Where's the community?

[nymaas.livejournal.com]

It's sad seeing none's into that fandom anymore.

Life you see the new Hetaween posts and there are like... 0 comments. Looks like Hima-papa's losing all his fans during the last 2 years. It's true he doesn't upload regularly anymore but it's more like... everyone's gone suddenly.

I'm afraid he doesn't attend to peoples interests anymore (well he always did as he pleased) but now he brings all that historical persons into the comics and none bats an eye anymore.

I'm quite upset about it. There are no discussions in here anymore... as well as the Hetalia Blog Community ... bamboothicket2

Hope to see you guys there...!

Comments

[jammerlea]

Hi! A mod here! I'm also the person who runs Hetarchive and the tumblr for hetarchive and bamboothicket2 and I help out with the new scanlations...

*deep breath*

I've been so busy doing this and that with those things that I don't check here regularly. I apologize!

I agree, the Hetalia fandom is still strong and it's growing again. But it is growing on other social platforms. I do, however, incredibly miss the (intelligent) discussions that LJ can provide. So I don't mind putting a notice on the Hetarchive tumblr to try to promote this comm. I'll see if there may be a way for the scanlations group to encourage discussion here too. It's just easiest for us to post the scanlations on tumblr, because as others have stated, it spreads very fast. We're already discussing trying to keep on top of sharing new updates here. I'll start in a moment by trying to make a post collecting all the missed updates so far.

ALSO, if it's beneficial and no one minds, I can probably add a pinned post at the top of the community for Hetalia resources (official sites, useful tumblr blogs, etc). We do have a few links on the sidebar navigation, but I think it only allows so many...

And I'm always open to suggestions!! This place is where I met so many friends and other amazing people, I want to help!

[assby.livejournal.com]

Hi you! I just wanted to take a moment to thank you so much for your continued hard work. You and the rest of the scanlation team do a lot for this fandom and ya'll don't ever seem to get enough appreciation or gratitude and it's a damn shame because you guys really pour so much effort and time into what you do.

I just wanted to let you know a few important things about the State of the Fandom regarding journal based sites.

For the most part, activity has really died down on LJ in general as the site became hostile and inhabitable for many users, so many big fandom blogs have decided to abandon it in favor for DreamWidth. For this reason, I don't know if it would be worthwhile for you guys to continue updating LJ as I don't think many people are checking it anymore.

It probably would be a lot more beneficial for the health of this community if you guys took the time to move it to DW where a majority of Rpers and their muns now reside. Dreamwidth has a great importing feature that will allow you to transfer every post made here over there. I know it's a pain in the butt, but I think it's worth considering.

I also just want to take this moment to remind anyone reading this that the Aphanon_meme (http://aphanon-meme.dreamwidth.org/) over at DW is still a rather active community. It has a reputation of being a "hate site", but it really isn't and hasn't been in five years. Instead, we function more as an informal dressing room/discussion board where anonymity while discussing is key, but rping is more than welcome. We are always looking for more additions to our cast, and if you look at our current page, you can see how fairly active we are for a small community. (http://aphanon-meme.dreamwidth.org/93057.html?page=38#comments)

Updates are also posted regularly and it's a great platform to keep track of the fandom while partaking in headcanon discussions/historical or political talks, or just being silly. It's a pretty fun, friendly place to make a few new friends as we also have a very active twitter community, do things like stream movies and celebrate the holidays with special events.

That being said, in all it's tl;dr rambling glory, we could use a bit of a new blood and fresh activity, and it'd be really appreciated if you could add the meme to your pinned post for all to know it exists! Thank you again in advance!

[jammerlea]

I have an account on DW, but I haven't been on it in forever. orz If we moved things over there, we'd still be leaving some people behind over here. There's just no singular place to make everyone happy. ;w;

What do you mean about LJ being "hostile and inhabitable"? I thought most of it was just moving to other social platforms, so I feel like I might be missing a story here.

[pink-cass.livejournal.com]

That community you linked to might be an alternative if we really do lose LJ some day. However, just from one look, I see several problem with it.

For one, I can't find your rules. Do you have some? Can you have them on Dreamwidth? What are your rules?

There is too much going on over there. I mean yeah, we want more interaction, but we'd want to be able to actually read it, too. If a thread moves at the pace I see over there, that can quickly get really hard to follow, especially when you have to miss several hours working or sleeping. Also, I like to get to know people I'm interacting with, but with such a massive amount of comments, that's impossible.

And from Dreamwidth itself, I've read that you can't reduce the size of images you post on it. Is this true? If so, that too can be a big problem, especially for people with slow connections.

[sammich]

"It probably would be a lot more beneficial for the health of this community if you guys took the time to move it to DW"
Isn't there already a Hetalia comm on Dreamwidth? I don't know how we'd move a community, especially since there's already one on DW. I mean.. it's the same thing.... Sorry. I'm just confused about that part. (Not about moving posts, but the point of it).

I have a DW account but I use it even less than my LJ one.

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

After having a bad experience with someone from the old LJ anonmeme (who stalked my tumblr and threatened me), I have absolutely zero desire to join another one. I'm familiar enough with how anonmemes and gossip comms work to know they are something I never want to involve myself in again.

I'd much rather see attempts being made to revitalize the main comm.

[pink-cass.livejournal.com]

Hey lea!

I think a pinned post might be a good idea. I hope making things easier/more obvious will bring a few people back.

[foohey1212.livejournal.com]

It's too sad for me to think about the comm being dead-like one day. We can't be like what we were before...

But i'm not too worried now since I think many people still come to it just to check for updates. But yeah...

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

I'm one of the people who moved to tumblr (because I'd gotten into Homestuck at the time and that's where the fandom was for the most part), and while I do like it for what it is, it never did provide an outlet for discussion. Though, I was never under the impression that it was properly formatted for that. It's basically always been a glorified image board. But I think that format is only part of why discussion is difficult. Tumblr provided a safe-haven for people with social anxiety (myself included), who never were comfortable with commenting and would pretty much lurk. In addition to that, the fandom community on tumblr... after being on there for so long, I feel like the social dynamic is strangely hostile. Attempts at discussion are picked apart and people are very aggressive about their opinions. I'm not saying everyone is like this, but enough people are that it doesn't exactly make you feel welcome to have an open discussion. Spend some time in any given fandom tag, and it's a mess of arguing over opinions, accusations of social insensitivity, and just plain antagonism. I would say that's a huge factor as to why nobody wants to discuss on tumblr. Because an opinion or a debate can lead to a witch hunt. That's especially terrifying for people with social anxiety. To put it plainly, the current tumblr social dynamic is hostile towards socialization. So people become literally too scared to discuss anything. Even on their own personal blog. And there's something seriously wrong with that. It's probably the one thing I really don't like about tumblr.

When I put it all into perspective, I realize I've made life-long friends through LJ and forums. Friends that I've met in person, and some I've even lived with for a couple years. I've made special bonds with people through this comm especially. In the years I've been on tumblr... I've never made a friend there. So that definitely speaks volumes to me. Now that I've rekindled a bit of my old love of Hetalia, I wouldn't mind becoming active here again.

[kenichi-bokushi.livejournal.com]

It's probably not as much Hetalia losing fans as LiveJournal losing popularity. To be honest, I'm still a huge fan, but I haven't updated my LiveJournal blog in like forever. It kinda sucks, though, since tumblr lacks a comment feature altogether, and Facebook's Hetalia pages aren't as together as LiveJournal's Hetalia community once was, but it does seem that the fandom has merely migrated.

[mint-glaze.livejournal.com]

Wow! It's really nice come across a discussion about a topic that I've been wondering about for awhile.

Okay, what happened was (as others have said by now): The fandom went to tumblr. Although that took some time for me to realize too since I was not aware that the fandom migration to tumblr happened until much later.

I've read the comments and some of them pretty much summed up my problem with Tumblr. The thing is...Tumblr can feel exclusive. Especially if you don't know a lot of people/have friends (online or irl) in-fandom. I also find it hard to find and connect with other fandom people there, that is probably why its not as easy to have a sense of community now on tumblr that is similar to what was in this comm a few years ago. But there is a large hetalia community there, though it feels more scattered and too individualized because of tumblr's format.

(I look at tumblr mostly for translations of updates posted at hetascanlations and the random fanworks/occasional posts about an update/some headcanons that appear on the hetalia tag. But thats pretty much it. I've never interacted with any user there so far. I do have an account but haven't followed anyone yet since I don't really know who to follow.)

In some ways I see the fandom move to tumblr as a loss, because as a former (still am but not as much) lurker in this comm I always loved reading the comments to updates or interesting discussion topics /analysis here. Knowing the reactions/opinions of fandom people about happenings in hetalia made me feel like a part of the fandom community. And that kind of interaction doesn't happen as much on tumblr. Another thing I liked about the LJ comm is that it was easy to get all the updates and reactions/discussions of the fandom because it was all in one place. I get the updates on tumblr too but i don't see as much fan to fan interactions or discussions. It is sad that there isn't much of that here too as it was back then, because as a lot of the other commenters have said many people have lost interest in hetalia or migrated to tumblr. I wish there is someway to get some fandom people back here or have the same style of community discussion/interaction that was in here there on tumblr.

[pixelmicrocat.livejournal.com]

My feelings exactly u-u
Ahhhh maybe making our comm flourish again is not impossible! This comm is still cute and cozy, like an old hotel waiting to be filled with people again 6w6

[sandfordstreet.livejournal.com]

People come and go, that's just how things are. The fandom isn't really dead, lot of people I know have moved to Tumblr. Also I honestly disagree with other people's sentiments about a lack of 'intelligent' discussions... because if you know were you're looking, you can find people having 'intelligent' discussions on Tumblr. But you'll also find a whole bunch of bullshit and drama on Tumblr, which is total Hell because it go from positive to hostile real fast. But do I agree; the website is more formatted towards graphics, gifs, and art (which is all good for artists) but if you want to sit down and just chat or post fan-fiction, no so much.

Plus LJ isn't really friendly user friendly like it was in 2012. That's one problem for me. That and forgetting about this account, whoops.

[jammerlea]

My lack of "intelligent" discussion comment was more directed towards the facebook groups I'm in than tumblr. XD There are definitely some interesting discussions that come up on tumblr here and there, but yeah, a lot of drama too.

[sandfordstreet.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, I see, I apologize if my initial comment came off catty or rude!

[pixelmicrocat.livejournal.com]

(Hey I'm still alive as well 9w9 )

[sammich]

is it harassment if I just appreciate your default pic? Because I appreciate it.

[via-lactea013.livejournal.com]

hello everyone!I want to practice my english here on LJ! the japanese fans are great in number, a lot are on the twitter.in japan there are many events and interact with one another a lot on twitter.i try to make friends with english speaking fans on twitter..but..i can hardly find them and when i do...i don't think they like me very much.I want to become friends with all of you! i have only hetalia japanese friends, but not anywhere else.let's enjoy hetalia together!

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm sorry to hear the English-speaking twitter fans haven't been friendly towards you. I'm sure people here are willing to be friends! You should try this friending meme (http://hetalia.livejournal.com/12776986.html)!

[sammich]

You are more than welcome to post here. I hope you enjoy yourself here. Welcome to the community!

[hikari-kaitou.livejournal.com]

Hello, welcome to the community! I'm always glad to see a new member here since many of our older members seem to be moving to Tumblr recently ^^ I would also like to practice Japanese with a fellow Hetalia fan! 最近日本語を使う機会はあまりないので忘れるのが心配です。I hope you enjoy your stay here~

[turtlelikelemon.livejournal.com]

Hello! Welcome to the community! I use lj and tumblr too! If you need help don't be afraid to ask. :)

[pink-cass.livejournal.com]

Hello and welcome~

Your English is very good, you shouldn't have any problems communicating with us. :)
I hope you'll find some friends here.

[ravenlady951.livejournal.com]

Why hello there!

Ok, this is coming from someone who has been with the LJ Hetalia community since she was 15 (Holy I am 21, damn I feel old. Previously my LJ was Full_Moon951), So I will share what I think about the fandom lately.

Personally, the fandom has moved to Tumblr in conjunction with Homestuck. Alongside the SuperWhoLock-ians as well in the mix. However, I cannot believe the amount of maturity that stays in only the LJ community. I swear, Tumblr scares the shit out of me with it's unnecessary drama.

But back to the topic. When there is a lack of updates in the internet era on a series, people loose interest fast. It is the same goes with any kind of story telling media, be it a tv series or comic strips (Though however, Sherlock proved me wrong). No updates, loss of fans. But do not get me wrong, we as a whole, understand that Hima-Papa is very, very, busy. And that is fine with me, and trust me, we all call him "Papa" for a reason, as he is always spoiling us with these little hints of a pairing and the humour that is in the strips are all gag worthy.

Lately, no one talks about any of the new material that is being posted up. And it is sad how it goes "Have you seen the comic strip?" "Yeah." when it was about how lame the gag is for example. I am used to posting up whatever I thought was Hetalia-ish themed skits on a group page, and It got from laughing comments to "Seen by - ". No one is talking about how is this strip or anything else. It was just reblogging and sharing. But that is it and it needs to change.

Yes there is still discussions here, not to fret ^^ I appreciate everyone of you that is keeping the fandom alive here. I for one, will think about Hetalia and get a few good laughs over it after 6 years ^^.

[awesomeness01.livejournal.com]

To be honest... I personally don't mind for the community to become smaller or for it not to be so active any more. Because of it the fandom feels more personal, accessible and friendlier to me than if it would be a giant community. It's also more convenient to follow new updates without worrying to much about missing something.

Actually, I kind of turned away from Hetalia when the community was getting larger. It started to feel like when expressing your opinion or feelings about something (like a Himuraya update) became a death-trap. Some people were getting quit foul almost waiting to lash out at people just for no apparent reason. I was getting afraid just to post a comment predicting the negative reactions I would get. One person in particular had something against me -_-. It's just one of the bad sides of an growing community, you probably get more shallow fans and more impersonal conversations.

After some time I checked back into the community and it had less post and comments. I could understand though someone finding it disheartening if something they love is not so much shared any more.