honourable, and honoured, death.  We the fans 
will doubtless continue with vigour.

 Some 
> may  consider
> a  worse possibility could be in store -  a self-selected, 
> same-thinking group
> who sit, having received the true gospel, canon in hand, freezing 
out 
> anyone
> they don't approve of.

That, too, could happen.  In fact, I see the factors that tend to 
produce this situation as being more influential once the canon is 
closed.  I will come back to this.

> A long way off, you may say. No, just two books.

Agreed.
 
> My advice is to plan for these times now. Take into consideration 
the 
> likely
> arc of the site and probably of fandom too. Do you want a group of 
> small,
> fragmented specialty sites or do you want a kaleidoscopic 
> cross-pollinating
> bunch of free-thinkers who may annoy each and every one of us 
every now
> and again but have the virtues of diversity?
> 
> Personally, I  prefer  the latter.

Me too, but it may be possible to have a set-up that embraces the 
best of both.  For example, if a threaded forum could be invented 
that meets Shaun's concerns about ensuring email delivery of posts, 
could that go some way to doing that?  I applaud the attempt to 
think long term and hope that this sort of envisioning will become a 
major function of the Feedback list.

There are, of course, web sites devoted to discussion of works whose 
authors are long dead: Heidi, do Jane Austen discussion groups, for 
example, have anything to show us?

I think that with time, a type of posting that we have hardly seen 
at all as yet may become more prominent.  This is posting that seeks 
to draw lessons from canon for how we live, possibly with an 
explicit religious tone.

So far, we have concentrated on elaborating our understanding of 
JKR's world, based on our understanding of our own.  There is no 
reason the traffic should not go the other way.  For example, people 
(Joywitch?) have in the past considered what the Shrieking Shack 
scene has to say about JKR's attitude to capital punishment.  In the 
future list members may start to allow their own attitude to capital 
punishment to be influenced by the Harry Potter series and their 
interpretation thereof, and may say so onlist.  Other examples will 
no doubt come to mind.

I have no doubt that this carries risk of even greater controversy 
than our current hot topics - after all, people will feel under 
pressure about other people's opinions of their own life decisions - 
but it is a risk that I personally would be happy to see us take.

What I find hard to see is whether the series has the bottom to 
carry this sort of weight.  So far only a tiny minority of posters 
have come out to say that it has.

David