Ad Astra Community
How does the Ad Astra community stack up?
Quinnipiac Assignment #4 of my Social Media Platforms class was about communities. I chose to talk about the Ad Astra community, which is a Star Trek fan fiction writers’ community.
A Look at Three Separate Personae
This video is about Ad Astra, of course, but it is more specifically about three separate personae. One is embodied by a member who goes by the user ID of trekfan. He is a writer and has a number of works on the site. He is an active Creator of content.
The Critic in the Ad Astra Community
Another embodiment of the next persona is a member who goes by the user ID of Miranda Fave. He is a Critic. While he is also a writer (and, therefore, is also an active Creator of content), he is also the most prolific critic on this Star trek fan fiction writing site.
Being Inactive
So, the third persona, an Inactive, was a member with the user ID of Hawku. I have seen this person elsewhere, and he is far more of a visual artist than a writer, hence he is more active elsewhere in the Star Trek fandom. Curiously enough, after I had posted this video, Hawku returned and added more content to Ad Astra. Was that because of my video? I do not think so. I suspect it was just a happy coincidence.
Takeaways
Even with something as esoteric as Star Trek fan fiction, it is fascinating (er, hi, Mr. Spock!) to me that it was easy to find all three personae. I didn’t even have to look for that long or that closely. In a way, this may prove that it is a somewhat universal constant. On social media platforms, there are those who do the content creating. But there are also those who take potshots at it.
And there are also those who throw up their hands and say, “Beam me up, Scotty, I’ve had it with this place.”