State Of The Online Vampire Community 2010:
There have been a variety of threads posted to forums and groups in
recent months and years discussing the possibility that the vampire
community may be declining, shifting, fluctuating, and/or contracting.
The following relates to online participation in the 'community'; not
the numbers of individuals who identify as 'real vampires'.
Decline Of The OVC - http://www.vcmb.org/family/index.php?showtopic=16440&hl=
Contraction Within The Community - http://www.atlantavampirealliance.com/forum/index.php?topic=154.0
Vampires: Our Dying Subculture - http://www.darknessembraced.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6
Is The Online Vampire Community Dissolving? - http://www.darknessembraced.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=813
There
have been noticeable overall activity declines in Community Forums,
Yahoo Groups, MySpace Groups, Meetup Groups, NING Groups, LiveJournal
Groups, etc. At the same time there have been noticeable overall
activity increases with Twitter, Facebook, web chats, and other direct
peer-to-peer networking. Granted there are exceptions to everything and
not all social networking and information sites have seen declines in
participation.
Quite a few explanations have been offered...
- What decline?
- There is no decline; the community is just participating elsewhere.
- The decline is temporary; community participation is cyclic.
- Everyone is spread out to more sites and groups than before.
-
There are fewer established forums, groups, and web sites in existence
today than five or ten years ago and this has left many displaced.
- Leaders and elders have left the community and this has left a void in mentorship and resource sites.
- Leaders and elders are disinterested or condescending towards newly awakened vampires.
- The global economy is affecting participation.
- The internet is evolving in a manner which is decreasing posts and articles while increasing real-time discussion.
- The vampire community is an aging demographic and younger members are not coming along at the rates they once did.
- Twilight, TrueBlood, and the recent media attention have driven vampires underground.
- Twilight and TrueBlood fans will soon infiltrate our community and everyone is hiding.
- There is a growing divide between those who view vampire as a condition and those who view it as metaphysical or spiritual.
- The vampire community is growing faster offline than online.
- Not enough resources are available to connect vampires offline and thus they are remaining solitary or leaving the community.
-
The increased quality of posts and discussions in the vampire community
has discouraged would-be trolls and lurkers from participating.
- The vampire community has reached a plateau of information or knowledge base and has lost considerable momentum.
-
The increase of publications and information available about real
vampirism has created less of a need to participate or seek support from
others.
- Vampirism is evolving and/or blending with other communities.
In
2007 we compiled data on activity levels of the major Yahoo Groups in
order to chart participation trends in the vampire community. The Yahoo
Groups represent the longest running and often most active sites for
the vampire community dating back to 1998. Three years later we've now
updated those charts and with few exceptions the declining trend remains
the same. We've also compared posting-to-account levels on a variety of
the remaining vampire community forums (we've lost many in recent
years) and found anywhere from a 8% to 40% or greater decline in overall
postings for vampirism and support specific topics (not
off-topic/introductions/etc.). More interestingly, we've identified up
to an average 20-25 post decrease in the number of posts per registered
user account compared to levels in 2005 and 2006 for several forums.
While there are greater numbers of users on these sites there are
considerably less material contributions to the groups and forums.
NING, Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, and Meetup also share similar
declines and the recent move of some NING sites to Spruz and some Meetup
Groups to Facebook Groups failed to match the posting levels and growth
of the original.
Yahoo Discussion Groups/eLists - Activity Levels Composite Chart 1998 To 2010:
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State Of The Online Vampire Community 2011:
By and large
Yahoo Groups, LiveJournal, Ning/Spruz, MySpace, and most forums are
flat-lined or have seen significant declines in participation since the discussion of this topic in 2006, 07, 08, 08, 09, 10, etc... the
"cyclic" trend many claim has remained in steady decline for the past
six years. At the moment, Facebook participation in the vampire community
accounts for the bulk of social networking interaction with active
numbers (those discussing 'real' vampire-related topics with regularity)
below 1,000 spread across nearly 70 groups/pages.
We've contended
(and still do) that social interaction within the vampire community
(social groups in general; not just the vampire community/subculture)
mirrors Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory and that given the
increase of smartphone/mobile usage, state of the global economy and an
aging demographic we're simply unplugging -- placing more value on
offline or direct peer-to-peer interactions.
See Also:
http://proc.conisar.org/2010/pdf/1526.pdf
http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/charm/CHARM%20proceedings/CHARM%20article%20archive%20pdf%20format/Volume%2014%202009/liebrenz-himes%20dyer%20shamma.pdf
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Participation In The Vampire Community - Average Hours Per Year 2011-2012:
How
many total HOURS per YEAR on AVERAGE do you spend in the vampire
community ACTIVELY engaged in VAMPIRE/VAMPIRISM-SPECIFIC tasks of
posting discussions or replies, mentoring or providing direct
assistance, attending social gatherings that aren't exclusively
party/club oriented, meetings, conferences, writing
articles/blogs/books, projects, or other hands-on tasks? Please do NOT
include time spent leisure web surfing, reading, or other
non-interactive/discussion/production tasks.
This poll is designed primarily to address lay curiosity and by no means
meant to be detailed or representative of a large sample. Ideally, all
activities "vampire community related" one may engage in (online or
offline) would be listed along with a standard measurement of time
devoted to each on either a daily, monthly, and/or yearly average in
order to most accurately illuminate the parameters of vampire community
participation.
The following is an aid to help conceptualize cumulative hours per year in terms of an average measurement per day.
Using Average Approximation Between Ranges:
1-25 Hours Per Year = 2 Minutes Per Day
26-75 Hours Per Year = 8 Minutes Per Day
76-150 Hours Per Year = 18 Minutes Per Day
151-250 Hours Per Year = 33 Minutes Per Day
251-500 Hours Per Year = 1 Hour & 2 Minutes Per Day
501-750 Hours Per Year = 1 Hour & 43 Minutes Per Day
751-1000 Hours Per Year = 2 Hours & 24 Minutes Per Day
1001-1500 Hours Per Year = 3 Hours & 25 Minutes Per Day
1501-2000 Hours Per Year = 4 Hours & 48 Minutes Per Day
More Than 2000 Hours = 5 Hours Or More Per Day
Results From Poll Conducted On Vampire Community News (VCN) - December 2011:
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Age Distribution Within The Vampire Community 2011 - 2012:
An Examination Of Two Sampling Methods
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Vampire Accessories Poll 2012:
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