Thanks for this retrospective! Except for Buffy, we have different fandoms, but my experience of fannish circles is very similar. I'm also realizing that for our general age group there has also been a "then I had kids" stage that basically kills serious fandom involvement, regardless of the changes to the internet, culture, etc. And it does make me cautiously optimistic that as the kids grow up, some of us folks may find a little space for fandom again. (On that note, gotta go see if my son has homework he's ignoring.)