I support the OTW
I'm tempted to do a what she said about what she said type of thing, but even I'm not that lazy. *g*
Speaking of what cesperanza said regarding owning our own servers and the trend of the internet towards social networking and Web 2.0 (Web 3.0!!) -- this is real, this is what's happening in the world. I have close friends who own a social networking site. I HEAR ABOUT IT EVERY DAY. I can't begin to tell you the number of conversations I have had about page views, and ad sales, and ad impressions, alexa ratings, unique visitors, etc etc. times a gazillion. The internet is no longer a safe haven. No longer free. It is no place to be incognito. The myth of anonymity is gone. It doesn't exist. The internet is a multi-million dollar business. I mentioned it already in my post about SUP acquiring Livejournal.
If you don't believe me, here is an informative (and fun!) vid:
Read Mark Andreesson's blog. Particularly his post on rebuilding Hollywood in the image of Silicon Valley. Incidentally, Mark Andreesson is part owner of Ning, where you can make your own Social Network. 100,000 networks, and growing. Read what he has to say about porn on Ning and how Ning handles it. Fascinating. He's a venture capitalist/Silicon Valley, type person who has made millions on the internet.
The Writer's Strike, the music industry's struggles, the proliferation of every kind of social network imaginable, the shift towards DIY, Authorship in the Digital Age, is there or is there not another dot.com bubble about to burst -- this is all related, interconnected issues, that are shaping the landscape for the future. Play close attention!
And so, why OTW. And what does fandom have to do with any of this mishigosh? Well, what cesperanza said about fandom being a gold mine is absolutely true. But it's also completely unique from your average 16-year-old Myspace/Facebook user, and can't be compared, imo. What we do, our conversations, our love of and for our shows/movies/books, the time and energy and heart we pour into this wacky hobby of ours, is completely special. It is unique, and precious, and what it means in the real world is $$. Either the loss of money, or the gain of it.
The OTW, to have an archive of our own, is security. It not only can preserve the culture of fandom, but can give it a home. I've read a number of the "Why OTW?" posts this week, and all of them have one thing in common. They all say fandom is home. But it has never been a very stable home. The landlords keep kicking us out. *g* nestra mentioned the tripod TOSing frm 2001. I remember that! I was there for that, and I vividly recall the horror and the outrage over it.
It's like buying your house, instead of renting. It's owning the land! Own the land Katie Scarlet, own the land!
And this is all without going into the creative part of the OTW, what the word "transformative" means, and fans making a firm stand on the ground and claiming the right to create fanworks, etc etc. I'm all for that, as well.
Speaking of what cesperanza said regarding owning our own servers and the trend of the internet towards social networking and Web 2.0 (Web 3.0!!) -- this is real, this is what's happening in the world. I have close friends who own a social networking site. I HEAR ABOUT IT EVERY DAY. I can't begin to tell you the number of conversations I have had about page views, and ad sales, and ad impressions, alexa ratings, unique visitors, etc etc. times a gazillion. The internet is no longer a safe haven. No longer free. It is no place to be incognito. The myth of anonymity is gone. It doesn't exist. The internet is a multi-million dollar business. I mentioned it already in my post about SUP acquiring Livejournal.
If you don't believe me, here is an informative (and fun!) vid:
Click to viewRead Mark Andreesson's blog. Particularly his post on rebuilding Hollywood in the image of Silicon Valley. Incidentally, Mark Andreesson is part owner of Ning, where you can make your own Social Network. 100,000 networks, and growing. Read what he has to say about porn on Ning and how Ning handles it. Fascinating. He's a venture capitalist/Silicon Valley, type person who has made millions on the internet.
The Writer's Strike, the music industry's struggles, the proliferation of every kind of social network imaginable, the shift towards DIY, Authorship in the Digital Age, is there or is there not another dot.com bubble about to burst -- this is all related, interconnected issues, that are shaping the landscape for the future. Play close attention!
And so, why OTW. And what does fandom have to do with any of this mishigosh? Well, what cesperanza said about fandom being a gold mine is absolutely true. But it's also completely unique from your average 16-year-old Myspace/Facebook user, and can't be compared, imo. What we do, our conversations, our love of and for our shows/movies/books, the time and energy and heart we pour into this wacky hobby of ours, is completely special. It is unique, and precious, and what it means in the real world is $$. Either the loss of money, or the gain of it.
The OTW, to have an archive of our own, is security. It not only can preserve the culture of fandom, but can give it a home. I've read a number of the "Why OTW?" posts this week, and all of them have one thing in common. They all say fandom is home. But it has never been a very stable home. The landlords keep kicking us out. *g* nestra mentioned the tripod TOSing frm 2001. I remember that! I was there for that, and I vividly recall the horror and the outrage over it.
It's like buying your house, instead of renting. It's owning the land! Own the land Katie Scarlet, own the land!
And this is all without going into the creative part of the OTW, what the word "transformative" means, and fans making a firm stand on the ground and claiming the right to create fanworks, etc etc. I'm all for that, as well.