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I think newbie is a state of mind, rather than a time period. You're a newbie when you're still feeling your way, trying to suss out the rules, find your place.

Once you feel comfortable somewhere...that's when being a newbie ends.
Darn, and here I was hoping to be a newbie for at least the first year I was active in a fandom. wink

I think that, if you've been in different fandoms before, you pretty much get the whole form of things, how they go and everything. The first fandom takes the longest to get comfortable with, and then if/when you go to other fandoms, it's pretty easy to translate it over, and if you go by LabRat's definition of a newbie, then your time as a newbie in subsequent fandoms is shorter every time.

Or at least that's been my experience. There are just certain things that happen in almost all fandoms (or at least the 3-4 I've actively participated in) . . . like message board etiquette (although this fandom is MUCH more up on that), rules for posting/reading Nfic, abbreviations for different parts/episodes of a series--the most popular of which are known by almost all members, etc.

Most of the "being a newbie" part in any fandom after the first is just being up on the "canon," and learning the fandom-specific aspects, like which episodes are the most-abbreviated, and which fanfic authors are the most lauded/respected, what activities or meet-up opportunities there are within the fandom and such.

"You take turns, advise and protect one another, even heal or be healed when the going gets too tough. I know! That's not a game--that's friendship!" ~Shelly Mezzanoble, Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the Dungeons & Dragons Game

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