Fandom was less public back then and more scattered, yes, with lots of smaller single-fandom and media type archives, but it's not like I had less fic to pick from in 1999 or 2004 and than I have in 2023. Though I suppose that depends on what kind of fandoms you're in.
Like in yt 2004 or 2005 I probably knew about half the nominated fandoms and was interested in half the rest
I think for me, the number of fandoms I knew stayed the same over the years. When I go through the fandom list, I still see lots of movies and books and some theatre and RPF where I have the same initial "oh, I'm familiar with that" reaction. The difference - and this is clearly very subjective - is that in 2004, this reaction was followed by "I'll check the fic out!" whereas now it's usually followed by "... but I don't feel fannish about it" and I scroll further. Mid-2000s me was committed reading everything in an exchange where I vaguely knew the canon. 2023 me doesn't have the time and energy anymore for anything that I don't already have a strong fannish investment in (fandoms, as well as ships and tropes).
Re: Losing Yuletide
Fandom was less public back then and more scattered, yes, with lots of smaller single-fandom and media type archives, but it's not like I had less fic to pick from in 1999 or 2004 and than I have in 2023. Though I suppose that depends on what kind of fandoms you're in.
Like in yt 2004 or 2005 I probably knew about half the nominated fandoms and was interested in half the rest
I think for me, the number of fandoms I knew stayed the same over the years. When I go through the fandom list, I still see lots of movies and books and some theatre and RPF where I have the same initial "oh, I'm familiar with that" reaction. The difference - and this is clearly very subjective - is that in 2004, this reaction was followed by "I'll check the fic out!" whereas now it's usually followed by "... but I don't feel fannish about it" and I scroll further. Mid-2000s me was committed reading everything in an exchange where I vaguely knew the canon. 2023 me doesn't have the time and energy anymore for anything that I don't already have a strong fannish investment in (fandoms, as well as ships and tropes).