If there are THREE GENERATIONS OF FANFICTION, then I propose that they are:
- Pre-internet
- Internet 1.0
- Internet 2.0
But what that tumblr post on “three generations of fanfiction” really showed is that tumblr is full of cranky old ladies, and lots of us were around and writing fanfic before LJ or Tumblr were a twinkle in their programmers’ eyes. Another thing it showed is that “old” has a hilariously variable definition in fandom. You kids think you’re “old” because you remember Quizilla? Back in my day, we posted our fic to Usenet! Uphill both ways on a 14.4 modem! (NB: I am 34. Also not actually old! Honestly, Tumblr! Life doesn’t stop when you graduate college!)
But I digress. The point is, that post is fascinating and deserves to be documented, so I have made a Tumblr page for it. I am about 1/3 of the way through looking at all of the reblogs with text in them. Please come help me organize it, add good reblogs I’ve missed, or suggest topics I haven’t covered.
Fanlore is a wiki on fandom history. Like all wikis, it’s better the more people edit it.