mega thread The state of the Brony fandom (Numbers, Popularly, Future)

[TheGOAT 64]

Why don't we save this question until after the movie comes out?

[Stolen OC 12]

Pick any fandom artist. Video-makers work best. Take note of how many views their new material gets compared to their old material. Unless you picked DWK, you will notice that the difference in views far exceeds what you would expect to observe from older content simply having repeat-views.

If you don't see the decline of this fandom your are in denial. You might wanna stay there though. Reality hurts.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

Naw, the fandom is not dying.

It is however shedding off the fans & hipsters that are no longer or never were invested. There is a huge difference between declining and dying.

[Jeric 46,851]

1 hour ago, GrimGrimoire said:

Naw, the fandom is not dying.

It is however shedding off the fans & hipsters that are no longer or never were invested. There is a huge difference between declining and dying.

This. 

The fan base is contracting and settling around a core group of people who appreciate the show at various levels. All fandoms go through it. What will be interesting is to watch the ratio of die-hard fans to more casual fans. Content creation will decline, some Cons will no longer be profitable, and sadly some popular sites will no longer be supportable. Friends will come and go. Yet those who remain may still coalesce together. During this era you usually form even closer bonds than what you had before. 

Drama will still exist as a fandom matures, but it will be less impactful, unless those who remain are relatively toxic. I'm sure there are examples out there of that. If this fandom doesn't go toxic, I look forward to this era. Should a revamp of the show occur at just the right time to invoke nostalgic parents who were once Bronies ... you would have something really cool then. 

As far as the here and now  -- there were some who never expected a season 7 let alone 8. I'm taking all new content as gravy at the moment. 

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

If My LIttle Pony is dying, then why did we have a reference to the franchise in Injustice 2?(Bonus points for Tara Strong as Harley Quinn)

[video]

 

[SG1379 0]

Well, one part of the fandom took a hit yesterday, an "Extra"hit one would say... So for those who are looking for their weekly content delivered in a convenient way, we are not sure what to do, where to go, yet. Any Ideas?

[Frozen The Unicorn 484]

34 minutes ago, SG1379 said:

Well, one part of the fandom took a hit yesterday, an "Extra"hit one would say... So for those who are looking for their weekly content delivered in a convenient way, we are not sure what to do, where to go, yet. Any Ideas?

Can you be a bit more specific to what you're referring too?

[FlootahBabby 265]

I feel pretty fucking alive rn

[Techno Universal 2,575]

To be honest the fandom exploded in size in reaction to the season 7 premiere and it has calmed down a little bit for now. But it probably will explode again next time there's a truly epic episode that airs.  

[Dusky Flare 11]

I just recently joined the herd myself.

To me it's something different:

Maybe one day this community will no longer talk about FIM or MLP as it used to. But, keeping in mind what Lauren said in the brony film: Maybe FIM started something. It definitively did in me:

I believe this community is about dreaming of a better world: A world of friendship, of rights, of love and peace. During the last years for most of us the name of this world was - and still is - Equestria.

But even when this changes in some more or less distant future, these people - you might prefer ponies - will still be dreaming of this better world. The fandom might change or fade, but the community will last.

These dreams are what brought us all together in the first place, aren't they?

Stay safe, you'll never be alone.

 

EDIT: Not a nativ speaker... please excuse wrong spelling...

Edited May 18, 2017 by Dusky Flare

[CrimsonHarp 0]

I'm not going anywhere but there's one thing for certain, them anti bronies are still at it! They know we have no defenses against them, it's time to strike at them!! So let's secure our castle walls!! 

[Tiny Hoofs 200]

Well, bronies aren't a giant phenomenon like they were back in 2011 and 2012 because everybody has grown accustomed to it. I've noticed that the fandom isn't as large as t was back in those day. The show has been going on for like 6+ years. A lot of bandwagoners, hipsters and the like are going to move on to other fads (e.g. Undertail, Pokemon Go and Overwatch). And some people just no longer have time for My Little Pony or they don't like the direction the show has gone. I respect their choices.

I'm fine with the fandom being smaller provided that enough new content and discussion is still going on. There's still a lot of great content and discussion made by bronies. And I'm sure plenty of people are still going to find and watch the show. I myself started watching the show in 2011, left around 2013 and came back in 2017! Part of the reason I left was because I had some bad experiences with some bronies, but I think the fandom has matured a lot and is more enjoyable for me.

Even when the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom does end and the show is ended, people are still going to talk about the show and discuss it for decades. Hopefully the next generation of My Little Pony is as good as FiM and gathers a similar adult following so that the brony community could transition over to that!

Edited May 21, 2017 by Tiny Hoofs

[Lenny 249]

Damn, it's Tuesday still. 

 

Pick a graph you want to believe in. 

[Steve Piranha 29,424]

On 5/18/2017 at 7:50 AM, Techno Universal said:

To be honest the fandom exploded in size in reaction to the season 7 premiere and it has calmed down a little bit for now. But it probably will explode again next time there's a truly epic episode that airs.  

Or the movie for all that matters  

[Techno Universal 2,575]

2 hours ago, Steve Piranha said:

Or the movie for all that matters  

Yes!!! Of course the movie is going to do it again!

[TheGOAT 64]

First off, we say this every year and it never actually happens. Hasbro already announced Season 8 before 7 even started.

Second, there's a movie coming this year. Maybe it makes more sense to ask this question when it's been released and we see how well it does in theaters and on DVD.

[Goat-kun 2,527]

Does our fandom have any correlation with MLP's financial success?

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

I think it is dumb to ask those types of questions in general.

It seems to me far too many people have more fun trying to figure out when something will go away than just enjoying it while it is here. The fandom is not going anywhere for several more years regardless of what the cartoon or comic does.

No matter what it is, doomsayers are always there ringing their bells begging for someone to acknowledge them in their end of times nonsense.

[K.Rool Addict 718]

57 minutes ago, Goat-kun said:

Does our fandom have any correlation with MLP's financial success?

Financial success? I would say yes. But quality of the show? Hell no. 

I don't understand why people care so much if the fandom is dying. If the only reason you watch MLP is to be a part of this little "internet clique" than I believe you are completely missing the point. As long as the writers and animators keep churning out awesome episodes, I have no complaints.

[cmarston1 5,959]

The fandom isn't dying, it is perfectly fine right now.

It does kinda get annoying with how often people ask if it is dying.

[Steve Piranha 29,424]

18 minutes ago, cmarston1 said:

The fandom isn't dying, it is perfectly fine right now.

It does kinda get annoying with how often people ask if it is dying.

Hell, unless I forget to do so, I'll open a thread of FiM or fandom dying as soon as S8 starts because there can't be a new season without one of those  

[Goat-kun 2,527]

1 hour ago, K.Rool Addict said:

Financial success? I would say yes. But quality of the show? Hell no. 

I don't understand why people care so much if the fandom is dying. If the only reason you watch MLP is to be a part of this little "internet clique" than I believe you are completely missing the point. As long as the writers and animators keep churning out awesome episodes, I have no complaints.

Perhaps we the Bronies can be used like canaries in a coal mine but I don't think the majority of MLP merchandise is meant for us and that is the main driving force behind the entire IP. I'd say our Brony fandom could die tomorrow and nothing would change on H-Bro's side.

 

Do I think our fandom is dying? I suspect it is. Some call it shrinking but that's practically the same thing. Do I care? Nope. I'm a part of a much bigger internet neckbeard quasi-community. Things like this happen all the time. Besides, ponies ain't my main waifus

[Jeric 46,851]

Application of the word useful to most fandom discussions (from best character, to alternative approaches the show could/should take) seems to stretch the meaning of that word to almost torture. 

I suspect it has no use, and as @GrimGrimoire suggested it's just fun for some. That or a drive to detail that view is part of someone's view of self, at which point it is useful in one sense, though not the way some fans would freely admit. 

The discussion is odd to me, in part because it's been a claim since I came into the fandom back in season 4. A lot of content has happened since then. Yes less people watch and talk about the show. So what? They will keep making until they don't. 

Same with Grey's Anatomy and that fucking thing won't die if you launched a plague of locusts at Rhimes. 

[Abstract 832]

It's been said that the fandom is dying every single year since the fandom's inception. People see longtime members leave the community and think the sky is falling. But that's what happens in any fandom - people come and go. New members are joining all the time. I swear some people think that just because the show isn't the hot topic it used to be a few years ago (and likely never will be again) that somehow this means even the people who didn't just jump on the bandwagon are going to exit en masse.

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 300]

I do agree with you, because even though the fandom is not as pervasive or hyperactive (or "booming" for an accurate term), it is still active.

And its fanart and fans who still meet in groups is proof that the fandom is still alive ... at least perhaps for this decade. So it will make people saying that "the brony fandom is dying" irrelevant, because the fans' activities are what keeps it alive.