The Heretic Loremaster » Fandom and Online Life

Fandom as a Business?

During the kerfuffle a couple months ago involving FanHistory.com, I found myself growing skeptical of the site, not so much because of the kerfuffle itself (which involved its owner Laura Hale’s refusal to remove a fan’s real name from the site) but because of what else came out concerning Ms. Hale’s intended use of the [...]

Too Smart for Fandom?

There has been a recent spate of posts on Metafandom and elsewhere about whether or not academia–and academically inclined fans–should have a role in fandom. So far, it hasn’t even been a matter of how much of a role, or when academic analysis is appropriate, but a black-and-white, YES-or-NO debate such as is rarely seen [...]

Fandom: A Reader’s World?

The other day on the Middle Earth Fanfiction Awards mailing list, there was a rather frustrated reply to an administration post about labeling reviews that contain spoilers. The writer put forth the usual arguments: A degree of “spoilage” is common when reading book reviews, so why would readers of MEFA reviews assume any differently? It’s [...]

The Many Faces of LiveJournal

Of the myriad Web 2.0 sites and services out there, most seem to have a distinct purpose for their existence. Facebook connects friends and classmates, Yahoo! Groups lets people with similar interests chat amongst themselves, WordPress lets even an Internet newbie start up a blog. LiveJournal isn’t so simple. What is the function of LiveJournal? [...]