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sarkaYeah, I'm going to talk about fandom and economics. Together. If I wasn't already sure I am insane, I'd be convinced now.
For those who have NO idea where I'm going with this, Icarus has a really good overview post and Henry Jenkins has broken this down some.
So, here goes.
The economic view of the individual is that we're rational agents, committed to making choices that will maximize our own material gains. The marketing view of the individual tends towards viewing the individual as a consumer, who will, due to a number of reasons (preference and limited finances, for instance), choose to consume one product, rather than another.
Got that? Great.
However, economics, in general, suffer from a near fatal flaw. See, economics can't encompass all human activities. When you bake Christmas cookies yourself, for instance, economics can't but view your activity as revenue lost out of the general economy – because you didn't buy the cookies.
In short order, the fact that humans aren't always out to maximize their personal gains runs economics into a proverbial brick wall. It has also led to some philosophizing on the part of economists. (We raise our children rather than drop them on someone elses doorstep because they will assist us in our old age! SRSLY!)
We live in a capitalist world. The general assumption is that most things can be bought – and those things that can't be bought aren't something we should have. So an entire community of individuals who routinely commit to creating something and giving it to others for free can't help but being seen as a bit of an anomaly. It's one thing to have a mother care for her child without expecting any material payment, and quite another to witness entirely unrelated individuals from around the world freely enter their creations into a common pool of information that can be accessed by everyone else for free.
Which is where fandom comes in. As the great Henry Jenkins pointed out, Fandom is what is called a "gift economy".
And as such, it baffles those who see most human activities as a strive for personal gain. Why give, when you can sell and receive $$$ ???
With money being more or less a fiat thing by now, and international companies ruling the roost in most production, doing business has never been so depersonalized. When you go to the supermarket, gather stuff into your basket and then fork over your money to a teenage emo cashier, you're not exactly engaging in social interaction. Apart from occasional brand loyalties, you feel confident that those things that are sold at the supermarket are generally decent and you don't have to amass knowledge of the producers to trust the quality of their goods.
This used to be different. People used to go to different stores for different things, and the owners of those stores had to work hard to keep consumer loyalty.
In a way, a gift economy hearkens back to the times when we got our eggs from the farmer next door. And in a way it doesn't.
Because in a gift economy, things are generally given away without any expectation of payment. And suddenly, the tables are turned; while in a market economy, the consumer has all the power, in a gift economy, it's the giver who calls the shots.
And in fandom, the giver has a bit of a tall order to deal with. Because unlike in a traditional gift economy, in the anonymity of the intrawebs we don't all know each other.
Everybody is familiar with attempting to buy a gift for a relative who seems to have everything. Once you've realized that there isn't anything that they specifically need, you start trying to find them something you think they might like. Perhaps you realize that you don't know their favourite colour, or what kind of music they like. As a last resort, you perhaps give them something you like, hoping that by sharing it with them you'll strengthen the bond between you and that person.
But even if we don't always know what the recipients – the rest of fandom – would like for their gift, we can sometimes find an idea of what we think they might like, or just go ahead and create something that we like, hoping that someone will see our gift for what it is and strengthening our bonds with other people, getting to know kindred spirits.
Personally, I think the fact that fandom is entirely a gift-sharing place is one of its biggest strengths. There are no hurt feelings from broken business propositions, there are relatively few failed business ventures... fandom moves on pretty fast. Instead, in fandom we have a community which is largely synergistic.
People give, as they are capable. Some of us write fiction, others write meta, create resources, rec, beta read, britpick, make icons, blog, make graphics or fanvids, create stunning art... the list goes on. Some of us just observe and comment and are grateful for other's efforts because we enjoy them, and those who give enjoy the feeling of a gift that has been accepted and cherished. All of us have made connections and friends that go far beyond the realms of fandom, and share other things than our creativity. Homework help, recipes, tech support, financial advice, emotional support, information. Love. A gift economy is, in short, personal.
And the gift economy made possible by the internet doesn't just extend to fanworks. When was the last time you looked something up on Wikipedia? Browsed something like TripAdvisor recommendations to find a hotel? Watched a video on YouTube? How many people use Linux on their computers?
This is, in fact, where things start to get interesting - when the gift economy and the things produced within start competing with the options provided by the market economy. Take Wikipedia for instance. While one is always aware of Wikipedia's flaws, due to the user-moderated content, who would today go out and purchase a bound encyclopedia, printed on paper? Who but the unfortunately persnickety would pay for access to, say, Britannica?
Fandom, for me at least, doesn't compete with the original source material. As a matter of fact, I think that the most devoted fans of the canon are often those who engage in fandom activities, whatever they may be, and stay interested for longer – even if a TV show starts sucking, fans might stick to it in hope that it'll pull a something like West Wing sixth season out of its hat.
On the other hand, fanfiction has saved me a small fortune in cheap Patricial Cornwell paperbacks.
And unlike many published authors, fandom provides some interesting options for the patrons of fanfiction. Because fandom authors welcome instant feedback and are open to starting a dialogue, and other creators of fanworks usually feel the same. Heck, some of them might even share their tricks with you.
Readers of fanfic, are like readers of everything else, quick to locate their favourite authors and stick to them. But before that happens, an author really has to catch one's eye – an author online has to work hard to keep your attention, because backbuttoning is so easy. When you've spent money on a paperback, however, unless you're very rich you feel a kind of an obligation to stick through to the end.
The readers of a particular fandom author therefore tend to feel quite a bit of (brand) loyalty once they've made it through an entire story – let alone if they stuck it out waiting for WiP updates. But fans will still appreciate a prolific author who posts often and much. Those who do will find themselves as "leaders", in a sense, a position awarded them as generous contributors to the gift economy.
As communities fray in real life, a lot of us have retreated to the internet for that sense of human interaction, that feeling of solidarity. The gift economy is essential to the community status that fandom has in most of our minds. We know that when we create something, in our spare time (usually, though I've been known to write fic in class, hah), we generally aren't speaking to a void, but to a community. And the act of giving something, of throwing something in there, be it a 200 page fic or a simple comment in gratitude for someone elses gift, is what creates fandom and keeps it alive.
I don't know what will happen if – or when? – authors and fanwork creators start working for something other than the enjoyment of the recipient, but I doubt it will be conductive to our sense of community.
But somehow I doubt this will happen, and that's why I think something like Fanlib.com (aha, she gets to the point at last!) was probably doomed from the start. Not only did their market research suck and their understanding of the fanfiction community fail in all the wrong ways – no, they failed to understand one of the laws of not just internet communication but basic economics throughout the world: Why pay for it if you can get it for free? With benefits? And the fact is that as a market venture, Fanlib is more or less intrinsically incapable of offering fans the sort of community that they enjoy in the gift economy.
Interestingly enough, that's one of the most interesting aspects of the internet: As more and more information is offered to us for free, providers of information are having a hard time charging us. And I'm thinking and hoping that the same thing will happen with entertainment. We no longer need to jump through the hoops to get published; all we need is to post on the internet – and if we garner attention there, the publishers will come running. How many internet columnists and bloggers have made book deals?
Maybe, just maybe, what fandom is doing will start to influence what we'll see in the commercial sphere. Because we're the consumers. The power is ours.
For those who have NO idea where I'm going with this, Icarus has a really good overview post and Henry Jenkins has broken this down some.
So, here goes.
The economic view of the individual is that we're rational agents, committed to making choices that will maximize our own material gains. The marketing view of the individual tends towards viewing the individual as a consumer, who will, due to a number of reasons (preference and limited finances, for instance), choose to consume one product, rather than another.
Got that? Great.
However, economics, in general, suffer from a near fatal flaw. See, economics can't encompass all human activities. When you bake Christmas cookies yourself, for instance, economics can't but view your activity as revenue lost out of the general economy – because you didn't buy the cookies.
In short order, the fact that humans aren't always out to maximize their personal gains runs economics into a proverbial brick wall. It has also led to some philosophizing on the part of economists. (We raise our children rather than drop them on someone elses doorstep because they will assist us in our old age! SRSLY!)
We live in a capitalist world. The general assumption is that most things can be bought – and those things that can't be bought aren't something we should have. So an entire community of individuals who routinely commit to creating something and giving it to others for free can't help but being seen as a bit of an anomaly. It's one thing to have a mother care for her child without expecting any material payment, and quite another to witness entirely unrelated individuals from around the world freely enter their creations into a common pool of information that can be accessed by everyone else for free.
Which is where fandom comes in. As the great Henry Jenkins pointed out, Fandom is what is called a "gift economy".
And as such, it baffles those who see most human activities as a strive for personal gain. Why give, when you can sell and receive $$$ ???
With money being more or less a fiat thing by now, and international companies ruling the roost in most production, doing business has never been so depersonalized. When you go to the supermarket, gather stuff into your basket and then fork over your money to a teenage emo cashier, you're not exactly engaging in social interaction. Apart from occasional brand loyalties, you feel confident that those things that are sold at the supermarket are generally decent and you don't have to amass knowledge of the producers to trust the quality of their goods.
This used to be different. People used to go to different stores for different things, and the owners of those stores had to work hard to keep consumer loyalty.
In a way, a gift economy hearkens back to the times when we got our eggs from the farmer next door. And in a way it doesn't.
Because in a gift economy, things are generally given away without any expectation of payment. And suddenly, the tables are turned; while in a market economy, the consumer has all the power, in a gift economy, it's the giver who calls the shots.
And in fandom, the giver has a bit of a tall order to deal with. Because unlike in a traditional gift economy, in the anonymity of the intrawebs we don't all know each other.
Everybody is familiar with attempting to buy a gift for a relative who seems to have everything. Once you've realized that there isn't anything that they specifically need, you start trying to find them something you think they might like. Perhaps you realize that you don't know their favourite colour, or what kind of music they like. As a last resort, you perhaps give them something you like, hoping that by sharing it with them you'll strengthen the bond between you and that person.
But even if we don't always know what the recipients – the rest of fandom – would like for their gift, we can sometimes find an idea of what we think they might like, or just go ahead and create something that we like, hoping that someone will see our gift for what it is and strengthening our bonds with other people, getting to know kindred spirits.
Personally, I think the fact that fandom is entirely a gift-sharing place is one of its biggest strengths. There are no hurt feelings from broken business propositions, there are relatively few failed business ventures... fandom moves on pretty fast. Instead, in fandom we have a community which is largely synergistic.
People give, as they are capable. Some of us write fiction, others write meta, create resources, rec, beta read, britpick, make icons, blog, make graphics or fanvids, create stunning art... the list goes on. Some of us just observe and comment and are grateful for other's efforts because we enjoy them, and those who give enjoy the feeling of a gift that has been accepted and cherished. All of us have made connections and friends that go far beyond the realms of fandom, and share other things than our creativity. Homework help, recipes, tech support, financial advice, emotional support, information. Love. A gift economy is, in short, personal.
And the gift economy made possible by the internet doesn't just extend to fanworks. When was the last time you looked something up on Wikipedia? Browsed something like TripAdvisor recommendations to find a hotel? Watched a video on YouTube? How many people use Linux on their computers?
This is, in fact, where things start to get interesting - when the gift economy and the things produced within start competing with the options provided by the market economy. Take Wikipedia for instance. While one is always aware of Wikipedia's flaws, due to the user-moderated content, who would today go out and purchase a bound encyclopedia, printed on paper? Who but the unfortunately persnickety would pay for access to, say, Britannica?
Fandom, for me at least, doesn't compete with the original source material. As a matter of fact, I think that the most devoted fans of the canon are often those who engage in fandom activities, whatever they may be, and stay interested for longer – even if a TV show starts sucking, fans might stick to it in hope that it'll pull a something like West Wing sixth season out of its hat.
On the other hand, fanfiction has saved me a small fortune in cheap Patricial Cornwell paperbacks.
And unlike many published authors, fandom provides some interesting options for the patrons of fanfiction. Because fandom authors welcome instant feedback and are open to starting a dialogue, and other creators of fanworks usually feel the same. Heck, some of them might even share their tricks with you.
Readers of fanfic, are like readers of everything else, quick to locate their favourite authors and stick to them. But before that happens, an author really has to catch one's eye – an author online has to work hard to keep your attention, because backbuttoning is so easy. When you've spent money on a paperback, however, unless you're very rich you feel a kind of an obligation to stick through to the end.
The readers of a particular fandom author therefore tend to feel quite a bit of (brand) loyalty once they've made it through an entire story – let alone if they stuck it out waiting for WiP updates. But fans will still appreciate a prolific author who posts often and much. Those who do will find themselves as "leaders", in a sense, a position awarded them as generous contributors to the gift economy.
As communities fray in real life, a lot of us have retreated to the internet for that sense of human interaction, that feeling of solidarity. The gift economy is essential to the community status that fandom has in most of our minds. We know that when we create something, in our spare time (usually, though I've been known to write fic in class, hah), we generally aren't speaking to a void, but to a community. And the act of giving something, of throwing something in there, be it a 200 page fic or a simple comment in gratitude for someone elses gift, is what creates fandom and keeps it alive.
I don't know what will happen if – or when? – authors and fanwork creators start working for something other than the enjoyment of the recipient, but I doubt it will be conductive to our sense of community.
But somehow I doubt this will happen, and that's why I think something like Fanlib.com (aha, she gets to the point at last!) was probably doomed from the start. Not only did their market research suck and their understanding of the fanfiction community fail in all the wrong ways – no, they failed to understand one of the laws of not just internet communication but basic economics throughout the world: Why pay for it if you can get it for free? With benefits? And the fact is that as a market venture, Fanlib is more or less intrinsically incapable of offering fans the sort of community that they enjoy in the gift economy.
Interestingly enough, that's one of the most interesting aspects of the internet: As more and more information is offered to us for free, providers of information are having a hard time charging us. And I'm thinking and hoping that the same thing will happen with entertainment. We no longer need to jump through the hoops to get published; all we need is to post on the internet – and if we garner attention there, the publishers will come running. How many internet columnists and bloggers have made book deals?
Maybe, just maybe, what fandom is doing will start to influence what we'll see in the commercial sphere. Because we're the consumers. The power is ours.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-24 08:23 pm (UTC)(I really need an *applause* icon. Hmmm...)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-26 08:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-24 08:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-26 08:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-24 10:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-26 08:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-25 03:21 pm (UTC)Fandom is such a special thing to have in ones life, I hope no one in the future will find a way to spoil that.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-26 08:47 am (UTC)Yeah - and for all our differences, it's interesting to see how we all realize that we're in the same boat when it counts.
Thanks for the compliments! *blush*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-26 03:45 am (UTC)Well said!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-26 08:51 am (UTC)Here via MF
Date: 2007-05-26 08:34 am (UTC)Re: Here via MF
Date: 2007-05-26 08:58 am (UTC)I'm glad you liked it and felt there was some truth to it.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-26 03:16 pm (UTC)Yes,this is it exactly. Do you mind if I link to this?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-26 11:18 pm (UTC)here via MF
Date: 2007-05-26 06:09 pm (UTC)Very well said.
Re: here via MF
Date: 2007-05-26 11:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-28 01:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-29 07:55 am (UTC)I'm glad you liked all the fandom bits, though. Thank you!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-28 04:10 pm (UTC)Interestingly enough, that's one of the most interesting aspects of the internet: As more and more information is offered to us for free, providers of information are having a hard time charging us. And I'm thinking and hoping that the same thing will happen with entertainment.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-29 07:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-29 12:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-14 10:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-14 10:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-15 09:56 pm (UTC)Wow. Awesome post!
I don't know what will happen if – or when? – authors and fanwork creators start working for something other than the enjoyment of the recipient, but I doubt it will be conductive to our sense of community.
Had this happen with a fandom friend in a Real Person Fic community. She used to write an awesome fanfic story. Then she filed all the serial numbers off and sold her stories professionally, and her whole f-list became just a way to advertise her stuff. Guess what? The f-list went dead as a doorknob really, really fast.
Once you move from gift economy back to capitalism, the part that keeps the community alive is killed by the profit economy logic. Because then I as a reader and fellow fan am not seen as a friend, reader and fellow community member anymore, but just as a consumer. Who has to pay for the one-way-consume, and that's it then. The "community" becomes another way to exploit me.
But why then would I ever want to keep part of this so-called "community"? Gift economy logic and capitalist economy logic are incompatible with each other.
Interestingly enough, that's one of the most interesting aspects of the internet: As more and more information is offered to us for free, providers of information are having a hard time charging us.
And that is why now, three years after you wrote this, some newspaper editors around the world make serious attempts to make free exchange of information and unpaid gaining of information harder. In Germany, they are currently even trying to make a law that would allow them to charge search engines, online blogs and other people for quoting them.
We are at the point where the for-sale economy has started to consider the gift-economy as a serious threat. I hope the gift economy will prevail, though.
Even after three years - thank you again for writing and sharing!