What Is Fandom Culture?

[morgandawn]

1. The focused love of a subject matter (TV, knitting, hockey)
2. Active engagement with the subject matter vs passive consumption. Active engagement can be thinking about the show, discussing it, writing fic, making gif sets etc. Passive engagement is turning on the TV and watching it and then forgetting about it.  Note: one can passively consume the products of active engagement. Media fandom does not only consist of artists or fanfic writers, it also includes readers and lurkers and organizers. Also note that the active engagement does not have to be social - you can still be a media fan if you never connect up with another media fan and all the engagement takes place inside your head.
3.Non-commercial (fanzines were always supposed to be non-profit, artists would often get paid for their fanart prints or originals, and if fans turned their fanfic into pro fic - well it was no longer fanfic.)

Everything else: concrit, (n)etiquette, visibility, 4th Wall, warnings are all community specific and even among communities these "norms' or "rules" vary and are not universally accepted. To argue that someone is violating "fandom culture" is like arguing that everyone in the fandom world belongs to a single faith. In fact it argues that even if there are many fandom faiths, that all members of the faith  hold the same beliefs. While it is true that some faiths will not accept you unless you believe in and adopt their specific tenets, there are always those who claim a religious identity while disagreeing with some (or all) of the doctrines of their faith. 

Fandom is multitudes. Fandom is IDIC. Fandom is wherever you are.

Comments

[niqaeli]

I mean, the hilarious thing is that I disagree with you re: non-commercial. That one I believe to also be a matter of community standards that vary from community to community and also even within communities. It is, granted, true of a good deal of Western-derived media fandom, but that's not the only fandom community.

But, yes.

[morgandawn]

yeah, I waffled a long time on that one too, knowing the Japanese manga tradition. still, I place it within the realm of fanzines (charging for the physical product to cover production costs = not profit. knowing full well, there is and always has been a lot of wiggle room on the "no profit" side). when fan start filming their fanfic and charging for access to watch, I might waffle even more.

Speaking of which:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Phase_II_%28fan_series%29