I'm human, and it's part of the human condition to avoid change. So I admit I get a little irritated when stuff on फैन्पॉप changes. I still haven't got used to the differences between the खोजिए bars on the site, for instance - every दिन I scratch my head, wondering why I get no results when I look for "Fanpop Users", until I realize that I was looking within the link instead of through the whole site (someday I'll get used to this. Someday soon, I hope, as I was one of the users who requested the feature!). Similarly, back in August 2008, I found myself getting irritated that all the featured लेखाए seemed to be about different hypothetical romantic relationships featuring characters from different TV shows, particularly "House".

Now, I have nothing against "House" या 'shipping related to that show. But for the अगला three months, दिन in, दिन out, it seemed like every freaking featured article was another "House" 'shipping story! What I was missing was what seemed like a greater diversity of लेखाए being published and featured: that is, the way the site had been before August, when on any दिया दिन आप would see लेखाए from any club, sometimes even क्लब्स I wasn't even aware had existed before then. In the past couple of months, the uniformity of the featured लेखाए got to the point where it was something of a joke for me:

Q: Did आप see the featured लेख on Fanpop? It's totally new!
A: Yeah, House and Cuddy go out to lunch in that one!

It's a bit mean, I know. But it really has seemed like all the लेखाए have been from the same spots.

I was thinking about this the other day, and suddenly I realized something: I was looking at this all wrong.

Exactly as it should be
For a while, events in my life kept me from doing much on the site. All I managed to do was pop in, look at my updates, and shake my head in bewilderment at the display of yet another featured 'shipping article. But, over the past week, as I've started to use the site और often again, I've noticed something else about these 'shipping clubs. They're full of content, and have a bunch of people who have fanatic पदक in them. This was key to my change in attitude, because it forced me to acknowledge the obvious, which I'd been avoiding previously: the प्रशंसकों of these 'shipping क्लब्स are engaging in फैन्पॉप community exactly as they should be.

What I mean द्वारा that is this: लेखाए get पोस्टेड as featured लेखाए because people are viewing and rating them (specifically, और people are viewing and rating them than any other हाल का लेख which hasn't already been featured). People get पदक because other people view and rate their content, as well as they themselves posting a lot to the threads in the forum. To get a fanatic medal, आप have to have पोस्टेड a LOT of content, and get it rated द्वारा a LOT of people.

द्वारा extension, this means that the प्रशंसकों of link (and, to a lesser extent, link and link) are viewing and rating content at a high rate, which implies that they care a great deal about their subject. आप could also surmise that the प्रशंसकों of that spot are viewing and rating their content और than the प्रशंसकों of nearly any other club.


It's not "them", it's me
So I want to congratulate all the "House" 'shippers out there: you're doing community right. You're viewing each others' content and rating it far in excess of everyone else.

That there hasn't been a greater variety of featured लेखाए the past few months is the fault of everyone else not in those clubs. If calls to action for Human Rights या Accounts of Trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en aren't appearing (for बिना सोचे समझे examples), it's because the प्रशंसकों of those क्लब्स aren't लेखन articles, the लेखाए that are being written aren't getting read and rated द्वारा a lot of fans, या just that there aren't that many active प्रशंसकों in those clubs. The "Huddy" प्रशंसकों have been doing their "jobs": that is, being enthused about the content in their club, to the point that they read it all, rate it all, and discuss it all in the forum.

What are the rest of us doing? Complaining about how people aren't rating, या using proper keywords, या crediting their images? Those are valid points - I don't want to diminish that - but while many of us get hung up about how others could improve their behavior on the site, the प्रशंसकों of these 'shipping क्लब्स are quietly proceeding, doing exactly what we should all be doing without imploring each other to do what comes naturally. Of course I don't know how other people feel, but nowadays I'm delighted to see और 'shipping लेखाए featured. It means that community is happening in those clubs, and my hat's off to them all.

Thank you, 'shipping fans, for reminding me what one of the big reasons for फैन्पॉप is: to शामिल होइए together with other "fellow fans" in community.