Fandom Does Not Use Technology. Technology Uses Fandom

[morgandawn]

Fandom usually jumps into technologies, uses them, and then acts surprised when we realize that we have no clue what we're doing or how the use of the new tech has changed an aspect of our fandom culture. Right now a few authors are posting notices that you need permission to link to their fanworks in "public spaces". Or that they'd prefer their readers comment on their fic where it was  originally posted.  Each author gets to unilaterally define what is public with the expectation that every reader will follow because that is part of the "social contract". So for today Goodreads = public and is not a place to list or review fanfic. Tumblr is OK (for now) because it is not seen as a "public" space.*  

It used to be easier to know what to expect of other fans but the moment we went online, the fannish social contract was voided due to sheer size and complexity of online interactions. Add the fact that new platforms and new ways of interacting keep coming out every 20 minutes and you have a hot conceptual mess filled with poorly understood expectations.

I know that when we went online in the 1990s few of us had any idea  that fans would be publicly posting their porn fanfic** to open access websites (no. stop. think of the children!), displaying their explicit art where anyone could see (blush), and tweeting their love of RPS and knotting fic (OMGWTFBB!).  By those standards, we have all breached the original fannish social contract of keeping fandom a "safe space" simply by interacting with one another in public and online. And I suspect that 20 years down the road, we will again struggle to recognize "fandom" as it continues to be reshaped by technology.

So I would rather see us practice mindfulness and awareness that the tools and platforms we use change us and our culture instead of snapping at one another because we've changed and that we no longer know what to expect from one another.

Because to be honest, I have no clue any more. And I'd be wary of anyone who claims otherwise.

*Keep in mind that most fans don't bother to turn off Google indexing on their tumblr blogs (or their LJ...or their DW..or their twitter or their.....). And even if they do, every time someone else reblogs your content, if *their blog* is searchable by Google it will still be "public".

**A few of us did have in inkling but we all kept it quiet because we did not want to scare our fellow fans with our crazy visions of the future filled with flying fans sporting jetpack keyboards and tinhats.

edited to add: here is another example of Fandom Meets Technology

Comments

[cathexys]

That's really sad!

Thanks for the link...

[morgandawn]

this comment is also sad (and what a wasted opportunity to be "true" fans by reaching out to welcome those who are different but the same in all the right
ways - like loving the source and appreciation of the written fan word

"I have NO problems with authors wanting control over any personal information that is posted here, I think you guys are dead right in being upset about that. I think it's a bit creepy and misguided for users to do something like that, even if they did probably have good intentions.

I just hate the way all this came about, and that many of us have been made to feel flat unwelcome in the fandom, as well as lost a bunch of our own content. Many of us had some great discussions on our review pages, and those are just gone, *poof!* with no notification, and no way to recover it.

I know plenty of fic authors who have been caught up in things like FF.net deciding their stories broke whatever rule and were pulled, but at least they were notified first. We got nothing but "GR is evil!" and fic listings and our reviews and discussions tanked.

Maybe next time something like this happens somewhere else, (because face it, it's going to happen again eventually somewhere else) instead of going off half cocked, all "fuck Goodreads!", authors will actually try to find out how the site really works first."

https://www.goodreads.com/user_status/show/54428714?page=2#comment_111104126

[cathexys]

That's the thing that makes fanlore and everything connected to it so important to me (and yes, academic discussions as well, I suppose)--because history does repeat itself--and maybe not as Marx proclaimed, the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce...

I am kind of frustrated by fans freaking out and going after other fans like this. And yes, I'm sure I've done my share of similar things in the past, but...doesn't mean we weren't wrong, just like I think they are wrong now...

[morgandawn]

I thought I knew fandom and its cycles until I started working on Fanlore. And then one volunteer began reading and summarizing the scans of old letterzines (from the 70s and 80s) and it was all there. Every topic, every debate, every freak out. Like a huge spiral going upwards and outwards and expanding and expanding. That is the power of fandom - the ability to be more inclusive and more imaginative and more enthusiastic. I hope that the "little engine that could" that is fandom keeps it going for another 40 years.