Week 6

The reading on fan-based spaces struck a particular cord with me because not only was I regular visitor on neopets in my middle school days but an active contributor to the Harry Potter fanfiction websites in my high school days. It was interesting to view something that I just did for fun analyzed in an academic way.

I could personally relate with so much that they mentioned in the piece. I admit that one big motivation for my continued presence on the fanfiction website were the reviews and the followers that my story got. I found the following quote extremely insightful – “teens are motivated to write by … their words’ potential to make an impact on their communities” . This is because the idea that something I created doesn’t just sit in a forgotten folder on my computer but is actually appreciated and enjoyed by other people greatly motivated me to continue writing on fanfiction.

I remember how the fan community shaped my own creative works. I would often find myself evaluating how popular stories on particular characters were before writing them, see what genres were popular etc. Also, I was more likely to continue and finish stories that got more follows and reviews.

Something the article didn’t mention was how these websites channel the anonymity the internet offers in a positive way. Many people, especially developing children, would probably not be comfortable offering up their work for open critique and viewing to millions of people. However, under a pseudonym, people are able to express themselves in spite of limited confidence or esteem. This in turn helps build confidence.

While I think this is a great tool to be leveraged, I can image me not being as excited about fansites if I encountered it in an educational setting. Also, the very nature of these sites are such that they don’t appeal to everyone. They already appeal to a set of people more into reading and writing/art/creating some other kind of media. (E.g. A lot of the people on these forums are trying to be professional writers.) So even if we do incorporate in an educational setting it may not have the desired effect of getting students involved in creating content informally. The ones who do want to will probably find these opportunities on their own and the ones who don’t want to might just treat it as another assignment.