Am I the only one who gets annoyed when people call a stapled booklet a zine

I've been making zines for about 8 years now and I keep seeing folks on Instagram calling a single piece of paper folded in half a 'zine'. That's just a pamphlet or a flyer, not a zine. A real zine has some thought put into it, multiple pages, and usually a theme or a story. I get that DIY is about low barriers but calling a grocery list a zine waters down what the culture is about. Has anyone else noticed this or am I just being picky about definitions?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.christopher19d ago

Ugh yeah I feel this so hard. It's frustrating when people slap the label on anything just because it's folded paper. I've been messing around with zines for years too and there's a real difference between something thrown together in five minutes and something that actually has heart and a point of view. It kind of bugs me that the word is losing its meaning because people want to look like they're part of the scene without putting in the work.

the_spencer19d ago

Gotta admit, I was that guy once. I spent like 10 minutes folding a single sheet of printer paper and called it a zine because I saw someone on Instagram do it. It was literally just a list of my favorite snacks (popcorn, obviously) with a doodle of a cat on the cover. Took me months to realize it was missing any actual point or soul. Now I spend way too long agonizing over layout and text, and honestly it's still a hot mess, but at least it's a hot mess with a reason for existing.