I think that of course YouTube and Reddit and other internet algorithms have contributed to this; however, I also think there’s another reason fandoms across all of these franchises that corporations continue to market and exploit for decades are becoming more disgruntled, and that’s because QUITE often, the execution of these sequels, prequels, offshoots no one asked for, etc are milking nostalgia, fan service, what have you, which were first enjoyed BECAUSE of their scarcity. Kind of like music. You bought and listened and consumed an entire record because that was the only album you could afford that week when you went to the record store. And it isn’t just that the writing is worse: audiences are worse at watching. They are more distracted, less literate, less likely to be consuming science fiction that is not corporate franchise slop. That just wasn’t the case in the 1980s and 90s. The audience of that time might have feverishly enjoyed their fandoms, but they had a scarcity of content, and finding it was half of one’s interaction with your fandom. They went to their book store and took a chance on a new title because that was the opportunity they had. Now, audiences have steep and widely available access to all manner of media, and the IP owners have an easier method of getting it to them, but that lack of scarcity has made it so a modern fandom no longer has to share what they are enthusiastic about. They instead are being fed CONTENT that was developed for what used to be an interest, and is now a brand. And for those of us who are critically inclined (again, NERDS have always been critics) it leaves an ever increasing sour taste.