The trend of furcon cancellations around the world would take a toll on the furry fandom, given that conventions and meets are often regarded as “cultural centres” for furries to celebrate the fandom.
For one week from May 18 to 24, 2020, GFTV surveyed 154 respondents in its inaugural mass survey.
I. Furries and the Pandemic
This is where GFTV wants to see the overall awareness of COVID-19’s impact on furry fandom.
Question 1, “Do you think that the coronavirus has adversely affected the furry fandom”? This is a question conducted on on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being no, it didn’t’, and 5 being ‘yes, it did’.
90.3% of respondents hover around 3 – 5, with a small number saying “no, it did not”.
Question 2, “Do you think the situation could adversely affect the livelihood of furries?” 51.9% of the respondents said yes, 37% said maybe, and the remaining 11% said no.
The word “livelihood” refers to the sphere of activity furries usually partake. For example, mingle with others in person and and for some freelance work.
COVID-19’s developments could pose difficulties, especially for those who mainly earn income through the fandom.
To deal with this, there has been a trend of online events, from online furcons to meets. This is to keep the community connected amid stringent public health measures.
On that note, GFTV asked whether or not furries attended online events. 61% of the respondents said no, while the remaining 39% said they only attended either online furcons, meets or both.
II. Furcons and the Pandemic
This is where GFTV asked about the experience at online events, as well as whether or not people think that furcons as well as furry dealers can be affected by the pandemic.
60 respondents who indicated that they went to online events would be given these questions.
“If you’ve attended any of those events mentioned in the previous question, do you think they are effective?” 88.3% said yes, the remaining 11.7% said no.
On top of that, GFTV asked respondents to rate their experience on a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being not good and 5 being good. 55% of our respondents who went for these events rated 4 out of 5, forming the majority.
GFTV asked two questions: one asking respondents the one big thing that makes online events so good, and another asking one big thing that online events fall short of.
For the good areas:
- 10% said that the activities provided made these events good;
- 21.67% said ease of connection with friends;
- 21.67% said convenience of access;
- 45% said all of the above, which includes the ability to use e-payments at (virtual) Dealers’ Dens.
On to areas that online events fall short of, out of all the choices given:
- the majority (40.83%) noted the lack of physical experience;
- 11.67% say time zone problems;
- 5.83% say internet stability;
- 5% say security issues (protection from hackers, trolls etc.);
- 1.67% say the inability to physically buy things at Dealers’ Dens;
- 1.67% say that it’s better than nothing.
“Do you think the coronavirus could adversely affect physical furcons?” 70% said yes, 3.3% said no and 26.7% said maybe.
With COVID-19, if furcons want to cancel for the reasons of public health, they still may be charged by the venue over a break of contract. The loss of cash could at worse lead to the event’s closure.
Even with “force majeure” where events can act with no penalties because of unforseeable natural or unavoidable catastrophes. For examples: war, natural disasters and pandemics.
Despite so, as people are increasingly aware of both man-made and natural disasters, such as pandemics, asteroids and nuclear warfare, using force majeure as a reason to act is getting harder.
Given there are furries who mainly earn an income via the community, GFTV probed respondents about it. 76.7% said yes, 20% said maybe, and 3.3% said no.
COVID-19 is a risk factor for workers, especially freelancers. Most furries who earn part, if not all of their income from the community, are freelancers.
For those who designate the community as their primary income flow, they may meet a big blockade as people are reluctant to spend money during the pandemic.
On GFTV’s COVID-19 Furcon Updates sheet, there are furcons that have to cancel their in-person plans for 2020. This brought criticism over the reasons of public health, but for furcon organisers, changing plans is not easy either.
Furcons are not safe from setbacks incurred on them, unless they have good measures to stay afloat after subtracting costs when it comes to cancellations, says Confurtiva’s Aoi Kuma.
“I believe that the situation is sometimes that you cannot cancel without having appropriate resolutions or information so that you know actually if you can cancel (the event) with the hotel, or cancel the activities that you may have with the vendors.
So basically it is very important to understand (that) that is not something that conventions (feel like) wanting to or not wanting to cancel, but sometimes they need to fulfill some sort of previous advice that they’ve got regarding this. And not all furry conventions have insurances and securities in order to conduct proper cancellations.”
– Aoi Kuma, Chairman of Confurtiva and FurryMX
How do furries thought about furcons that as of now not intending to close. Is it okay or not to them? This is a a scaled question on one to five, where one is “most okay” and five is “not most okay”.
A scenario: say that the pandemic ended before year end, and there are furcons still on plan. Would you still attend furcons that are not yet affected?
61% said yes, while the remaining 39% said no.
On top of that, would you go to furcons immediately after or wait for a while after the pandemic? 72.1% said immediately, while the remaining 27.9% said to wait for a while afterwards.
On the side, GFTV conducted a response poll asking its audience what furry conventions meant for them personally. This is to observe how furries viewed these events on a personal level.
“For me, I like having a space where we can be the cool kids. In real life a lot of us aren’t so well off socially, financially, etc. But for a weekend we can live our dreams. For one thing we can have the wild house parties we were never invited to in college.”
“To me it’s about being a part of a community. A piece of something big and awesome and fuzzy ;)”
“It means being around like-minded people and being accepted into a group, no matter what”
“It’s a nice way to reconnect with old friends and meet new people, see and experience a way to take a pause from the world”
“It’s a good way to be with people that think alike and enjoy good times sharing the same good vibes, meet new people, have great moments with people we already know, see new art styles, show yourself to the world but also see the other worlds out there, the other members worlds.”
“For me it’s a weekend to truly be myself, free of judgement and make friends I truly connect with.”
III. Fandom Culture and Psychology
This is where GFTV would be exploring from a cultural and psychological aspect how would this pandemic affect the fandom.
For many furries, the fandom is a source of social support, according to numerous studies conducted by the multidisciplinary furry fandom research team FurScience (see Wellness – FurScience).
On another study, FurScience found furries mostly agree that furry fandom allows them to belong to a group larger than themselves. [2] Belongingness is what strongly motivates furries to be active in the community. [3] (See Furry Motivation – FurScience)
After the pandemic, do you think “traditional furry social practices” (like hugs) would forever be changed, replaced or altered?
67.5% said no and 32.5% said yes.
On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being no and 5 being yes, would you accept so if it does get affected?
On a scale from 1 to 5, do you agree that the pandemic could adversely affect furries psychologically?
Do you feel lonely since the COVID-19 pandemic started thus far?
46.8% said sometimes, while 31.8% said yes, all the time, and 21.4% said not at all.
COVID-19 has made digital communication a norm, as lockdowns and stringent public health measures included limiting in-person gatherings.
So what do furries use to communicate with each other amidst such limitations? This question is a checkbox-type multiple choice question – every vote by respondents of the survey will accumulate either of the Platforms variable depending on the choices selected.
Telegram, followed by Discord and Twitter are the top 3 platforms that are popularly used by respondents. To point out, “Others” include items such as phonecalls, letters, (amateur) radio and even satellite communication.
Most of these platforms have a variety of communication modes – like texting, video calling and audio calls. So what kind of modes did furries use during this pandemic?
- 33.8% said by texting;
- 6.5% indicated voice calls (inclusive of voice chats in-game);
- 1.3% said by video call.
- The rest of the 58.4% said all three modes were used.
All three modes were used to compensate for the lack of physical communication. This was how virtual furry conventions and events tried to emulate in-person experiences. (See GFTV Furcon Special – Down Home Furcon 2020)
IV: The Fandom and the Future
Now, we’re going to see how furries think about the fandom’s recovery post-pandemic, in spite of the damages that the pandemic has done (and may continue to do so).
GFTV asked respondents whether or not they think furry fandom can recover quickly post-pandemic.
62.3% said yes, 32.5% said maybe, while the remaining 5.2% said no.
And also their confidence on their choice in question 13, on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being not confident and 5 being very confident.
7 June 2020, 2:37pm UTC+8: Organised information.
20 June 2024, 12:31pm UTC+8: Cleaned up the post.
Global Furry Television 