Long Tail Fandom vs. Herd Instinct Fandom
Briefly: I think there are two separate phenomena going on here. I’m a part of Long Tail fandom because I generally don’t have time/money to be on the bleeding edge of new releases, seeing movies on opening weekend, watching TV shows when they first air, buying single issue comics, and so on. I also like the Long Tail because it eliminates some clutter; I get to read some reviews and am better informed when making decisions as to what to spend my time/money on.
Rejection of the Herd Instinct (or what I like to call the “Moo Factor”) in something different. I don’t have to read Harry Potter just because everyone else did, I don’t have to go to Comicon or Origins or any other cons because it’s the thing to do, I don’t have to keep up with the Joneses. While the two are convergent, I’m not on the Long Tail because I reject the Moo Factor, and I don’t reject the Moo Factor because I’m on the Long Tail.
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