Interview Commentary
May. 26th, 2007 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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life_wo_fanlibCommenting on the Chris Williams Interview. Long; approx. 2,000 words. (A substantial part of that is quotes.) I'd put it at my journal, but right now, I'm keeping most of my journal locked, so instead, I'm doing the main post here & sending my friendslist a link.
Note: I've snipped the Q&A parts down; I may be making comments on part I'm not directly quoting here.
Q1: What is your own background in fandom?
A: I am a complete media junkie. I love stories and since 2003 I have involved over 100,000 people in online fan fiction events.... Several people in our small company come out of the fan fiction world.
Interpretation: I have no connection to fanfic except for a corporate one. I consider myself "fannish" because I watch the sci-fi channel and have seen all three Spiderman movies.
Analysis: He doesn't mention which fandoms he likes, or that anyone else likes. He doesn't mention fansites he spends time at. He doesn't mention conventions he (or anyone else in the company) has attended.
This may be at the advice of his marketing department, which says "never mention another company or website; you don't want to lose customers to them; never mention a specific movie or event because that could be perceived as discriminating against other movies or events." However, it's directly adverse to communication styles within fandom, which are link-heavy and full of recs: I like this page, maybe you will too; here's my favorite movies & tell me what you think of them. So it may be a good *marketing* tactic, but it's an atrocious *build bridges with the fans* communication style.
Q2: What led you to create this site?
A: In 2001, my friend and I had an idea, inspired by many people we knew with creative movie ideas, who didn't have the means or access to realize them. So we tried to create a collaborative event for fans to write an original script and produce a feature film from it.
Interpretation: I've got some experience with sponsored fan-created movies, and wanted to extend that practice to fic. People should love having the copyright owners looking at their stories--then they could get cash and prizes!
Analysis: He talks about film, and sponsored writing contests. Again, he shows obliviousness to how fanfiction works: that it's not about "writing the missing scenes" or "creating the next episode" (although those are also included), but that it's also creating entirely new interpretations of an author's work. He claims to be aware that fanfic is not "vanilla," but seems to be unaware that Paramount may not only object to graphic Kirk/Spock buttsecks, but may object rather strongly to Deanna Troi/Guinan romantic interludes on the Holodeck as well.
Q3: What is the basic value proposition you are making? Who is making money here?
A: The value proposition for fans is a free venue where they can pursue their passion by creating, showcasing, reading, reviewing, sharing, archiving, discovering stories, and by participating in fun events in a community with similar interests.... The value proposition for media companies and publishers is to connect, engage, and entertain fans of their media properties in a new online storytelling environment.
Interpretation: Fans provide free content. License holders find out who their fans are.
Analysis: And he thinks this is a GOOD thing? He seems to believe he's offering fans a tremendous resource, one that makes it well worth the risk of bringing them under close scrutiny of the creators or owners of the original works they're ficcing. He also makes an interesting comment about fanfic authors meeting the "talent" that creates the universes they play in... as if fanfic author meant "unskilled amateur." Fandom, as a whole, has not been happy with him treating us as if we were lost helpless kittens looking for a good home.
Q4: What does FanLib offer a fanfic writer that other ad-free sites run by people from within the fanfic community do not?
A: FanLib offers four things: First, ... a venue; Second, ...opportunity to be recognized and discovered (Sub-answers: Media tie-in possibilities); Third, ... highly responsive customer support; Lastly, all of the features listed below. (Followed by list of website features.) To our knowledge FanLib.com is the only site with ALL of these features.
Interpretation: Our site is kewl! You can get your fic seen by movie producers! We have posting software!
Analysis: Of course their site is the only one with "all these" features. Some of them are features nobody cares about; if fandom wanted them, we'd've invented them long before now. The list of web features is... entertaining. "File Upload with support for .doc, .txt, and .rtf formats"--but they don't mention that they can't handle html. "Make Private" option--but no "make visible only to registered members;" it's you only or anyone with google. "Tagging of fanfics"--but even though you can put Harry/Ginny or Aragorn/Legolas in the tags, you can't search for anything with a slash in it. "Leave multiple comments"--but no way for authors to reply to those comments, except by PM, which is disabled by default.
They're asking for patience while they work out the bugs in the software and figure out exactly what their rules and standards are, and claim they've only been up for a bit more than a month... however, unlike fan-run sites, they have money. They don't get any credit for poor web design because they didn't bother to research what features fans actually wanted.
Q5: Who is the target audience for the site?
A: The site is for people who want to showcase and share stories, discover great stories, get closer to the talent behind their favorite fandoms and participate in fun online events. Let's call that the "site mission". Our market research showed that the site mission has great potential in a surprisingly broad demographic range.
Interpretation: We failed to identify the few obvious-to-fans major groups involved in fandom, and decided that no demographics are relevant. And you can get close to the talent! That should be enough!
Analysis: Fen recognize several major groups active in fanfic: Housewives with a rich fantasy life, college students who love playing with ideas, teenagers who want to Mary Sue themselves into their favorite stories, iconoclasts who want to break rules, aspiring pro authors who want to practice with familiar characters and settings. Those aren't all, of course... but a site can be designed to appeal to any of those, and possibly all of them.
By saying "...not principally driven by a specific demographic," they are either unaware or consider it unimportant that over 90% of fanfic authors are female. (Number pulled out of the ether; don't hound me for statistics.) What kind of marketing campaign ignores an obvious demographic that the vast majority of its contributors belong to? Aside from the obvious "we are NOT the target audience," it makes us doubt their ability to make basic business decisions, since they seem incapable of recognizing or acknowledging the obvious.
(Gonna speed this up, I think.)
Q6: Copyright Issues/Fanfic Legalisms
A: FanLib.com members do not give up any ownership rights when they use the website. Neither do they acquire any additional ownership rights to characters and settings owned by someone else.... We think that by building a collaborative model, we will positively impact the fan community and will avoid needless litigation.
Interpretation: Don't ask, don't tell.
Analysis: They've cleaned up the ToS and the FAQ; they're much more like generic fanfic archive legalese now. They did try to make clear from the beginning that their only right to publish or re-use fanfic was for the purpose of quoting excerpts or showcasing fics on their site or maybe in promo emails; they lose all rights to a fic when you remove it from the site. (Intersting idea: private-view fics are still on the site, and could still be used for promo purposes.)
The problem: Unlike other fanfic sites, they're actively seeking attention from the creators of the stories these fics are written in. While FanLib claims that fanfic is covered by fair use statutes, it's not willing to actually stand behind that claim by legally supporting the authors they're asking to produce content for them.
Q7: CONTENT: What happens when a parent finds his-or-her child reading an ADULT-rated Harry Potter fic?
A: As it relates to the situation where a parent finds his-or-her child reading ADULT-rated Harry Potter fic, I can't speak for the parent. What we've done on the site is completely hide all adult content so that the user must actively seek it out by changing filter settings with explicit warnings.
Interpretation: Don't ask, don't tell.
Analysis: Another case of "we are responsible for nothing, and we refuse to address any potential problems, no matter how obvious they seem to you."
Q8: COMMUNITY RELATIONS ISSUES
A: I acknowledge the way we sent out certain invitations was flawed. Our objective was to invite fan fiction authors to participate in our beta test and, if they chose to, join our beta team testing the site and providing feedback... The advertisement you mentioned was one of four that we tested during the beta, and we ran it on a site targeting a younger audience where it performed very well.
Interpretation: We utterly failed to understand the fannish community, and our initial outreach attempts flopped horribly. We don't know why; we're chalking it up to "some people don't like some ads" rather than any failure of our marketing department. But we're making lots of changes, so you should keep participating with the site.
Analysis: Interesting response... They admit they screwed up, and we've changed things to be more accommodating... but they're not actually answering the key question of "why should we trust you?" They've been responsive but not proactive in regards to user complaints... it's like every misstep catches them completely unaware. Which we rather expect from big business and so on, but we're used to fan archives being run by, well, fans... who know what the controversies are and take steps to work around them before they explode.
While this interview didn't directly address issues like "how will you be interfering with author's choice of rating for their fic" and "what topics are too controversial for your site" and "how will you deal with complaints of plagiarism," they show a lack of awareness of what matters to the fans who write these stories, and lead us to believe that, whatever action they take on other matters, their first several attempts are likely to be hasty, ill-tempered, and based on general societal prejudices, rather than taking into consideration the issues and methods that are important to fandom.
Q9: Isn't it somewhat symptiomatic of FanLib's problems that the spokespeople are more willing to talk to a man with credentials rather than some of the female fan writers who have approached you?
A: I do think your question is a bit unfair, but I'll answer anyway. I am here because you hold dual citizenship in fandom and academia, you maintain credibility and integrity in both worlds, and you told me I you would get a fair hearing and you would share the unedited results of our interview in its entirety with those interested in the matter.
Interpretation: How dare you imply that I'm sexist! I ignored those two dozen articulate, well-educated women because I couldn't tell them apart from the two hundred bitchy ranting women who were also pestering me for answers, not because they were female!
Analysis: Again, with the utter denial that gender has anything to do with (1) fandom or (2) their business model. They're not winning any points with that approach.
Acknowledging sexism is extremely uncool in business. Very interesting, considering how quick they were to admit to mistakes above... "I'm sorry I spammed dozen of LJs, but we've learned better now" followed by "what sexism? I don't see any sexism." I'm sure he doesn't; I'm sure all the guys on the board think of themselves as enlightened, non-prejudiced guys. But the fact that they're not acknowledging that their actions reasonably could be interpreted as sexist shows either cluelessness or deliberate misdirection. Neither is encouraging.
That's pretty much the whole issue: they're either clueless or manipulative as hell. They're trying to claim "clueless newbie" and get sympathy points for that... they fail to understand (or expect us not to notice) that we didn't ask for their service, and if they want us to use it, they'll have to find a sales pitch more appealing than "O HAI U CAN ARKIVES YR FICS HEER."
Note: I've snipped the Q&A parts down; I may be making comments on part I'm not directly quoting here.
Q1: What is your own background in fandom?
A: I am a complete media junkie. I love stories and since 2003 I have involved over 100,000 people in online fan fiction events.... Several people in our small company come out of the fan fiction world.
Interpretation: I have no connection to fanfic except for a corporate one. I consider myself "fannish" because I watch the sci-fi channel and have seen all three Spiderman movies.
Analysis: He doesn't mention which fandoms he likes, or that anyone else likes. He doesn't mention fansites he spends time at. He doesn't mention conventions he (or anyone else in the company) has attended.
This may be at the advice of his marketing department, which says "never mention another company or website; you don't want to lose customers to them; never mention a specific movie or event because that could be perceived as discriminating against other movies or events." However, it's directly adverse to communication styles within fandom, which are link-heavy and full of recs: I like this page, maybe you will too; here's my favorite movies & tell me what you think of them. So it may be a good *marketing* tactic, but it's an atrocious *build bridges with the fans* communication style.
Q2: What led you to create this site?
A: In 2001, my friend and I had an idea, inspired by many people we knew with creative movie ideas, who didn't have the means or access to realize them. So we tried to create a collaborative event for fans to write an original script and produce a feature film from it.
Interpretation: I've got some experience with sponsored fan-created movies, and wanted to extend that practice to fic. People should love having the copyright owners looking at their stories--then they could get cash and prizes!
Analysis: He talks about film, and sponsored writing contests. Again, he shows obliviousness to how fanfiction works: that it's not about "writing the missing scenes" or "creating the next episode" (although those are also included), but that it's also creating entirely new interpretations of an author's work. He claims to be aware that fanfic is not "vanilla," but seems to be unaware that Paramount may not only object to graphic Kirk/Spock buttsecks, but may object rather strongly to Deanna Troi/Guinan romantic interludes on the Holodeck as well.
Q3: What is the basic value proposition you are making? Who is making money here?
A: The value proposition for fans is a free venue where they can pursue their passion by creating, showcasing, reading, reviewing, sharing, archiving, discovering stories, and by participating in fun events in a community with similar interests.... The value proposition for media companies and publishers is to connect, engage, and entertain fans of their media properties in a new online storytelling environment.
Interpretation: Fans provide free content. License holders find out who their fans are.
Analysis: And he thinks this is a GOOD thing? He seems to believe he's offering fans a tremendous resource, one that makes it well worth the risk of bringing them under close scrutiny of the creators or owners of the original works they're ficcing. He also makes an interesting comment about fanfic authors meeting the "talent" that creates the universes they play in... as if fanfic author meant "unskilled amateur." Fandom, as a whole, has not been happy with him treating us as if we were lost helpless kittens looking for a good home.
Q4: What does FanLib offer a fanfic writer that other ad-free sites run by people from within the fanfic community do not?
A: FanLib offers four things: First, ... a venue; Second, ...opportunity to be recognized and discovered (Sub-answers: Media tie-in possibilities); Third, ... highly responsive customer support; Lastly, all of the features listed below. (Followed by list of website features.) To our knowledge FanLib.com is the only site with ALL of these features.
Interpretation: Our site is kewl! You can get your fic seen by movie producers! We have posting software!
Analysis: Of course their site is the only one with "all these" features. Some of them are features nobody cares about; if fandom wanted them, we'd've invented them long before now. The list of web features is... entertaining. "File Upload with support for .doc, .txt, and .rtf formats"--but they don't mention that they can't handle html. "Make Private" option--but no "make visible only to registered members;" it's you only or anyone with google. "Tagging of fanfics"--but even though you can put Harry/Ginny or Aragorn/Legolas in the tags, you can't search for anything with a slash in it. "Leave multiple comments"--but no way for authors to reply to those comments, except by PM, which is disabled by default.
They're asking for patience while they work out the bugs in the software and figure out exactly what their rules and standards are, and claim they've only been up for a bit more than a month... however, unlike fan-run sites, they have money. They don't get any credit for poor web design because they didn't bother to research what features fans actually wanted.
Q5: Who is the target audience for the site?
A: The site is for people who want to showcase and share stories, discover great stories, get closer to the talent behind their favorite fandoms and participate in fun online events. Let's call that the "site mission". Our market research showed that the site mission has great potential in a surprisingly broad demographic range.
Interpretation: We failed to identify the few obvious-to-fans major groups involved in fandom, and decided that no demographics are relevant. And you can get close to the talent! That should be enough!
Analysis: Fen recognize several major groups active in fanfic: Housewives with a rich fantasy life, college students who love playing with ideas, teenagers who want to Mary Sue themselves into their favorite stories, iconoclasts who want to break rules, aspiring pro authors who want to practice with familiar characters and settings. Those aren't all, of course... but a site can be designed to appeal to any of those, and possibly all of them.
By saying "...not principally driven by a specific demographic," they are either unaware or consider it unimportant that over 90% of fanfic authors are female. (Number pulled out of the ether; don't hound me for statistics.) What kind of marketing campaign ignores an obvious demographic that the vast majority of its contributors belong to? Aside from the obvious "we are NOT the target audience," it makes us doubt their ability to make basic business decisions, since they seem incapable of recognizing or acknowledging the obvious.
(Gonna speed this up, I think.)
Q6: Copyright Issues/Fanfic Legalisms
A: FanLib.com members do not give up any ownership rights when they use the website. Neither do they acquire any additional ownership rights to characters and settings owned by someone else.... We think that by building a collaborative model, we will positively impact the fan community and will avoid needless litigation.
Interpretation: Don't ask, don't tell.
Analysis: They've cleaned up the ToS and the FAQ; they're much more like generic fanfic archive legalese now. They did try to make clear from the beginning that their only right to publish or re-use fanfic was for the purpose of quoting excerpts or showcasing fics on their site or maybe in promo emails; they lose all rights to a fic when you remove it from the site. (Intersting idea: private-view fics are still on the site, and could still be used for promo purposes.)
The problem: Unlike other fanfic sites, they're actively seeking attention from the creators of the stories these fics are written in. While FanLib claims that fanfic is covered by fair use statutes, it's not willing to actually stand behind that claim by legally supporting the authors they're asking to produce content for them.
Q7: CONTENT: What happens when a parent finds his-or-her child reading an ADULT-rated Harry Potter fic?
A: As it relates to the situation where a parent finds his-or-her child reading ADULT-rated Harry Potter fic, I can't speak for the parent. What we've done on the site is completely hide all adult content so that the user must actively seek it out by changing filter settings with explicit warnings.
Interpretation: Don't ask, don't tell.
Analysis: Another case of "we are responsible for nothing, and we refuse to address any potential problems, no matter how obvious they seem to you."
Q8: COMMUNITY RELATIONS ISSUES
A: I acknowledge the way we sent out certain invitations was flawed. Our objective was to invite fan fiction authors to participate in our beta test and, if they chose to, join our beta team testing the site and providing feedback... The advertisement you mentioned was one of four that we tested during the beta, and we ran it on a site targeting a younger audience where it performed very well.
Interpretation: We utterly failed to understand the fannish community, and our initial outreach attempts flopped horribly. We don't know why; we're chalking it up to "some people don't like some ads" rather than any failure of our marketing department. But we're making lots of changes, so you should keep participating with the site.
Analysis: Interesting response... They admit they screwed up, and we've changed things to be more accommodating... but they're not actually answering the key question of "why should we trust you?" They've been responsive but not proactive in regards to user complaints... it's like every misstep catches them completely unaware. Which we rather expect from big business and so on, but we're used to fan archives being run by, well, fans... who know what the controversies are and take steps to work around them before they explode.
While this interview didn't directly address issues like "how will you be interfering with author's choice of rating for their fic" and "what topics are too controversial for your site" and "how will you deal with complaints of plagiarism," they show a lack of awareness of what matters to the fans who write these stories, and lead us to believe that, whatever action they take on other matters, their first several attempts are likely to be hasty, ill-tempered, and based on general societal prejudices, rather than taking into consideration the issues and methods that are important to fandom.
Q9: Isn't it somewhat symptiomatic of FanLib's problems that the spokespeople are more willing to talk to a man with credentials rather than some of the female fan writers who have approached you?
A: I do think your question is a bit unfair, but I'll answer anyway. I am here because you hold dual citizenship in fandom and academia, you maintain credibility and integrity in both worlds, and you told me I you would get a fair hearing and you would share the unedited results of our interview in its entirety with those interested in the matter.
Interpretation: How dare you imply that I'm sexist! I ignored those two dozen articulate, well-educated women because I couldn't tell them apart from the two hundred bitchy ranting women who were also pestering me for answers, not because they were female!
Analysis: Again, with the utter denial that gender has anything to do with (1) fandom or (2) their business model. They're not winning any points with that approach.
Acknowledging sexism is extremely uncool in business. Very interesting, considering how quick they were to admit to mistakes above... "I'm sorry I spammed dozen of LJs, but we've learned better now" followed by "what sexism? I don't see any sexism." I'm sure he doesn't; I'm sure all the guys on the board think of themselves as enlightened, non-prejudiced guys. But the fact that they're not acknowledging that their actions reasonably could be interpreted as sexist shows either cluelessness or deliberate misdirection. Neither is encouraging.
That's pretty much the whole issue: they're either clueless or manipulative as hell. They're trying to claim "clueless newbie" and get sympathy points for that... they fail to understand (or expect us not to notice) that we didn't ask for their service, and if they want us to use it, they'll have to find a sales pitch more appealing than "O HAI U CAN ARKIVES YR FICS HEER."
