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Imagining Virtual Community Online Media Fandom and the Construction of Virtual Collectivity Kali DeDominicis Ph.D. in Sociology The University of Edinburgh 2015 Abstract This thesis uses ethnographic research into online media fandom, focusing on self- reflexive analytical documents that fans call meta, to investigate longstanding questions about the nature of virtual community. It argues that virtual documents should be seen as complete and complex interactions in their original form and as social contexts in their own right, and presents a new approach to ethnographic methodology and ethics suited to working in this context. Fans have incorporated various technologies into the infrastructure that constitutes their community, and these have had various effects on the structure and substance of fannish documents and interactions – and on the character of the community as a whole. The stability and visibility of the digital archive is an important feature of virtual community – one that makes fandom more visible, accessible, and historically grounded for both old and new members. This research also deals with conflict, not as a necessarily divisive force but as a natural and important part of how communities evolve and how members negotiate and articulate what their community should be. It discusses fanfiction as a controversial and sometimes problematic genre, and considers trigger warnings as the solution fans have developed to protect vulnerable members of their community from potentially harmful content (such as rape). It also examines conflict with outside authorities, like creators and the administrators who control the virtual spaces that fans inhabit. These conflicts illuminate creativity and feminism as fannish values, presenting fandom as a community that embraces sex-positive female sexuality. More importantly, they suggest that the creation and maintenance of a ‘safe space’ where all members feel respected and comfortable is a key feature of online community. In addition, fannish storytelling (particularly the creation of what fans call fanon) is part of the production of local knowledge, of boundary mechanisms that mark and separate members of the community from outsiders. These stories as part of the process by which fans position themselves within the broader community – and in so doing, locate themselves within smaller cohorts of fans who affirm and support aspects of their personal experiences and marginalised identities (e.g. as women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, or people of colour) through the reorientation and appropriation of story. 1 Declaration This is to certify that the work contained within has been composed by me and is entirely my own work. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Acknowledgements This PhD has been a long and difficult undertaking, and I would not be here without the help and support of a great many people. First, I owe a profound debt of gratitude to my supervisors past and present: Mary Holmes, Liz Stanley, and Kate Orton-Johnson. Liz, thank you for taking a chance on me at the beginning, for pushing me to always meet your high standards, and for the ruthless editing job. Mary, I cannot tell you how much I appreciated your insightful questions and patient dedication to getting me through each step of this process. Kate, I could never have navigated the impossible tangle of online research methodology without your help. Thanks to all of you. Both the thesis and I are better for your input. To my wife, Éowyn Petersen-Snyder, for all the tearful nights you talked me out of quitting and all the days you patiently sat and listened to me struggle. Lady, we made it! Siobhan Ball, I know you’ve forgotten that it was you who convinced me all the way at the beginning that this was a thesis and not a joke. I still remember, and I appreciate your support, which has never faltered. Thanks also to Sandy Ryalls, for answering technological questions at all hours of the day and night, and for rarely never laughing at the stupid ones. Special mention to the members of my cohort who struggled through this process with me, especially Fauzia Malik and Katie Ion – your research is amazing and important, and I look forward to seeing you finish it. Most importantly, for my informants: This thesis could not have happened without you, and in many ways it was done for you – and in recognition of this great work you have achieved, and are still creating. Particular thanks to uminoko and Hope, for reaching out to me all the way at the beginning and helping me to believe that this was not an impossible task. Also, to cupidsbow for the time and effort you put into reading and commenting on drafts, and especially for being willing to correct my facts and challenge my assumptions. To everyone else: Thank you for your time, your interest, your energy, and your willingness to work with me on this. I hope I made you proud. 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT 1 DECLARATION 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 TABLE OF FIGURES 4 INTRODUCTION 5 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK — FANDOM & COMMUNITY 11 THE IDEA OF COMMUNITY 15 FANDOM & COMMUNITY 21 THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF (VIRTUAL) COMMUNITY 28 CONCLUSION 38 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 39 SITUATING RESEARCHER & RESEARCH 42 DIGITAL & ARCHIVAL ETHNOGRAPHY 50 DATA: COLLECTION, ANALYSIS & ETHICS 60 CONCLUSION 74 CHAPTER 3: BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF WORDS? FAN COMMUNITY, TECHNOLOGY & INFRASTRUCTURE 75 FOR THOSE IN THE KNOW: THE EARLY DAYS OF FANDOM (1930-2000) 77 THE GROWTH OF ONLINE FANDOM (1990-2005) 83 LIVEJOURNAL: ‘A GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF FRIENDS WHO SHARE YOUR UNIQUE PASSIONS AND INTERESTS’ 91 LIVING DOCUMENTS, INSCRIBED SELVES: ONLINE TEXT AS INTERACTION 100 POST-MODERN FANDOM: ‘I DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU TUMBLS BUT I LIKE YOU’ 111 CONCLUSION 120 CHAPTER 4: TRIGGERS, EROTICA & COMMUNAL RESPONSIBILITY — INTERNAL FANNISH CONFLICT 123 UNDERLYING TENSIONS: FANFICTION AS CONTROVERSIAL GENRE 125 ‘A VAGUE DISCLAIMER IS NOBODY’S FRIEND’: THE GREAT WARNINGS WANK 139 CONCLUSION 154 CHAPTER 5: ASSERTING OWNERSHIP — ON AUTHORSHIP, VIRTUAL CITIZENSHIP & CONFLICT WITH OUTSIDERS 157 FANDOM TOS-ED: TERMS OF SERVICE, MATURE CONTENT & CONFLICT WITH WEBHOSTS 159 ‘INTERROGATING THE TEXT FROM THE WRONG PERSPECTIVE’: CONFLICT WITH AUTHORS 173 CONCLUSION 185 CHAPTER 6: PATTERNS OF STORYTELLING — FANFICTION & COMMUNITY-BUILDING 189 FROM ‘CANON’ TO ‘FANON’: FANFICTION AS COLLECTIVE, INTERTEXTUAL STORYTELLING 191 FITTING HIM FOR LEATHER TROUSERS: THE TRANSFORMATION OF DRACO MALFOY 206 ‘OUR COMMON INTERESTS [ARE MADE] INTIMATE THROUGH SHARING OUR STORIES’: THE CONVERGENCE OF SELF, COMMUNITY & STORY 212 ‘TEAMS’, OUTSIDERS & SHIP-TO SHIP COMBAT: ON CONFLICT, BOUNDARY MECHANISMS & COMMUNITY BUILDING 223 CONCLUSION 233 CONCLUSION: COMMUNITY IN A NEW CONTEXT 234 GLOSSARY 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY 257 3 Table of Figures FIG. 0.1: LJ ICON 6 FIG. 5.1: HISTORY OF FANDOM SONG 159 FIG. 5.2: AGE STATEMENT 159 FIG. 1.1: COMMUNITY GIF 15 FIG. 5.3: TUMBLR TOS 161 FIG. 1.2: AMAZING STORIES COVER 21 FIG. 5.4: TABLE: FFN PURGES 162 FIG. 1.3: THE FAN POSTER 22 FIG. 5.5: LJ BOLDTHROUGH 163 FIG. 1.4: COMIC BOOK GUY 22 FIG. 5.6: LJ ICON 164 FIG. 2.1: LJ ICON 45 FIG. 5.7:LJ ICON 173 FIG. 2.2: ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT GIF 60 FIG. 5.8: ANTI-FANDOM BINGO CARD 174 FIG. 2.3: RACEBENT!ELSA FANART 61 FIG. 6.1: ‘HEADCANON ACCEPTED!’ 192 FIG. 2.4: LJ ICON 62 FIG. 6.2: WOC!HERMIONE 193 FIG. 2.5: LJ ICON 63 FIG. 6.3: ROSIE THE RIVETER!CINDERELLA 196 FIG. 3.1: THE COMET COVER 77 FIG. 6.4: TEXTUAL POACHERS 197 FIG. 3.2: LJ ICON 80 FIG. 6.5: LJ ICON 199 FIG. 3.3: ‘COMMENTS CAN RESULT IN NEW FRIEND- FIG. 6.6: REMUS/SIRIUS CANON 200 SHIPS’ 86 FIG. 6.7: KLINGON APPEARANCE 201 FIG. 3.4: THREADED FORUM REPLIES 88 FIG. 6.8: LOKI FANGIRLS 202 FIG. 3.5: LJ ICON 91 FIG. 6.9: CANON!DRACO 206 FIG. 3.6: LJ CUSTOM OPTIONS 94 FIG. 6.10: GRYFFINDOR & SLYTHERIN TRAITS 207 FIG. 3.7: LJ ICON 107 FIG. 6.11: FANON!DRACO 208 FIG. 3.8: ‘TUMBLR’ CONFESSION 111 FIG. 6.12: FANON!DRACO 209 FIG. 3.9: LILO & STITCH 112 FIG. 6.13: SEXY!SPOCK 210 FIG. 3.10: LUCILLE BALL 115 FIG. 6.14: LJ ICON 215 FIG. 3.11: YULE BALL POST 117 FIG. 6.15: ‘MARY SUE’ CONFESSION 216 FIG. 3.12: YULE BALL DRESS (PINK) 118 FIG. 6.16: FEMINIST TWILIGHT FIC 220 FIG. 3.13: YULE BALL POST (TAGS) 119 FIG. 6.17: ‘TEAM EDWARD’ SHIRT 227 FIG. 4.1: FANDOM DEMOGRAPHICS 127 FIG. 4.2: ‘IT’S WORDS! BUT IT’S ALSO PORN!’ 128 FIG. 4.3: ‘A VAGUE DISCLAIMER IS NOBODY’S FRIEND’ 139 FIG. 4.4: FIC WARNING LABELS 140 FIG. 4.5: ‘I’M NOT CUTTING MY HAIR’ 145 FIG. 4.6: ‘SPOILERS!’ 150 4 Introduction Fandom is the most personal, most dedicated form of media consumption and production – articulating a sense of who we are and strive to be through our…engagement with the object of fandom… (Sandvoss 2013: 260) This thesis is about fandom and community; terms that are easy to explain and relate to, yet difficult to establish definite boundaries for.