Did I miss the fandom?

[Casey Pones 82]

I know this might sound like a dumb question but since G4 has ended, is it too late to mingle with fellow fans?

I just saw a video talking about MLP FIM, how the fandom was a perfect place to find friends. But since the show is over, does that mean the community will be less active and maybe fade away altogether?

My experience interacting with fellow fans on anything is very limited. I've been a fan of many different things over the years but this is the first time I've ever joined a fan-site or really participated in fandom and I've only done it recently.. So I don't know what to expect.

Did I miss my chance to regularly engage with people over this show? 

[North Star 5,226]

Izzy would like to inform you that you are here mingling with fellow fans and are not late.

Or in other words...  

was it easier in the heyday? well, I did meet great people back then, but I know people who are joining and are continuing to meet new people. Great people like @Ice Princess Silky  and her cuddly crowd help with that :3 as does every mod and active user on this site

in terms of physical opportunities - well, here in the UK there were more opportunities for that back in the day  more cons and meets and such. There are still fun online cons like Ponyfest that you can attend and mingle and listen to music. There are con-like events like r/place which bronies participate in, too.

 

[Starlight Serenade 3,072]

4 hours ago, Casey Pones said:

I know this might sound like a dumb question but since G4 has ended, is it too late to mingle with fellow fans?

I just saw a video talking about MLP FIM, how the fandom was a perfect place to find friends. But since the show is over, does that mean the community will be less active and maybe fade away altogether?

My experience interacting with fellow fans on anything is very limited. I've been a fan of many different things over the years but this is the first time I've ever joined a fan-site or really participated in fandom and I've only done it recently.. So I don't know what to expect.

Did I miss my chance to regularly engage with people over this show? 

This is pretty much how I felt when I joined the forums originally over a year ago. I watched the entirety of G4 and joined the forums immediately when I saw some videos about it too. 

I recall seeing a year ago social media analytics showing that the early years of G4 were the peak period of online community interaction. I found out through a lot of videos that most people actually left the community while G4 was still airing as the seasons progressed. Why? I do not know exactly why, but I can only make speculation that they did not like how the series changed after the first few seasons. The series changed a lot after season 3 and I can see why some people lost their interest. That and as any internet fad goes(I remember hearing about bronies years ago in the mainstream news), popularity usually dies down after a while. However, after seeing the G5 social media analytics last year, there is a lot of potential of more possible interactions more than ever.

I feel that my experience with fellow fans is very limited too as it is a forum. Most of the people that I have met here are from other states or countries it seems. WHERE ARE MY CALIFORNIA PONIES AT?!?!?! I see that there are local brony groups that meetup every few months, but they meetup more far away than I would like. I wish there were more groups around Los Angeles(I'm from California, USA btw). I was seriously considering going to a meetup here, but my circumstances recently changed so I will have to hold back on that. I hope to meet some other fans in person eventually.

You did not miss your chance Casey Pones. In fact, you still have the opportunity to connect with people and hopefully you can find a local group, small convention, or maybe a meet up. I wish you good luck!

 

[Flew Away 932]

I would say that it is not too late at all. It is likely that those who are deeply committed are still there, or curious newcomers. Many jumped at it in the beginning because it was "a cool thing" and because friends did it. But those who are really committed stay in some form. Although activity has decreased over the years.

There are still not many places to find local pony friends anymore. Where I live, I would say that it is gone completely, since probably 10 years. Living far north on the globe and also in a veritable wasteland with several miles to the nearest town hardly makes it any better.

But a lot is happening online, not like before, but it's still a lot of art and music, even if it's less now. Actually, it's quite nice that the worst of the hype is over, it could be a little much sometimes. I just really hope that it can continue at this calm pace for a long time to come. Without this place to gather, I don't know if I would be able to search for pony friends over the whole net anymore.

Whatever happens, my inside will stay with the Friendship ideals for my entire life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mirage 24,747]

Sure you can make friends! The fandom is smaller, but still quite enthusiastic.

However, it's not altogether perfect. You may still encounter bullies, meanies, psychopaths and narcissists. Just have to use common sense and realize many, many types of people are fans.

By the way, Nightmare Moon is best pony.

[Lawyer Slip 2,526]

13 hours ago, Casey Pones said:

I know this might sound like a dumb question but since G4 has ended, is it too late to mingle with fellow fans?

I just saw a video talking about MLP FIM, how the fandom was a perfect place to find friends. But since the show is over, does that mean the community will be less active and maybe fade away altogether?

My experience interacting with fellow fans on anything is very limited. I've been a fan of many different things over the years but this is the first time I've ever joined a fan-site or really participated in fandom and I've only done it recently.. So I don't know what to expect.

Did I miss my chance to regularly engage with people over this show? 

No. That ain't happenin'. We're still here aren't we? As long as we are here there is always still a chance to mingle and have fun.

[Brony Number 42 10,069]

You did miss all the conventions.

[Flew Away 932]

2 hours ago, Mirage said:

Sure you can make friends! The fandom is smaller, but still quite enthusiastic.

However, it's not altogether perfect. You may still encounter bullies, meanies, psychopaths and narcissists. Just have to use common sense and realize many, many types of people are fans.

By the way, Nightmare Moon is best pony.

 

It's true, it's happened to me too. It is extremely unpleasant and it can take a long time before you understand that it is a trained lunatic on the other end. But common sense and not believing everything is gold, just because it glitters. Take it easy, and you'll find real friends in the fandom.

@Mirage AND WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE OTHER PRINCESS?

Just kidding, I LOVE my sister Luna. She IS the best little sister and Princess. Together we are strong.

[Lawyer Slip 2,526]

1 hour ago, Brony Number 42 said:

You did miss all the conventions.

I am a little sad about that, but I consider this a giant neverending convention so, yay.

[Mirage 24,747]

2 hours ago, Princess Celestia said:

Mirage AND WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE OTHER PRINCESS?

Oh ho ho ho...behave, dearest Tia. 

Dost thou feel jealous? Tis unusual! *giggles"

Nary fret anon. Thither night to night I dwell in dreams alone, whist thou rule the day for all to bask in thine glory.

Verily, I'd have none other way forsooth! 

[Gun Metal Zebra 2,217]

There are still websites and Discord servers out there dedicated to MLP, although the fandom's heyday was a little over a decade ago. Back then, aside from more fandom activity, there were pony-related conventions, and MLP merchandise could be found in any Hot Topic store.

Edited March 14 by Gun Metal Zebra

[Flew Away 932]

20 minutes ago, Mirage said:

Oh ho ho ho...behave, dearest Tia. 

Dost thou feel jealous? Tis unusual! *giggles"

Nary fret anon. Thither night to night I dwell in dreams alone, whist thou rule the day for all to bask in thine glory.

Verily, I'd have none other way forsooth! 

Jealous? Me? Haa... Eh? Haa.. Haa..

-So sorry, dear sister, you know that I just needed to express emotions, I hardly do that, just with you sis.

 

-I do love you, and you know that!

[Rafa Stary 2,894]

I don't know if I can help you with an answer, but I can speak from my own experience

When I was a fan of the series around 2012-2014 I still didn't use social media, so my contact with other fans was 0, and I returned to the series very late (nearly a full decade later), being here today makes me feel like the MLP franchise is in the same state as Dragon Ball in the 2000s and early 2010s (no new TV series, films and no comic, just re-release of old stuff, video games and some new short stories), which shouldn't be the case since we have a new generation with a production that is meant to have the same scope as FiM, but it seems that only a niche has shown interest in G5 so it seems like it is treated as a kind of spin-off without much relevance, I really have no idea what it was like here when the hype for G4 existed, but my eyes kind of see the current situation of the fandom as "end of party" or "after life" (maybe this one is a better term), at least here, outside of the forum I can't say much yet, so I can kind of say that this is a part of my childhood that ended up not happening?

I think I can use my experience in the DB fandom as an example, funnily enough the DBS TV show was a hit and I wasn't there during its original run, I joined the fandom just a few months after its last episode, but even then I had a lot of interactions with other fans, I've even gotten into trouble, but before I was obsessed and liked to discuss a lot of things, even things I didn't understand, nowadays I look at my old posts from the DB forum and It often makes me ashamed and I think a lot of things I said there are bullshit, and I don't even mention that my English sucked XD.  

Nowadays, 75% of what I discussed on that forum I no longer discuss today, either because I'm now too lazy to do them or simply because I lost interest, and I believe that if I had been here since, i don't know, 2018, the same would have happened, probably. my profile would be full of old posts of me talking about who I think is the hairiest character, theories about who Discord's parents are, timelines, what it would be like if Applejack existed in real life, debates and even talking about fan projects, maybe I would have even published my arts and stories here, it would surely be something good for you to spend your time laughing at, but as I only came here a few months ago you won't see any of that (also, a few things I did here in 2023 I already no longer do), this is called growing up and leaving many things behind, I believe the same happened with MLP fans and I saw people saying that many abandoned FiM during its original run, and it makes sense to me, not everyone will continue to like colorful horses for the rest of their lives, I don't doubt that there were friendships that only existed because of the show.

So after writing my typical text that it doesn't lead anywhere, I think that you arriving in the fandom too late is subjective, it's kind of a fact that a lot of the hype no longer exists and that the fandom has lost popularity to the point of having been forgotten by the general internet (before it was very easy for someone to know what MLP was), but you can still find a lot of fans for you to interact with, I personally didn't even expect that there were still active YT channels and big Facebook groups, I really thought the community was much smaller nowadays, so at least for me the way it is, it's a lot of fun, but of course during the boom season it was much more interesting, but there's still a lot of time, that's at least what I believe, I'm still a baby in the fandom so my opinion might change in the future, and If you know a lot about MLP I think it's even better for you, unlike me who don't even know what it is the meaning behind things like robot Sweetie Belle, Bat Horse or gamer Luna haha 

[ZiggWheelsManning 9,987]

I miss when the fandom was thriving wild on the internet during the early and mid-years of the previous decade.  Even though I've never met anyone in person devoted to it.  

[BritishBrony2012 796]

Miss how hype it was, I become brony at end of 2012, I believe it went really hype on 2011. When G5 show up, the movie went well but then series heard critizism. Fandom still around and still call  myself brony. I miss out going to Brony Con UK, plan going to BUCK (Brony con in UK) in 2006 but it was last. Would be great to attend Brony/MLP cons, then it was 2019 I been to my first con (Sorry it off topic)

[Dreambiscuit 9,626]

If you’re here on these forums, you did not miss the opportunity to mingle with other fans and celebrate the ponies. G4 may not be in the spotlight the way it once was, but as long as the fans keep enjoying it, the ponies remain as fresh and fun as ever.

[EpicEnergy 23,177]

But you're a wizard, and a wizard is neither late nor is he early! He arrives precisely when he means to!

Jokes aside, you didn't miss anything, the fandom never dies! It simply had it's moment of being famous and trending, so the chaff has died and only the wheat is left (basically meaning the fake fans left and the real fans stayed).

[ToastedScone 395]

The FIM fandom specifically is much smaller these days, but the wider MLP fandom has thrived for years and years! G1 fans and collectors have been a tight knit community for decades now and the same thing is probably going to happen with newer gens--smaller fandom, but still many good friends to be made!!

[Lawyer Slip 2,526]

1 hour ago, ToastedScone said:

The FIM fandom specifically is much smaller these days, but the wider MLP fandom has thrived for years and years! G1 fans and collectors have been a tight knit community for decades now and the same thing is probably going to happen with newer gens--smaller fandom, but still many good friends to be made!!

Yee. G4 was probably peak for MLP. But, I enjoy G5. It's pretty dang good. And to all G1 G2 and G3 fans. I hope your community continues to thrive like ours!

[Rafa Stary 2,894]

Yeah a few months later I can feel it very well, surprisingly I'm not even talking about G4, back when Make Your Mark was still releasing new episodes I felt that the fandom was still more active, specially here, and since then I'm feeling a decline, MLP itself just doesn't help it, 2024 is being a dry year for the franchise, and many fans just lost interest in following G5 (the reasons I won't discuss here, everyone has their own)

Really sad but I hope when they release a new series or generation, the fandom flourish again, not saying that it's dead, but going through a new "gold" phase, although I'm not very optimistic about it, it has been feeling just "legacy-ish" to me lately 

Fortunately the forum is making me very happy though, having little is much better than nothing indeed, thanks 

[DubWolf 17,247]

Well it’s still here. Arguably I miss the show being around since it gave me something to look forward to and then talk about here.

[Finding_Marty 789]

I remember the times between seasons 2 and 3 when ponies and bronies were everywhere. As I was an active gamer back then, I always tried to find some brony servers in online games. I remember one in particular - My Little Mercenaries in Team Fortress 2. The time I spent there and the people I met... that was quite amazing time and frankly after the server was down I have never experienced such joy when playing with randomly met people on the internet again. Sometimes I miss those days but hey maybe such place still exists somewhere and I just need to find it (maybe it's here :D) 

[Kantet 180]

I joined the fandom a year ago and you know, I had exactly the same feeling as you. I watched the whole series, then started studying fan content. But somehow I feel uneasy from the feeling that I was "late" for most of the events, for some special atmosphere of that time. The fandom is still quite alive, as I see it, in general it is quite special, I hope that the specialness will appear even later. I hope for the best and would like to put my efforts to revive and take off the fandom, to its revival so that users with pony-avatars can often be found on the Internet again)