Go! Tell it on the mountain!

[zvi]

fandomfan asks what's so great about podfic?. I'm not sure that it's particularly useful to have that discussion with someone for whom the mere concept hits her embarrassment squick, but, in the more general case, why do you like podfic? Why do you like listening to it, why do you like making it, why do you like manipulating it (if you make covers or podbooks or work on one of the archives), why do you like teaching other people to do it, why do you like discussing it here?

And, even more so, what do you say when someone who doesn't already get it asks these questions?

Comments

[elf]

I'm really genuinely interested to know what it is that people find so appealing about it.

Um... why?

I haven't listened to podfic. (Dialup internet. Not friendly to podcasts.) I have listened to audiobooks; I don't like them. Have listened to old-time radio shows; don't like those, either. Am pretty sure I wouldn't like the low end of amateur productions similar to either, and even the high-end is not going to go as smooth or as fast as I want words to enter my brain.

I get that lots of fans are squeeing like crazy over podfic, and the genre is full of new & exciting tech, and more stories, and more participants, and I'm kinda left out of that. Aw.

But I'm not confused that others like it and I don't. And I haven't bothered asking the f'list, "what do you like about podfic" any more than I've asked them "what do you like about SGA" (which I also don't) because I'm pretty sure that, whatever it is, it's *still* not going to appeal to me. And understanding it in the abstract (oh hey yeah, that would be a good character dynamic to play with/wow, hearing a voice for [character] would be cool), isn't going to drag me into the actual squee.

There is NO REASON to ask "why do you like X" unless it's either "I wanna share the squee" (which it doesn't sound like you're likely to do, any more than I am) or "... so I can tell you what's wrong with that because X is icky."

Which you say you weren't doing. And okay, I'm sure you didn't intend. But your post didn't read like "hmm, new fannish squeething everyone's doing; I don't get it; help me flist." It read like "there's this squicky thing people *all over* are doing; how can they *stand* it?" And of course, the answers are likely to be somewhat defensive; you insulted their squeeful hobby. Or you at least said, "I find it horribly ugly and uncomfortable and don't understand how anyone could like it."

there's got to be something I'm not seeing

There is. Different people like different stuff.

Some people like fluff. Some like non-con. Some like long, plotty novels; some like PWP drabbles. Some like comics. Some like fic archives with black backgrounds and gothish fonts and vampire artwork all over the place. Some like printed zines and don't read anything online. Some like meta. Some like detailed concrit. Some like writing to a deadline. Some like collaborations. And some like podfic.

Once you've figured out you *don't* like something, what does it matter why someone else does? It's not like we have squee rationing.

[brimtoast]

Hmm, but her replies so far have all been interested and respectful. I actually was worried this whole post would be with her arguing back against the things people say are good about podfic, but she hasn't done that once.

It kind of seems like she's trying to figure out if the problem is just that she hasn't heard the right ones, or that the reasons people like them are not things that are going to apply to her, and therefore she should stop trying to find ones she likes.

I obviously can't actually speak for her, but that's the impression I have. I mostly just wanted to come to her defense in terms of her tone throughout this actually discussion post, which hadn't struck me as hostile or dismissive.

[fandomfan]

Thanks for the support, there.

:)

[phoebe_zeitgeist]

Once you've figured out you *don't* like something, what does it matter why someone else does?

Well, because it's an inherently interesting question, or it can be. If I don't like something other people like, odds are decent that there's something about it that I'm not seeing, or not even equipped to see, that the right audience is seeing and responding to. So when someone can explain what they're seeing in a way I can wrap my head around, if only for that moment, it can be an amazing experience, and a tremendous gift. We never can see through each others' eyes, but when someone is able to communicate any part of the meaning of something you just don't get for yourself, there's at least a glimpse of how the world looks to others, and just how wide a world it is outside your own head.

I'd go around asking people why they love things I'm indifferent to all the time, if I didn't know how wearing it can be on everyone in virtual earshot. Hell, it's why I'm here reading this post and these comments: people might tell me interesting things, and hey, I didn't even have to be the one to raise the question!

[fandomfan]

There is NO REASON to ask "why do you like X" unless it's either "I wanna share the squee" (which it doesn't sound like you're likely to do, any more than I am) or "... so I can tell you what's wrong with that because X is icky."
Sure there is. If you're genuinely interested to see what it is that works for people about something that you don't understand.

This isn't a matter of me not appreciating one particular fandom or another, it's a whole genre of fanworks that has become pretty damn popular in the last couple years, and my whole point with my blog and the discussions it might spawn is to delve into fannish issues.

So, if I don't understand what it is about podfic that works for people (and I'm understanding an awful lot more of it through this discussion), then of course I'm going to ask "Why do you like X?"

Or you at least said, "I find it horribly ugly and uncomfortable and don't understand how anyone could like it."
I didn't at all say that 'I find it horribly ugly'. I said it makes me uncomfortable and weirds me out, and yes, I said that in a way designed to get debate going, but I most certainly did not say that I think people who listen to podfic are awful or that podfic itself is squicky (I used the phrase embarrassment squick, yes, but that means something subtly different). And in response, I've learned a lot about what makes podfic into some fen's squeeful hobby of choice.

Once you've figured out you *don't* like something, what does it matter why someone else does?
Because I'm a curious human being who's interested in fen and online fannish communities and what makes them tick. And a discussion isn't a discussion without opinions other than my own, whether those come from, in this case, from people who love and adore podfic or people who don't or people like yourself who seem to have zero involvement with podfic whatsoever.

So thanks for chiming in, though I'm a little confused as to what prompted you to do so, since it doesn't sound like you've got a whole lot of opinion on podfic either way.

Still, thanks.