why archiving is so important for the Cinema Bizarre fandom and community

>> Howdy!! <<

In this blog i want to talk about the importance of archiving and why its very important to the Cinema Bizarre fandom.

Firstly, what is archiving?

The process of archiving, how the cambridge dictionary describes it, when talking about technology, mean "to store electronic information that you no longer need to use regularly". 

But for the CB and any other fandom, archiving is so much more than just storing everything. It’s an act of preservation, of love for the band, it's music and the members. It’s about ensuring that the digital footprint of something precious doesn’t simply vanish into the void of the internet, what is so normalized with old media these days.

Cinema Bizarre emerged during a unique time in internet and alternative culture - in the early 2000s. At a time, where MySpace, the recently created YouTube, fan forums, and personal blogs dominated the internet. So much of their content wasn't just released on CDs; it was shared between fans on tons of thousands fan made forums and message boards, behind-the-scenes clips where shared on random unofficial Youtube channels, fan-made tributes, interviews on now-defunct websites, and countless photos on photo-sharing sites that have since shut down and have been lost to time.

The internet is very fragile, and if you search hard enough, you may find what you have been searching for, but old websites can still get easily deleted without any context or warning. These days, even the biggest social media platforms can erase anything, without facing any consequences. 

And without a dedicated effort to archive, we risk losing a lot of important Cinema Bizarre content.

What we should be archiving? :

• The Music & Videos: All official songs, music videos (especially if you find one thats in good quality!), and live performances.
• Interviews & Articles: Any magazine features, online interviews, or news articles. 
• Photos: Everything from professional photoshoots to behind-the-scenes pics or fan concert pictures. If you like some photo, save it so others could enjoy them too! :D
• Web Stuff: Screenshots of their old websites, or fan forums. These types of pages disappear without any warning, so its best to archive them while they're still up. 
• Merchandise: Pictures of old t-shirts, posters, pins, albums and signings. If you can't archive the the item because you don't have it, find a photo of it online and share it! :P

How Can You Help? :

• Digitize Your Physical Items: Have an old magazine? Scan it. Have a CD? Rip it ( >:3 ). Have a shirt or an item that's signed by the members? Photograph it clearly and post it!
• Organize and Upload: Use platforms like Internet Archive ( i personally really recommend it), fan wikis, Google Drive folders, or make YouTube / TikTok videos detailing your cool collection. 
• Don't Assume It's Already Saved: If you have something unique, share it! Your blurry concert video from 2009 is a priceless treasure to someone who wasn't there.

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Thanks for reading my blog! >_<