DECEMBER 7, 2023 - A little bit ago I sent out a survey asking about the experience within the Star Trek fandom pre- and post-internet. You all were amazing and I ended up receiving almost 200 responses and over 7,000 words worth of free responses! I could not have done this research without you all so from the bottom of my heart, thank you. 

I know you all are dying to learn what I found so without further ado let’s get into it. 

First up there’s the age range of all the participants. I am honestly super proud of this graph. 

The oldest respondent was 75 and the youngest was 16. That’s almost a 60-year age gap! This graph shows just how timeless Star Trek really is if both Gen Z and Silent Gen can enjoy the same media. We don’t see many other things uniting people in this way. 

The next question I asked was “How would you rate the current Star Trek fandom on a scale of 1-10?” Here are the responses I got. 

As you can see, most people are pretty happy with the current Star Trek fandom. I was honestly quite surprised by this because many people I see online seem fairly unhappy with the current Star Trek fandom and the way younger generations are changing Star Trek. However, it is evident from this graph that is just a vocal minority. The average response was 7.9/10

Next up I asked people to rate their experience with Star Trek pre-internet, and here’s where things got interesting. 

People seem very divided on how the Star Trek fandom was pre-internet. The average rating was 6.2/10 Initially I was a bit confused by this. Most of the research I’d read and the people I’d talked to all agreed that the fandom was better pre-internet, however according to my data it is clearly not. However, the more I thought about this the more it made sense. Of course, the answers are drastically different as there wasn’t really one cohesive fandom. Without something like the internet uniting everyone, there is no way for everyone to have the same or even remotely similar experiences. 

The average difference between the pre- and post-internet rating was 1.7. This means that, on average, people rated post-internet Star Trek 1.7 higher than pre-internet. 

Though all this data is quite interesting, we cannot garner why exactly people believe this. This is why I had the free answer spot, asking people to talk about their experiences within the Star Trek fandom. 

After reading through over 7,000 words of free responses I sorted the responses into 4 categories:

1. The fandom is more connected

2. The fandom is more divided

3. The fandom is less personal

4. People in the fandom are nice

Of course, not every response fits into these categories but they were good broad strokes to sort the responses.

“The fandom is more connected” refers to the idea that the internet is the great uniter. Now fans in California can talk to fans in London with no delay. Inter-continental fandom discourse can now take place. We just had the first-ever fan gathering in China. That wouldn’t have been possible without the internet. The internet doesn’t just open fandoms internationally, they also allow people who wouldn’t have otherwise been able to participate in fan culture to partake. Here are what some people had to say:

“The internet makes you realize you aren't alone. It's easier to connect with like-minded people near you. Before internet, you had no idea whether anyone liked the show the way you did. Were there other kids who dressed up or played Star Trek? It wasn't until Next Gen, however, and the advent of internet that we were able to see news of conventions and clubs that were only advertised in newspapers before, and with very little notice.”

“Ha ha, there was only one TV in the house, there were no conventions in Fla.,  magazines were the only source of news, then TNG came on we moved to Tallahassee, a college town, eventually got the internet and I found a bunch of college students who also loved ST. They took me in and joined Starfleet. I am now RADM and CO of the local ship”

 One respondent spoke on this in a really heartfelt story:

“Before the internet, I was pretty much alone in it. Oh, I had my mum invent fanfiction for me when I was a kid and sick, but living in a small town in Germany, and not being very mobile thanks to disabilities, I didn't have anyone to connect to to talk Trek. In the beginning, finding other people who love Trek on the internet was great. Finding fan arts and fanfiction and writing fanfiction myself was wonderful” 

However, despite the internet theoretically allowing for this fan to connect, they are still unable to attend cons due to the fact that many cons are inaccessible to disabled people. They then go on to talk about the rampant ableism within the fandom and the silencing of disabled voices. So, despite the theoretical possibility for this person to connect, the divisions and biases within the fandom made them feel unwelcome. This leads us to our next category: “The fandom is more divided.”

With the advent of the internet and the growth of the fandom, it only makes sense that the fandom would begin to fracture. However, almost every Trekkie nowadays knows that there is a serious divide in the fandom between Star Trek fans and those who believe nu-Trek to be “too woke” and “too political.” Here’s what fans had to say:

“like all things, social media gives every village idiot a megaphone. you are exposed to more opinion than ever before (everyone seems to think their opinion is worth sharing virtually) which seems to lead to more negativity complaining. since hate gets clicks, it feels like it predominates.”

“I’ve gotten death threats for my shipping preferences, called a Social Justice Klingon Warrior (which I totally put on business cards), and my podcast was accused of being misandrist.”

I may or may not have only included the previous anecdote because I love the idea of a “Social Justice Klingon Warrior” and I would also totally print that on business cards. 

“You get a number of so-called fans spewing hateful, misogynistic, racist, bigoted comments via social media about Star Trek. When someone uses "woke" as a pejorative, it is clear they have an agenda to attack and denigrate the Progressive spirit of Star Trek and those involved with creating the latest series.“

“With so much toxic fandom out there, my concern is how it affects the future of Star Trek and how it proceeds, to make sure the true fans are heard so that we are satisfied with what we see.  I fear that we are spiraling in a downward trend with all these toxic, politics, personal opinions, WOKE, MeToo and other movements that are not providing constructive criticism, rather they are used by people/groups to just promote themselves and not really trying to make things better.”

Even within my responses that divide was visible. The two responses above were only one person apart. The first response talks about how it’s bad to use woke as a pejorative and the person below does exactly that. This is objective research so I should not share my opinion here however, like any fan, I do have one and I am vocal about it. So, perhaps I am contributing to that divide. However, I think it’s important for all fans, including BIPOC, queer, and disabled fans to see themselves within Trek, and I will always speak up about that. 

Another common response talked about how the fandom is less personal. Though the internet has allowed for many more people to interact with that fandom, those interactions have become less personal, whether because they’re over a screen or with more people is unclear. Here is what some fans had to say:

“One thing I do miss are proper fanclubs. I used to belong to 3/4 in the early to mid nineties. It really helped me as a teen with few friends. There were monthly newsletters we could ask to contribute to, awards, meetups. A real sense of community.I recently watched the two "Trekkies" documentaries and went looking for fanclubs to join and I found nothing. Sure there are Facebook groups and plenty of Twitter accounts to follow but is that *real* community? I'd argue it's not.”

“Pre-internet we gathered in person more, we had after school gatherings in one generous mom's home where we all watched together, then got to be friends in school and would LLAP each other in the hallways at school, and go to small Cons together when they were in town. The stars were also more physically interactive, walking through crowds (I remember George Takei saw me so often he could pass by me in a crowd and say Hi Jennifer! And James Doohan lept off the stage in front of 1000+ seated audience to come down the aisle I was sitting on about 30 rows back and give me a kiss!) Those were the days! I love how the internet age has GROWN the fandom, but I miss the relationships it generated with real human bodies in those days.”

This response almost made me nostalgic for a time I never witnessed. I am Gen Z so I actually grew up with the internet. I cannot imagine a world without it. For the most part, I am grateful, the internet has made me who I am today and allows me to communicate with you all every week. However, I am a bit sad because interactions like this are something I will never get to experience, the world is just so much bigger now. 

The last category of responses all talk about how kind and welcoming the Star Trek Fandom is. Something I’ve witnessed firsthand as you all were kind enough to fill out my survey and help me pass my class (thank you for that :)). Here are what some fans had to say about how kind the Star Trek fandom is: 

“I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with and in the Star Trek Fandom since entering into it in my twenties.”

“I’ve found most people are super open and kind. They are very accepting of a wide variety of people and it doesn’t matter how long or short someone has been into Trek—they are accepted. I also noticed people don’t mind educating on Trek series that may be unfamiliar to someone. Folks really seem to enjoy sharing knowledge.”

“I love the community as much as I love the show!”

“The people are generally nice :)”

For whatever reason these responses were significantly shorter than any other, but there were still a decent number of them. People just generally tend to believe that Trekkies are overall nice, and I tend to agree. 

So, now that I’ve talked about all the different types of responses I’ve gotten, how did they all pan out? Well, I made this handy-dandy PI chart to show you!

So, most Trekkies tend to believe that the internet has allowed more people to connect with the fandom but at the cost of fandom unity. Obviously, people’s beliefs about Star Trek fandom are much more complicated than what they were able to write in a random survey. However, this definitely gives us a good look into how Star Trek fans feel about the internet as a whole.

So there you have it. This is how the internet has affected the fan experience within the Star Trek fandom. It has mostly helped the fandom grow and expand for the better, but of course with that expansion comes division and a loss of intimacy. However, most fans tend to believe that it is worth it and that the internet has, overall, improved the Star Trek fandom. 

Thank you to everyone who filled out my form. I am so grateful to you! Trekkies are the best! Live long and Prosper!