What becomes of the followers, visualized · 5:58pm Apr 21st, 2018
So Loganberry made a post last month about what happens to Fimfiction followers over time , which I somehow missed, but it got me pondering because I often think about this too. One thing I always check during my Random Reviews is the date that each author was last online, so that I can plan a quick escape out the window if they find out what I said about their fic, and it's pretty common to see folks who just vanished one day, for reasons that probably won't ever be known. They lost interest in ponies, or fanfics, or moved on with their life, or were banned, or whatever.
I always feel a hint of sadness to see someone who left and likely won't be coming back, but at the same time, I know that it's just the nature of an evolving community. New blood is always coming in too; we just don't see it because the comings and goings of users on Fimfiction tend to be hidden.
So anyway I started to wonder about ways to visualize this, and I came up with this chart. This is a chart of my 242 followers, arranged top to bottom from first (oldest) to last (most recent). Each follower is represented by a colored horizontal bar, stretching from the date that they joined Fimfiction, to the date that they were last online. The two vertical dark gray lines represent the length of time that I've been on Fimfiction; this is why many of the lines go off the the left edge (they represent followers who have been on Fimfiction longer than I have).
Since Fimfiction will probably shrink this thing down, you can click here for the full version.
Overall, this chart makes me feel that things aren't as bad as I worried they might be, at least from a purely numerical perspective. You can see the odd hole and the occasional mayfly, but by and large it looks like a good number of people stick around.
*gives you a big hug* <3
4849520
Yay! You're nearly my oldest follower who's still around