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

[Vulpes 26]

I think it is increasing, based not only on google search but popularity where I live. Wearing a shirt, a brony shirt and a pinkie clip, a construction worker literally yelled "hey brony," or something along those lines, and I waved back. Keep in mind this guy looked from what I saw give or take thirty. The custom shirt shop, when mom got me the shirt, the lady said that bronies were common and that if I was a brony I probably have a DVD... I do, as a matter of fact.

 

Large celebrities are saying they liked the show, my three examples are Gabe Newell, Bill Clinton (Refer to thread) and notch, who said he was not a brony but liked it. Many articles being published, it is a phenomena, and it's growing. It's made to be a big deal, I think there will be a day where we get as big as furries (if not bigger?) and while the media ruckus is gone, we will still be a large, active fanbase.

 

So considering that we will loose attention, when, and will that halt our growth? I think we will loose growth, but even furries are still growing. As long as the show goes, my theory is we will have sizable growth, then it depends on the fanart. Even Making Fiends (remember that show, it died fast) has a small, small fanbase. We already have the one fan made song that looks official, I think once the show dies a fan series may be started. If so, I think we will grow at a similar rate, otherwise I think it will slow significantly. Tom and Jerry, even, still has a fan base. We won't truly die for an incredible time considering our size. I actually wonder if our fanbase even will die.

[Coconut Breeze 14]

To be honest, this fandom is so big that we made it on TV several times. I really don't want it to be bigger, the bigger the more the chance it will be viewed negatively. Look at the furry fandom, there are around 1 MILLION furs and it's viewed as sick perverts who do nothing but fap to furry porn while fucking their dog. ALL fandoms are viewed in ONLY their negative side (which I find kinda sad). This fandom doesn't have too many negative views yet, but it will.

 

 

But I'm just rambling.

 

I don't see why people are so offended by furry porn, or the porn of other fandoms. It isn't anything to be ashamed of. I personally enjoy furry porn, Yaoi, and Hentai. Nothing wrong with it. People think about sex. That's life.

[FriedWater 2]

If you're scared of being made fun of or shunned, don't be. Let the world know that YOU are a brony. We must leave the shadows and show the world that we exist. If there's a hater, love and tolerate the buck out of him or her.

I think this is part of the problem. Many people that are irritated by us are so because we're making such a big deal and attaching all kinds of stuff to watching a tv show and shout to the world that we like a tv show and we look insecure because of it. I know many people in the fanbase and many people who have been critical of us have made a big deal about it but in the end I think it is not.

 

However, feel free to make the world a better place. You don't have to do everything in the name of ponies.

[Crispy 5,563]

You know I kind of wonder where this fandom is going.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOy1EoX5T0k

 

Seriously though, the fandom'll do what all fandoms do. It'll go on, run it's course. There'll be some diehards that last long after the series, but others will fall by the wayside and jump the next fandom train that comes along.

[AnonBrony 1,467]

Thread seems old, and it seems a liitle late to state my opinion. But I'm gonna say it any way.

 

"Where is this fandom is going?"

That question is an equivalent to asking "where's Humanity going?"

 

Bottom line: We don't know. We can't know

 

Some would say down the crap hole. Some would say this fandom is destined to be great.

Like the great John De Lancie said, this is only the inception of this fandom.

I can say with most certainty it aint gonna die any time soon, but whether if its becomes infamous or famous is hard to determine. Or maybe it won't be known at all.

The Trekkie fandom was great and still lives. Kind of. They became famous, hell The president named the freaken Space Shuttle after the Enterprise. (Probabaly cuz the fandom petitioned him to do so, but whatever, he still obliged). The Star Wars fandom still lives as well. Still have videogames and stories written.

 

The only difference between us and them is the magical place which is a system of tubes. a.k.a. The Internet.

Like i said with all the mass media and crap out there, i don't know if we will grow, or become great, or decline and disapear from internet phenomena history.

My only hope is nothing catastrophic would happen, and we continue to grow and have fun along the way.

 

But in reality, the future of this fandom, is up to the fans.

 

Let's watch what happens, Shall we?

(excuse the typos plz)

[Arcanel 3,041]

Thread seems old, and it seems a liitle late to state my opinion. But I'm gonna say it any way.

 

"Where is this fandom is going?"

That question is an equivalent to asking "where's Humanity going?"

 

Bottom line: We don't know. We can't know

 

Some would say down the crap hole. Some would say this fandom is destined to be great.

Like the great John De Lancie said, this is only the inception of this fandom.

I can say with most certainty it aint gonna die any time soon, but whether if its becomes infamous or famous is hard to determine. Or maybe it won't be known at all.

The Trekkie fandom was great and still lives. Kind of. They became famous, hell The president named the freaken Space Shuttle after the Enterprise. (Probabaly cuz the fandom petitioned him to do so, but whatever, he still obliged). The Star Wars fandom still lives as well. Still have videogames and stories written.

 

The only difference between us and them is the magical place which is a system of tubes. a.k.a. The Internet.

Like i said with all the mass media and crap out there, i don't know if we will grow, or become great, or decline and disapear from internet phenomena history.

My only hope is nothing catastrophic would happen, and we continue to grow and have fun along the way.

 

But in reality, the future of this fandom, is up to the fans.

 

Let's watch what happens, Shall we?

(excuse the typos plz)

 

Yahoo! Someone else who waits for the future instead of trying to predict it! (Er...no offense to those who do though...heh heh...sorry, that was worded badly ). Anyway, this. What he/she said (I've seen some of your posts before and the Edgeworth image really DOES suit you ). Me, I'd like to stay out of this because of two reasons. One, the one that AnonBrony just said. And two, there can only be so much unbiased with this...as in, Unless you have see something you truly liked out of the thing you liked less, truth is, it's very, very difficult to be absolutely objective. Very few of us can Twilight Sparkle the issue so well we don't even second guess. Yes, there's a lot of prejudging, but hey, we are all humans. And as far as I know, prejugement as much as hypocresy are part of humanity. We can at least regulate just how much we do it, but it's not necessarily easy. So, to those who bring up the subject of cloppers, please remember, that you, or them, are dealing with humans. Yes, to those who prejudge like there is no tomorrow, this is of no importance, but...I don't know. It really is difficult to give advice on dealing with this subject, especially in our case, to be honest. But, to not go totally off topic, I will say that we'll just keep getting bigger. That is all. Let's trust our "leaders" and those who support us and that's all we should really do except wait. Whatever happens later, let's hope it was more of bad luck, rather than something malicious or done, say, "from the inside" so to speak. Because that will at least show, that we were big and good enough to keep afloat, and make the world a better one .

[Norman 177]

I've been hearing some talk of the "Fandom dying" lately.

 

Personally, I don't agree with this assumption. The fandom will even be here after the show is gone.

 

Let's all remember a previous social phenomenon: Star Trek.

The show instantly became one of the most popular franchises in history and it only ran for 3 Seasons. Star Trek fans were widespread, even during the hiatus between The Original Series and the Next Generation.

 

Now the fandom is still strong, even though all of the beloved Star Trek TV shows have come to a close and the new movies are set in a new reality (which doesn't really count in my opinion).

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

[Yes-Man 597]

I don't, and probably never will think it's dying, degrading, or whatever you want to call it.

It's still the same fandom it was a year ago, and while there have been a few changes, it is not dying.

Anyone who thinks this is either naive, trolling, or just thinking wishfully.

[silverreverb 129]

this fandom is dying the same way the internet is dying /=|

 

some people are just taking this lull between seasons to a little over reactive.

[Norman 177]

I personally think they're pulling a dramatic Rarity. But everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I genuinely want to hear it.

[Theawesomechief 44]

I kind of agree, the PWAA fandom is still pretty darn strong as well as the MLP FIM fandom. They all won't go away completely. I always somehow believe that people will go into a sort of dormant mode where they don't talk about it even though they are a fan. I completely agree with you! Don't forget Star Trek, they are the same even after an incredible 43 years of it existing.

Edited July 13, 2013 by Theawesomechief

[ReGen 1,466]

As far as I know: Hella no. 

 

If anything, the fandom is growing. There are so many dedicated Bronies out there that it's likely we'll live on after this generation's over. 

[FoxyCryptid 4,327]

You have to remember, we have a disproportionate amount of people that are very young and this is their first fandom. They just don't understand how things work and get scared at the first sign of trouble because they've never been on this ride before.

 

For most of us that have been though this, or have studied the nature of fandoms it's just "Oh, there goes another footnote in brony history, this is like when x happened in y fandom a while back."  

Edited July 13, 2013 by Shoboni

[Norman 177]

You have to remember, we have a disproportionate amount of people that are very young and this is their first fandom. They just don't understand how things work and get scared as the first sign of trouble because they've never been on this ride beforet

 

For most of us that have been though this, or have studied the nature of fandoms it's just "Oh, there goes another footnote in brony history, this is like when x happened in y fandom a while back."  

Ah, I see what you mean. I've been actively apart of the Star Wars, Star Trek and dozens of various game fandoms for quite a while now so I'm quite experienced in these sorts of things I can say with all my heart that this fandom is not dying. Not in the slightest.

[Theawesomechief 44]

Lets just put it down to this, as long as we can believe in our fandom as a whole. We won't go anywhere and if we do, it's going upward. 

Lets all love and tolerate the haters, and defy the theorists. We can do anything with friendship!

[Solace 407]

we are a young fandom, we will have our ups and down, there will be times when the fandom is burning bright and time when we are a low ember, a fandom this strong at such a young age shows that we will be strong for a long time. 

[DusK 1,264]

Nobody's saying the fandom will cease to exist entirely. But if you compare overall activity now to activity from late 2011 and early 2012, you'll see a noticeable difference.

Your Star Trek analogy is actually spot-on. Yes, a fandom for that still exists. However, it isn't by any means as active as it was when the show was still airing.

[Norman 177]

Nobody's saying the fandom will cease to exist entirely. But if you compare overall activity now to activity from late 2011 and early 2012, you'll see a noticeable difference.

 

Your Star Trek analogy is actually spot-on. Yes, a fandom for that still exists. However, it isn't by any means as active as it was when the show was still airing.

But a Legacy like Star Trek received is probably one of the best things possible. Yes the fandom is smaller, but it will always be remembers and even worshiped by some (like myself, lol).

 

Personally, I only see more people becoming bronies. It's just that the hiatus has taken a toll on activity.

[~Squishy Skies~ 756]

People move on. It's part of life. But I personally think we, as sentient biological organisms, never truly move on. We'll always keep fond memories in our brain, even if we aren't conscious about it.

 

I honestly don't see any signs of the fandom dying anytime soon. Seems as strong as ever, though, I'm only a recently converted brony. I'm not sure how big or small it was back when.

 

It still seems exceedingly active, though.

[Theawesomechief 44]

The television show may be kind of inactive for the time being, but our fandom, like I said before, isn't gonna die and we can still love our ponies. Just because there isn't a TV doesn't mean there aren't fans. Just like for Star Trek, the television show isn't airing new episodes, but there still is a fandom. If there isn't TV, we also just make things, so we can discuss about those things! That is how our fandom works. We make something, we talk about it. Then we repeat. It's essential for fandoms to talk about themselves in a way.

[Shiki 5,853]

Everything is "dying," according to many.

 

Every generation says that the next is going downhill, for example.

 

The initial bits that woo people into becoming a part of a fandom grow old and typical shortly after. This idea has already been expressed many times across the forums and the internet in general.

 

Also, people and fandoms are always just changing. The fandom is not the same as it was yesterday, and it never will be. The fans, themselves, change, which means the entire fandom changes. So it's not "dying," really. It's just changing, and the previous fans are simply not pleased with the change.

 

If you look at charts and etc., you can prove the fandom is not "dying" activity-wise.

[Fluttershyfan94 5,738]

The fandom is not dying it's still very young, I seriously stopped following this brony drama nonsense.. Seriously some just like to whine about how it's going downhill and that's ok.. I followed all this stupid drama, alicorn twilight, EQG, the fandom dying drama and I feel worst for EQG.. It was awesome, I should just have trusted the cast the whole time. The problem is bronies seem to never learn, everytime this drama stuff seems to hit, it always turns out good. So next time some sort of drama comes up, I'm just going to ignore it. I guess some just have too much free time on their hands, I don't have the time to worry about this stuff.. Honestly it will keep going for a long time. As long as we have faith that our fandom will last and stay strong it will. We just need to learn to stop overreacting this much. There are a lot of dedicated bronies, most bronies are nice but sadly some seem to judge us from minority.. Like young bronies in the youtube comments.. You know what I'm talking about. So in my opinion the fandom is still awesome and I love it.

 

It also seems to still be very active, like I try following EQD and it seriously is hard. It's probably actually a lot more active because there are more bronies now then before. A lot more musicians and artists, sure they aren't all great but I follow a lot of them and in my opinion there are a lot musicians in this fandom that have yet to be discovered. I became a brony november 2012 and it has been very active in my opinion or active enough at least. I don't know, I like the fandom and it isn't dying.

 

I'm just here to enjoy it, I'm not here to worry about stuff. I have enough stuff to worry about in real life.

[Gigapony 650]

I don't reckon the fandom's dying at all. In fact, I think it has all the hallmarks of being one of the great long-lived fandoms.

 

Nobody can disagree that the brony phenomenon has been a small or fleeting fad, this has been a very unique experience for everyone that's even managed to make the news on more than one occasion. It's no longer a "fringe" fad, I'd go so far as to say it's right up there with the likes of Pokémon, Transformers, Doctor Who, and Star Trek.

 

And speaking of which, as someone who comes from the Transformers fandom (which is now almost 30 years old and still going strong), it's amazing how similar the two are, which gives me every ounce of faith that this fandom will continue for a long time. It may go through some changes along the way, but I don't see it dying any time soon.

[Crispy 5,563]

People have been saying "The Fandom is dying" since the end of season one.  I wouldn't pay much attention to it, just like what you like until you're done liking it.

[Scootalove 10,684]

I would have to say that the fandom isn't dying, even after the show is gone or the forums are gone there will still be people in the fandom working on fan made projects and other aspects based on the show. The fandom will still go strong, as it continues to change it will have keep growing more and more members that join the fandom.

 

I wouldn't say that it is dying since, every other fandom went through ups and downs but at the same time it is still going even today. It will continue to keep going as time goes on.