I think LOTR fandom is largely “conservative”. It sticks to things it knows (ff.net), tends to be loyal to its canon (canatics, anyone?) and is reluctant to try out new things. Especially the last one bothers me quite a bit, because I *love* trying out new things and when I find something that I’m sure would benefit fandom, I’m sad no one else is using it. Look at Delicious – hardly any LOTR fans there (whereas a Merlin or SPN story can easily be bookmarked by a few hundred people). Same goes for podfic – there is almost nothing for LOTR – either because fans don’t know about it or because they don’t want to try it.