For western fandoms, I think Harry Potter was definitely when the floodgates opened to teen and pre-teen fans; up until around 2000, there used to be genuinely serious discussions across a lot of media fandom about "the graying of fandom" and how it was sad/strange to think that fandom was going to fade away because fewer younger fans were coming in.
Which I think was never actually true, as I'd been hearing about "the graying of fandom" in SF fandom for 20 years at that point, and it just kept growing all the time regardless -- but people see the groups around them, and the group around them often ages with them, so. And the average age in the fandoms I was in, and that I heard about, was generally 30s or even 40s; by "younger fans coming in", people were talking about people in their 20s, or maybe late teens. Fandom overall was a place full of adults (with kids younger than their late teens lying about it and presenting as adults).
But once Harry Potter hit the scene, the age ratios in fandom started to shift dramatically; there were still plenty of individual fandoms where the average age would be 35-40ish, but looking at fandom as a giant whole, I think the average age probably slid radically down to around 17/18, with tons of fans younger than that.
That was one of the huge cultural shifts, actually, and I'm sort of fascinated to see what happens over the next ten years. I know that over the past few years I've started seeing things like middle- or high school-age kids (who probably came into fandom about five years after you, give or take) saying that they find it embarrassing when they realize someone they're talking to is 40 or older -- they're not embarrassed for themselves, they're embarrassed for the 40-year-old, for participating in such a kid's activity as fandom, and they sort of pity the adults who're into this, in the full expectation that they themselves will outgrow this "childish" thing.
The fandom they came into was full of kids, and they've always been surrounded by peers; at 15 or 16 they're the old-timers. The idea that fandom was originally created by and for adults is utterly alien to their experience of it. I'm fascinated to see if they really do grow out of fandom and move on, or if they shift to participating in more adult forums.
... sorry, rambling. *g* But it really is startling just how commpletely the traditional conversations about the graying of fandom just vanished after HP fandom came along.
no subject
Which I think was never actually true, as I'd been hearing about "the graying of fandom" in SF fandom for 20 years at that point, and it just kept growing all the time regardless -- but people see the groups around them, and the group around them often ages with them, so. And the average age in the fandoms I was in, and that I heard about, was generally 30s or even 40s; by "younger fans coming in", people were talking about people in their 20s, or maybe late teens. Fandom overall was a place full of adults (with kids younger than their late teens lying about it and presenting as adults).
But once Harry Potter hit the scene, the age ratios in fandom started to shift dramatically; there were still plenty of individual fandoms where the average age would be 35-40ish, but looking at fandom as a giant whole, I think the average age probably slid radically down to around 17/18, with tons of fans younger than that.
That was one of the huge cultural shifts, actually, and I'm sort of fascinated to see what happens over the next ten years. I know that over the past few years I've started seeing things like middle- or high school-age kids (who probably came into fandom about five years after you, give or take) saying that they find it embarrassing when they realize someone they're talking to is 40 or older -- they're not embarrassed for themselves, they're embarrassed for the 40-year-old, for participating in such a kid's activity as fandom, and they sort of pity the adults who're into this, in the full expectation that they themselves will outgrow this "childish" thing.
The fandom they came into was full of kids, and they've always been surrounded by peers; at 15 or 16 they're the old-timers. The idea that fandom was originally created by and for adults is utterly alien to their experience of it. I'm fascinated to see if they really do grow out of fandom and move on, or if they shift to participating in more adult forums.
... sorry, rambling. *g* But it really is startling just how commpletely the traditional conversations about the graying of fandom just vanished after HP fandom came along.