lesterchuu wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 5:50 am
> What was the “fandom culture” you have observed back when you first joined the Phandom and how does it compare to now? Can you share some positive and/or memorable moments you have experienced from being in this fandom?
I've been a casual Dan viewer since 2012 but only joined the "phandom" after it had entered the post baking universe so I can only speak to that. I think around December 2016, I was directed to the drug deal and coached up on Dan and Phil: The Early Years. So, on the positive side, I think this phandom is really good at sharing and preserving its history. I've enjoyed having places like IDB and tumblr to share my enthusiasm and discuss DnP's latest content. On the negative side of things, of course there are people who take things too far. People are too quick to judge online. But I missed the most egregious stuff that happened back in 2012.
lesterchuu wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 5:50 am
> How much privacy and freedom do Dan and Phil have compared to other Youtubers you watch? Do you think they have started to open up more over the years?
This is an interesting question. The first question is pretty straight forward, Dan and Phil are far more private than most of the YouTubers I watch. The two most obvious couple-y examples that come to my mind are Safiya and her boyfriend (now fiance), Tyler and Tom Daley and his husband, Lance.
Safiya makes videos in the home she shares with Tyler. We've seen most if not all rooms in their home by now (she just released a video where they get their closets in their bedroom professionally organized, it's delightful, highly recommend). They also will film in their neighborhood and in locations all around LA. They've shared stories about their families, how they first met, how they started dating, heck, Tyler even filmed his proposal and they put that up on Safiya's channel. My point being that they've chosen to share quite a lot about their lives on YouTube.
I watch Tom Daley's competition vlogs (I'm an olympic junkie and his videos are just so gosh darn pleasant; like bake off but with diving). He shares a lot of person stuff in those videos. What he eats each day, where he trains, who he trains with, where he travels for competitions, and his thoughts and feelings about competition, friends, and family. He also makes videos at home with his husband and baby son. I haven't seen many of those (long story), but in one of the ones I did watch, they were decorating their place for Christmas and they showed the entire outside of their house. Add that to the number of times Tom's shared his local tube stop, and he's one step removed from posting his London address on instagram. So, yeah, I'd say Tom's shared quite a lot on his YouTube channel.
So yeah, compared to other YouTubers, Dan and Phil are uber private. The second part of the question is trickier. If you'd asked me a few months ago if they've started opening up in recent years, I'd have responded with an enthusiastic yes. But this year? We don't know anything. We know Phil spends 2-3 hours each week filming/editing a video and....that's it. We know nothing about their current lives, and they've both still been careful not to dive into their personal lives past the beginning of university. So those two, despite having such a devoted fanbase, are still very much enigmas.