Shout to Henry Jenkins’s readers
Hello to those of you following Henry’s link over here. Obviously, I was quite flattered to find such a lovely plug for this site on his blog and appreciate your clicking that link.
When I was writing my dissertation on the fan community rec.arts.tv.soaps circa 1992 someone (Steve Jones maybe?) told me to get ahold of Henry, who promptly sent me the page proofs for Textual Poachers, which instantly became one of my all time favorite reads. Anyone who would compare texts to my favorite children’s story, the Velveteen Rabbit, is a genius in my book. If you follow that link you can read it and even see the original illustrations! Make sure you have hankies handy. In case it doesn’t go without saying (how could it not?), if you don’t already read Henry’s blog and books and are interested in fandom, you’re missing out on the main course.
As he notes, I’m writing a lot about music fandom, which forms the bulk of my own active engagement with online fandom these days, but I’m keeping an eye on what’s getting buzz or should be getting buzz around other media as well. My hope is that this site will eventually hold particular appeal for fans and/or professionals who are working with online fans of anything.
Please don’t be shy about jumping in, making recommendations for things I should write about, or just saying hi.
marrije wrote:
Hi Nancy! I look forward to reading your site (yes, I’m here through Henry’s), since the world of fandom is quite unknown to me, but rather fascinating. So I have no suggestions for topics. Surprise me :-)
Posted on 21-Aug-06 at 2:55 pm | Permalink
Leigh wrote:
Hello! This sounds like an interesting site and I also look forward to reading it. I followed the link from Henry Jenkins’ blog. I’ve only just started my doctoral studies this semester, but I also plan to investigate fan communities (more specifically, online video gaming fan communities).
Anyway, as far as recommendations go, I haven’t had a chance to look through your older entries, so you might have already written about this, but one thing that comes to mind about online music fandom is the issue of tab sites being shut down, making it more difficult for fans to share information on how to play their favorite songs.
Posted on 21-Aug-06 at 8:30 pm | Permalink
Nancy Baym wrote:
Thanks to both of you for the supportive messages. Regarding the tab sites, there’s a lengthy New York Times article laying out the issues here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/technology/21ecom.html?pagewanted=all
I haven’t had the chance to look into it yet, but it looks interesting, especially given the challenge of actually buying sheet music. Thx for the heads up.
Posted on 23-Aug-06 at 9:54 am | Permalink
Rae Votta wrote:
So I’ve been told several times by several people that I’ve needed to contact you, and now that summer is coming to a close I can readjust my academic hat, dig in, and finally do so. I’m a researcher at the University of Georgia looking at communication tools and styles in online fandoms. It’s a great surprise to hear that music fandom is where you’re leaning these days because a lot of my current research is focused there. Anyway, look forward to reading the blog and interacting with you!
Posted on 23-Aug-06 at 2:29 pm | Permalink
Nancy Baym wrote:
Rae — what are you looking at in your research on music fandom? Can you give us a short summary of your project(s)? Curious minds want to know!
Posted on 24-Aug-06 at 8:44 am | Permalink