Conventions, social media communities, message boards, fanzines. Fans of speculative fiction stories have found ways to "gather" around their interests in any way they can. Although fandom has taken different forms and have grown in visibility in recent years, "Science Fiction" fandom has been around for quite some time:
"Science fiction fandom formed in the 1920s around American pulp magazines[1] and has expanded in scope since its humble beginnings with the development of sf novels, television, and movies. The fandom was born in the letter columns of the first sf-only magazine, Amazing Stories; Hugo Gernsback, the magazine's publisher, is credited by many with creating science fiction as a genre in its own right.[1][2] Since the letter column included the letter writers' addresses, early SF fans found it easy to get in touch with each other.[3] Soon, fans were writing letters directly to each other, then (in some cases) forming local fan clubs[4], then creating fanzines to trade with each other, then having conventions so they could talk in person."
"Science Fiction Fandom." Fanlore, 20 Mar. 2019, fanlore.org/wiki/Science_Fiction_Fandom. Accessed 11 Jan. 2022.
Fandom: The Classroom of the Future
Fandom Forward Toolkits
https://www.thehpalliance.org/resources
Con or Bust
https://con-or-bust.org/about/
What Fan Fiction Teaches That the Classroom Doesn't
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/10/how-fanfiction-improves-writing/599197/
Fear of a Black Hobbit