OTW Guest Post: Snowflake Challenge
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | OTW Guest Post: Snowflake Challenge |
| Interviewer: | Claudia Rebaza |
| Interviewee: | Snowflake Challenge moderators (Seleneheart/Raederle, Turps, Spikedluv and Tjs_whatnot) |
| Date(s): | 28 March 2023 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | |
| External Links: | OTW Guest Post: Snowflake Challenge; Wayback link; archive link |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
OTW Guest Post: Snowflake Challenge is a 2023 interview done as part of a series. See OTW Guest Post.
Some Topics Discussed
- Snowflake Challenge and challenge moderation
- Fandom and fannish activities
- Organization for Transformative Works
Some Excerpts
How did you first find out about fandom and fanworks?
S/R: I had a friend in junior high who somehow got her hands on Star Wars zines, so that was probably my first experience with fanworks. For me personally, I didn’t come across fanworks until the internet took off in the 90s. I used to be on the official Buffy the Vampire Slayer forums (was it on UPN back then? I think so). I ran across someone linking to their fanfic, clicked the link, and here we are. But I would say the mere act of posting to the forum was building fandom, as we commented and speculated about the show. Anyway, that led me to Fanfiction.net and to the myriad individual sites that existed back in those days.
Turps: That was back in the days of dial up and the endless waits for connection. I didn’t even have a computer at home at the time so used to visit the library where I could surf online via hour long booked slots. At the time I’d fallen for a show called Poltergeist the Legacy, and one day decided to look it up. While doing that I found a site about the show, and that site had a section called fanfic. Now, I had no idea what fanfic actually was, but clicked anyway, and was amazed to find stories about the show I loved — and that was the start of it all.
An addition to that story. That site was hosted on an Angelfire site and had an embedded werewolf howl that would play each time you loaded the page. I don’t think I’ve ever moved so fast to find the mute button the first time that howl rang out in the library.
Spikedluv: I discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer in syndication on FX during November 2001. I thought the show was fun and witty, but I fell in love with Spike when he appeared. (As you might’ve guessed from my user name. *g*) I went to the computer to find out more about Spike and discovered that there were a whole lot of people talking about BtVS and Spike and that some were even writing fanfic! My entire world changed that day.
TJ: A real- life friend introduced me to LJ and my life was changed forever.
How did the idea to continue Snowflake Challenge come about when the original mods departed?
S/R: Snowflake has seen a gradual turnover of mods, with ‘old’ mods passing the baton to the ‘newer’ mods, who then become the old mods. Therefore, the Snowflake Challenge has been running continuously since 2012, when it was confined to akamine-chan’s personal journal. We’ve had a great intersection of previous mods who know the traditions and new mods with fresh ideas or new approaches to the Challenge.
Turps: I wasn’t around as a mod at that time, but as someone who was friendslist friends with the original mods, and had done the Snowflake challenge since the very start, I was thrilled to see people step forward to take over.
Spikedluv: I had only been participating in Snowflake for a couple of rounds when this happened and at that point I couldn’t imagine starting the new year off without it. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to keep the challenge running. And thankfully, a bunch of the existing mods, as well as some new ones, came on board as well. This is definitely a group effort.
Tjs_whatnot: I don’t think there was ever a consideration in those first few years that we wouldn’t continue after the original mods stepped down. Thankfully we had enough of us still willing, and especially someone who had the knowledge, skill and time to keep us organized (Spikedluv <3)
Participation in the Challenge seems to be growing. What about it do you think appeals to people?
S/R: First of all, we emphasize that it is a LOW PRESSURE challenge! People can do as many or as few challenges as they like, and there’s no deadline to get it done. We sometimes get challenge fills months after January, and we’re just as happy to see those as any others.
Secondly, we mods have made a concerted effort to make Snowflake Challenge as inclusive and accessible as possible. Things like making sure we have alt text on all graphics, and respecting people’s identity and presentation. We live and breathe the saying, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” If we can’t make a pleasant comment on someone’s post, we call for help from other mods.
Next, the mods always reflect on the challenge at the end, trying to identify what worked and what didn’t, what we could do better. Over the years, we adjusted several things about the challenge, most notably posting challenges every other day instead of every day. That gives both the mods and the participants some breathing room. This is only one example of how we continuously work to make the challenge run more smoothly and appeal to more people.
And finally, I think the timing of it is very important – at the turn of the year, when people are both taking stock of their previous year, and looking forward to the next. For many people, it is helpful for letting go of things in the past, and planning their goals for the future. A liminal space where they are safe to transition from one year to the next wrapped in their love of fandom.
Turps: I think it starts the year on a positive note. The challenges allow you to think about the things that make you happy, mostly of a fannish nature, but also personal. I also think the casual nature of the challenge helps the appeal, too. Participation is never noted down and it’s always stressed that people can do all, a few or none of the challenges if none appeal.
It’s also more than fine to respond to challenges at any time — I won’t say late as no challenge responses are ever considered late for Snowflake. For example, I was responding to comments on challenges I’d posted months later last year.
So, it’s a very free and easy challenge that allows you to easily interact with fellow fans at a time that’s, for many, a low energy time of year.
Spikedluv: I can only speak for myself, as a kind-of-fandom-old who misses the early days of LiveJournal when there was so much activity and connection and community around fandom. This is what I said in my ‘meet the mods’ blurb: The best thing about this challenge is that it reminds me of all the great things about fandom. The feeling of community. The comments and feedback. The squee that comes with discovering new fandoms and new fic and new friends. And while Snowflake only lasts for one month, these are things we can take with us into the rest of the year. As I’ve said previously, Snowflake has taught me that I need to be the change I want to see in fandom and gets me pumped up to go forth and be a more active participant.
Maybe other people feel that way, too?
Tjs_whatnot: It’s a renewal, a time to reflect and be optimistic about what we can accomplish. I love seeing new faces as well as the people who keep coming back, keep getting things from it.