Social Media at the Margins: Crafting Community Media Before the Web by Joseph Richard DeLeon A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Film, Television, and Media) in the University of Michigan 2021 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Daniel Herbert, Co-Chair Associate Professor Sheila Murphy, Co-Chair Assistant Professor Sarah Murray Professor Lisa Nakamura Joseph Richard DeLeon [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1662-9033 © Joseph Richard DeLeon 2021 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Carol DeLeon and Richard DeLeon. ii Acknowledgements This dissertation is the result of the community and support that shaped my doctoral education in so many important and life-changing ways. I have had the incomparable joy to benefit from great mentors who have fostered my intellectual growth from my first steps on campus all the way to my dissertation defense. To my co-chairs, Dan Herbert and Sheila Murphy, thank you for guiding me through this project and for helping me to harness the strengths of my research, my perspective, and my voice. Thank you to Dan, who has always offered a helpful listening ear and shared a wealth of advice from choosing seminars, to networking, publishing, and finishing a dissertation. Thank you to Sheila for your constant support and encouragement of my writing, my teaching, and my curiosity. I thank Sheila for the many conversations that spurred my writing in new and fruitful directions and that made me feel valued as a scholar and as an individual. I am especially grateful for Sheila’s advice for my research trips to Silicon Valley and for encouraging me to witness Fry’s Electronics firsthand. Thank you to Sarah Murray, whose insight and generosity as a scholar and colleague are truly unmatched. Thank you to Lisa Nakamura, whose mentorship since my first semester in Ann Arbor has helped me to craft this dissertation project with rigor and responsibility. I am lucky to have been able to take part in the many welcoming and inclusive campus spaces for the critical study of digital media that Lisa has crafted over the years. Thank you all for your investment in my success. The community of the group of PhD students in the FTVM department has been a home and a solace during these past years. To Kaelie Thompson, the other half of my cohort and iii fellow Michigander, thank you for sharing this journey with me from our interview visit many winters ago, over countless happy hours, in numerous seminars and screenings, and throughout our many shared teaching experiences. I have learned so much about being a kind and generous scholar from our friendship. Thank you to Dimitri Pavlounis, who has always been a beacon of kindness and scholarly rigor. Thank you to Nathan Koob for the game nights and the many departmental debriefs at Zingerman’s. Feroz Hassan, Benjamin Strassfeld, Richard Mwakasege- Minaya, Nic Heckner, and Josh Morrison all impressed me with their professionalism and their rich research, and I strived to rise to the high bar you all set before me. To Kayti Lausch, my friend, conference fellow-traveler, and unparalleled television guru, thank you for bringing me into the Zingerman’s inner circle and for sharing so much of your wisdom with me over the years. To Sean Donovan, thank you for your unflagging wit, your keen sense of humor, and for swimming in the same podcast waters with me. To Marissa Spada, thank you for your support of my work over the years and for the many conversations that helped me to process my life as a grad student and that convinced me of the importance of Madonna’s career and the cultural impact of The X-Files. To Yuki Nakayama, thank you for being a wonderful friend and colleague—the social life of the department wouldn’t be what it is without your commitment to bringing everyone together. To Sophia Chen, thank you for the bagels from NYC and for opening my eyes to all the corners of Reddit. To James Elrod, thank you for your impressive dinner parties and for your hospitality. To Katy Peplin, your friendship, mentorship, and support have been integral to getting me to where I am today. I feel so lucky to have been a part of Thrive, which has helped me to grow as a person and to finish this dissertation—thank you for crafting spaces that have felt so welcoming and encouraging. To the current graduate students of FTVM, Tanite Chahwan, Bailey Compton, Brinni Gentry, Amber Hardiman, Vince Longo, iv Joshua Schulze, and Grace Wilsey, I look forward to witnessing the exciting work you will all go on to pursue, and I am thrilled to see the department in such good hands. To the FTVM faculty members and graduate students at U-M who helped to shape my ideas in so many important ways over the years, I am grateful for your investment in me and in my work. Thank you to the FTVM faculty: Giorgio Bertellini, Hugh Cohen, Caryl Flinn, Colin Gunckel, Mark Kligerman, Misha Mihailova, Johannes von Moltke, Markus Nornes, Melissa Phruksachart, Yeidy Rivero, and Matthew Solomon. Thank you to my fellow graduate students from across U-M who have been so supportive over conversations in seminars, workshops, happy hours, and at conferences: Anne-Charlotte Mecklenburg, Nicky Hentrich, Lia Wolock, Merideth Garcia, Jean Hardy, Sriram Mohan, Annemarie Navar-Gill, Kris Klein Hernández, Katie Wataha, Shebani Rao, and Mary Hennessy. To my writing group members, your contributions and investment in my work and ideas resound through these pages. Thank you to Nicky Hentrich, Douglas Brunton, Yasmine Espert, Casidy Campbell, Kelly Wheeler, and Marisol Fila. The Digital Inequality Lab made my doctoral experience so much more collaborative, critically engaged, and fulfilling. Thank you to Lisa Nakamura for leading the Lab with an emphasis on acknowledging our work and identities as individuals and as critical digital studies scholars. Thank you to all the Lab members: Cass Adair, Jasmine An, Casidy Campbell, Iván Chaar-López, Imani Cooper, Amy Dawson-Andoh, Jasmine Ehrhardt, Sarah Hughes, Meryem Kamil, Joo Young Lee, Kyle Lindsey, Rae Moors, Dimitri Pavlounis, Chloe Perry, Megan Rim, Cengiz Salman, Sarah Snyder, and Hanah Stiverson. I have learned so much from you all. To the incredible staff of the FTVM department, Carrie Moore, Marga Schuhwerk- Hampel, Mary Lou Chlipala, and Lisa Rohde-Barbeau, thank you for all the work you do to v make the department run smoothly. A special thank you to Phil Hallman, who truly makes the teaching and research of the department happen in so many important ways. To all the students I had the pleasure to teach at U-M, thank you for your engagement and enthusiasm. Thank you to all my friends who have helped me to shoulder the burdens of life, work, and adulthood. To Erin Campbell, thank you for introducing me to Palo Alto and for your friendship since our MSU days. Thank you to all my NYU friends: Cynthia Yee, Miriam Garcia, Nandita Sabnis, Daniel Soto Morfín, Shruti Sannon, Shuang Li, Meng Xu, and Trista Lu. Thank you to Kenny and Derek, Luis and KC, Allison and Andi, Diane and Theo, Brad and AJ, Allison and Bob, Kärin, and Nina. Thank you all for your friendship, your hospitality, and for making New York, Philadelphia, Cambridge, and Munich feel like home. Thank you to those who shared their experiences with me and from whom I had the pleasure and honor to learn so much while researching this dissertation: Potsy Duncan, David Goldman, Evelyn Pine, Larry-Bob Roberts, and Rosser Shymanski. To my parents, Carol and Richard, thank you for your love and support. Thank you especially for letting me check out as many library books as I wanted to as a kid. To my sister, Raquel, I have looked up to you since I was young. I’m so happy that I could learn so much about hard work and building a career through your example. To David, thank you for your boundless support and love. From the Rue Campagne Première to Michigan, with many hours spent in coffee shops in between, I have been so lucky to be able to share life—all the books, cooking, television, and travels—with you. The road goes ever on and on. vi Table of Contents Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ x Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 Introduction: Community Information Formats Before the Web ......................... 1 Community Information Formats: Community Media in Formation ....................................... 5 Method .................................................................................................................................... 11 Cultural Memory ............................................................................................................... 15 Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 17 Community ....................................................................................................................... 17 Queerness and Media Technology ...................................................................................