Comm business

[trobadora]

Back in December when we set up sid_guardian, we (china_shop and trobadora) talked about what kind of comm to make it, and we decided on a noticeboard format for various reasons. Partly that was our own modding and fannish preferences, and partly it was the size of the fandom, its closed canon, and the fact that the fandom could only grow if people heard about it. We felt that if people posted on their own journals rather than directly to the comm, other people would more easily stumble across it and get sucked into the joyful wonder of Guardian.

Well, that last part has worked out spectacularly! Because we also thought it would be great if we reached twenty subscribers, and now there's nearly five times as many of us, and things are buzzing, and we're super-happy about all of it! *showers everyone with happy sparkles, truly*

We wanted sid_guardian to be a place where we can all find each other, organise things together, tell each other about fanworks, and to try to make sense of the ... more oblique parts of our wonderful canon(s). *g* It's really useful to have a central place for that!

As a noticeboard, sid_guardian welcomes links, short meta discussions/questions, resources, news about the actors and their other projects, and all that jazz, as well as fandom activities like challenges, exchanges, etc! (You can see our guidelines on the profile page.) And we mods are planning a couple of activities ourselves - a friending meme to celebrate when we reach 100 subscribers (not that we're compulsively refreshing the profile page or anything!), and a small fanworks exchange to celebrate 520 Day (May 20th, which is celebrated like Valentine's Day in China).

Over the last couple of days, there's been some discussion about the fact that Guardian fandom lacks a general comm where people can post and hold discussions, if they don't want to post or congregate on their own journals, so we've been talking about it a lot, and we're thinking of expanding the comm guidelines in that direction - basically, removing the "link, don't post" rule. (Though don't stop telling your circles about Guardian! Lure EVERYONE into this fandom! We have dark energy and lollipops! *evil cackle*)

Anyway, before we make any changes, we wanted to run this by everyone first. Anything we're overlooking? Any objections?

(Note that we still won't allow links to locked posts. We think it's important lurkers or people who don't want to ask for access can still see things! So this expansion of the guidelines is in part a workaround for people who routinely keep their journals locked down; you can either post or crosspost to the comm instead/as well.)

Comments

[goss]

\o/ \o/ \o/

we mods are planning a couple of activities ourselves...a small fanworks exchange to celebrate 520 Day

EEE! Exciting! I am so looking forward to this.
:D

[trobadora]

Yay! I can't wait either.

Seriously, I'm so delighted with this fandom. I never expected it to grow anywhere near this big or this active, and every time a new person pops up I'm basically bouncing. :D

[asya_ana]

More is more! I'd love all kinds of Guardian content.

I'm also really looking forward to the exchange!

[trobadora]

\o/

Hee! "More is more" is a great motto. ♥

[solo]

I think it's a great idea to remove that rule!

[trobadora]

Thank you!

[xparrot]

I like having the options of having discussions here! (I always feel a little awkward commenting on a post on the journal of someone I don't know -- and yeah, if they linked here they probably want comments, but I doubt I'm alone in having that awkwardness anyway? So having some discussions here might encourage some of us to join in more! ^^)

Also thanks to you guys for running this comm, it's a delight ^^

[trobadora]

Yeah, if they link here, they're inviting you in! Please don't hesitate! Because I'm sure people will keep linking. :)

But I'm glad if we can make it easier for people to join in!

[yantantether]

I think this is a really good idea, and will hopefully encourage even more great discussions!

[trobadora]

♥ ♥ ♥

Here's to more great discussions!

[naye]

You two have done such a fabulous job! ♥

Excellent idea to open up the comm to posts. Also excited for the events! Are you planning anything for Guardian's one-year anniversary (June 13th) yet? Should we have a comm brainstorming session about it?

[trobadora]

Oooh, I didn't have that date on my calendar at all since I came to the fandom much later, but that's a great idea! Let me ask china_shop, but yeah, we should totally do something then.

[trobadora]

Hey, I talked to china, and we're not planning to run anything ourselves. But we both think it would be great if the fandom could celebrate somehow! I don't suppose you'd want to run something yourself? Or, hm, shirasade talked about maybe running a bingo at some point here - maybe they'd be interested?

(Though I hope whatever ends up happening, it won't be something with a lot of lead-up, so it won't conflict with the 520 exchange. I want to do both!)

[naye]

I'm sure the C-side of fandom will be going nuts for the anniversary - there was a lot of stuff for the 6 month anniversary. :D

As for me, I'm going to be on an amazing trip in Japan for almost three weeks pretty soon, so I unfortunately can't commit to anything that would demand online presence to arrange before I'm back. But I will definitely keep it in mind!

[trobadora]

Oh, that's cool! I hope someone brings over some stuff from the c-side. :)

And yay for your trip - I hope you'll have lots of fun!

[jo_lasalle]

Thank you guys for the work and thought you put into this comm!

I personally like the "post at home and link here" approach - like you say, I think it can foster spreading the joy to people who might not otherwise see anything about Guardian! And I really like the welcoming feel of the comm where you don't have to stress too much (IME) about "does this really fit here".

I also don't think it'll do any harm to include the option for people to post directly to the comm with meta and the like if they don't want to post to their own journals or their journals are mostly locked. So while I like the "post and link" culture and hope it won't go away, I don't see an issue with expanding the rules! #myvote

(I just started wondering if it might get tricky with fic, especially multichapters, but... you guys are running this comm really well so I'm pretty sure you'll figure it out if anything gets too cluttery, really.)

[trobadora]

Yeah, I feel the same way! And I'm glad the comm feels welcoming, that's exactly what we wanted. :)

I hope people will keep linking, too! I like to see Guardian content spread around; it makes me happy. :D

(About fic, yeah, it's probably not going to be a problem. But if we ever do get swamped I'm sure we can come up with a solution.)

[maggie33]

I like to have discussions in my own journal and I don’t lock fannish posts, so noticeboard worked for me. But I’m also completely fine with people preferring to have a discussion in the comm and posting longer meta here.

And I’ve just checked subscribers – 95.... Wow! Congratulations and thank you for all your good work. :D

[trobadora]

I hadn't checked the profile yet! WOOHOO! 95! \o/

Damn, I love this comm. :D

(I feel the same way about having discussions on my own journal, but I'm glad we can help people out who prefer things differently.)

[020104isme]

Your comm introduced me to links to picspams, playlists, meta, icons and generally a bunch of wonderfully enthused fans.

Anything you want to do that might improve things is fine by me.

[trobadora]

Aw, that's lovely of you to say. :D

[firestar]

I like having the option of being able to keep things in one place, but that's my need to keep my fannish things organised talking. XD

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this comm, it's so great seeing it be so active and flourishing.

[trobadora]

To each their own. So long as we can all find each other. :)

[firestar]

Absolutely. *nods* Though I think even if direct posting here becomes a thing people aren't going to stop posting on their own journals and linking it here. This just opens up avenues for different things.

[trobadora]

Yeah, that's what I think too! And I'm glad we can make the comm work for more people.

[firestar]

Yep! I love this fandom, it's probably the most chill fandom I've ever been in without having to limit myself to certain corners to avoid drama and trolling, and I really want it to be accessible to everyone.

[powwie]

Thank you for starting and running this comm! (goodbye spare time!)
I love all people is sharing and the great discussions going on.

I'm in favor of giving people more options and I'm looking forward to the fanwork exchange. I hope RL won't get in the way and that I can activily participate. :)

[trobadora]

Thank you! It's been brilliant - though you're right about the spare time, LOL. And I'll keep my fingers crossed for your RL not getting in the way of the exchange. :)

[lola]

I'm new here--indeed, I think Guardian in general and this comm specifically are bringing me back to DW, which has been a long time coming but nothing pushed me over the edge until this :)! I really love the feel of this comm and I can see it's because of how thoughtfully you all are approaching it. I like the more is more idea, and also the idea that this would expand but maintain this as a spot to come to for Guardian joy. Thank you!!!

[trobadora]

Hi! It's great to see you here. You're not the only one who's suddenly fannishly active on DW again, so you're in good company. Guardian seems to have that effect on people. :D

[lola]

Hi!! Nice to see you again too! I love how there are familiar folks here! Guardian just seems to bring what we came for in the first place :)

[trobadora]

Yeah, I remember when I was starting to watch, somewhere in the first five episodes or so I found myself thinking, OMG, I have missed this. :D

[mecurtin]

Thank you so much for doing this! Obviously I personally appreciate this A LOT.

More meta and squeeing to come!

[trobadora]

Glad to be able to help. And yay, looking forward to the meta and the squee!

[bonibaru]

totally in favor of expansion

[trobadora]

Thank you! :)

[trobadora]

No posting required, anywhere. :)