Is "Ironic Fandom" a problem? WTF does it even mean?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by drave I just don't see it being a problem at all, honestly. It isn't like anyone's fandom is changing what is actually put on the shows. That was my point. Ironic fandom, or fandom of ANY sort, simply doesn't matter at this time. "They" don't listen nor care what fans think.

There's a point that I can actually engage with. See, I think we let them get away with it. We continue to keep our subscriptions, go to shows, watch the television, etc. This extends beyond Mahal, mind you. And honestly, it extends towards other promotions too. Things like The Young Bucks and the slow-motion comedy stuff. It's not my cup of tea, but the ironic "Ha, it's fake wrestling, look at how fake it is" tone does spread and does change the psychology of performers over time, which does change product over time.

I do agree that they don't care about what fans think. They've found what they perceive to be their bottom and will literally try everything now that they've found it. All that are left are the people they don't need to try for. Still, they do try to give enough lip service in terms of randomly pushing Kevin Owens to a faux World Title for a few months, despite it not being how fans would have envisioned. WWE is in a really weird place, if you stop and think about it for a while. And that's part of what I mean by "ironic fandom," because as the product gets less engaging, in a general consensussy sort of way, people pretend to be more engaged with aspects that aren't working. It just creates more of a foundation for more of it to be built upon. If you're not a fan of WWE programming right now, I'd suggest withdrawing your vote of financial support, if you do put money into them in any way. But do what you want, it's your money -- I just don't think change is coming until consumers force it, because competition ain't coming.

[drave]

Originally Posted by Noid There's a point that I can actually engage with. See, I think we let them get away with it. We continue to keep our subscriptions, go to shows, watch the television, etc. This extends beyond Mahal, mind you. And honestly, it extends towards other promotions too. Things like The Young Bucks and the slow-motion comedy stuff. It's not my cup of tea, but the ironic "Ha, it's fake wrestling, look at how fake it is" tone does spread and does change the psychology of performers over time, which does change product over time. I do agree that they don't care about what fans think. They've found what they perceive to be their bottom and will literally try everything now that they've found it. All that are left are the people they don't need to try for. Still, they do try to give enough lip service in terms of randomly pushing Kevin Owens to a faux World Title for a few months, despite it not being how fans would have envisioned. WWE is in a really weird place, if you stop and think about it for a while. And that's part of what I mean by "ironic fandom," because as the product gets less engaging, in a general consensussy sort of way, people pretend to be more engaged with aspects that aren't working. It just creates more of a foundation for more of it to be built upon. If you're not a fan of WWE programming right now, I'd suggest withdrawing your vote of financial support, if you do put money into them in any way. But do what you want, it's your money -- I just don't think change is coming until consumers force it, because competition ain't coming.

I don't watch weekly programming anymore and haven't for a little over 2 years now. I am still a fan of wrestling, in general, so I tend to watch the PPV's. Since doing so, I find myself enjoying what I actually do watch tons more. Maybe it is the over-saturation of the brand or something, I dunno.