FanLib Is A Year Old

[monster-of-hope.livejournal.com]

Here is the announcement from the site.

It's been a whole year since FanLib first officially opened its doors — can you believe it? It's been some ride. Just look at these numbers:

* 29,000 submissions and counting
* 20,000 plus members
* Hundreds of fandoms represented from "A Bug's Life" to "Zorro."

And we couldn't have done it without each and everyone of you, our FanLibbers.

FanLib is more than just an archive, we're a community — from our forums to friending, messaging and commenting — people are connecting in many different ways.

In the past 12 months, FanLib has made lots of changes, mostly because you asked for them. We started with fiction, then opened our submissions to art and videos. We allowed for pictures embedded in stories. We overhauled our features a number of times to help you get the most out of your visits. But bells and whistles aside, we've always tried to put our members first, and that's why we enjoy being able to feature your works on our front page every day.

With time, the "most popular" fandoms on the site have shifted from the early Harry Potter days, to when Kirk vs. Picard ruled supreme, to the arrival of the anime fandoms such as Naruto and Inuyasha. Through it all, we've noticed a tendency not to divide but to unite. People have discovered new fandoms thanks to a featured fic or a contest, and they've learned new skills (thanks to our art lessons and writing critiques). We believe that good storytelling — be it words or visuals — transcends all fannish boundaries.

Our slogan is "FanLib: Where the Stories Continue…" because, as we say here on No Hiatus, fans never take a break.

So Happy Birthday, FanLib, and thanks to all you FanLibbers who have made it what it is.

EDIT: FanLib actually launched in February-March of 2007, when they added 4,000 1,000 of their 29,000 members. During that period, FanLib gave away free nanoPods.

Fandom's unpaid labor made them money! Aren't you glad?

Comments

[shalom]

At 1.45 submissions per person over the course of a year, it hardly seems momentous. I wonder how many members are really just taking up dead space (like mine, opened just to poke things on the forums).

In contrast, squeaky had this on insanejournal yesterday: Overnight last night we hit 200,000 accounts. The growth on this site is amazing. It took over 6 years to reach 100,000 and then less than 3 months to double that.

[monster-of-hope.livejournal.com]

*nods* FanLib's growth is astoundingly poor. 29,000 is not accurate, either, because some members (at least 4,000) joined in February and March, 2007, when FanLib was giving away nanoPods, before the "launch" in April.

InsaneJournal is adding 1,000 accounts a day, and they don't advertise.

[shalom]

He's having some problems with bandwidth due to his popularity.

[lttledvl.livejournal.com]

I wonder how many members are really just taking up dead space

*raises hand*

I poked at the forums for a while. :D

[shalom]

Poking lost its fun when the conversation turned to how feedback is good as long as it wasn't mean (mean = anything constructive).

[scribblesinink]

I wonder how many members are really just taking up dead space

Me, for securing usernames/pennames. Twice, at least (can't remember exactly, it's been a year after all!).

[monster-of-hope.livejournal.com]

By the way, did you ever try to remove your fanlib account? Last time I checked, it could only be done by sending an email request.

[meoinya.livejournal.com]

I tried to remove mine and I couldn't.

[shalom]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm...no, I never have, but I've not logged on in forever. I'll try and see if they've wiped me tonight. I use a diff name there.