Reflection Blog #8: Personal Growth with Information Communities

Of all the reflection blogs assigned to complete throughout the fall semester at San Jose State University, this final posting for LIBR 200 feels the most personal. The wide array of materials we have covered while studying information communities—from the general introductory outlines for each module/lesson to the texts by library scholars—has left an undeniable impact and laid sturdy foundations to build upon throughout the LIS program and in future career pursuits. It is clear to see why LIBR 200 is the first major course recommended to students entering library studies at SJSU. For what gets explored here is not only how information communities form, what keeps them together, and the resources they use, but also why information professionals are so vital to the world at large (and only becoming more important with emerging technologies).

To be honest, LIBR 200 was my way of wading into the Library & Information Sciences program and seeing if librarianship would truly be the right field for me. I had always adored libraries and the concept of preserving or protecting resources for future generations to enjoy, yet my major passion has always been literature and creative writing. The thought was to work in a place filled with books, where I could help inspire a love for storytelling and the written word in children and adults alike, while getting inspiration to craft my own tales as a writer (and reading a bit on the side). Ever since interning briefly (until the funding ran out) at the Kellogg Library at Cal State San Marcos, I had thought about libraries as miniature, self-contained communities or organisms (if that makes sense). They seemed to me quiet and peaceful literary havens, where you could go to get away from the fast-paced or hectic lifestyle found beyond their front doors.

Such were my initial views on the world libraries and librarians occupied until this semester, which has proven an eye-opening experience. As covered in the section on memes, it was easy to get a certain picture fixed in my mind what librarianship encompassed, thanks to a combination of popular media and hearsay. LIBR 200, and the LIS program itself, have helped to point out these misconceptions on how libraries operate, and how librarians are making a statement in virtual and physical communities.

Now I know Library & Information Science as a fast-paced and dynamic field, focused on using technologies to accomplish great things with a variety of media. Our earliest readings on what comprised a text expanded my views regarding the types of collections librarians oversee, and the importance of providing information, expressed through a variety of mediums, to patrons. The idea of librarians as information professionals also shifted my perspective a bit. It was like turning on a light—and then there were the numerous ways they are making use of technologies to maintain collections or make them freely accessible.

So in many ways, although LIBR 200 offered a great deal of valuable insight on information communities—and I learned a lot about their importance and world-changing implications—I believe a more realistic picture on the great work librarians do, and the ideals for which they strive as stewards, are two of the biggest things that I’m taking away from the course. It’s true that librarianship is nowhere near as simple or slow-paced as anticipated, but thanks to this program I have gained a whole new respect for the field and discovered that this is really something I’d love to do.

In particular, our lessons on such concepts as the Freedom to Read Statement, Copyright, and the responsibilities or code of information professionals in the library setting are clearly challenging. Librarians, in general, deserve more recognition as advocates for intellectual freedom and freedom of access. The incident with the Connecticut Four, and the government’s desire to acquire patron records, is only one example of what makes library science such as reputable career path.

Getting to discover more about what makes information communities function, while being asked to choose one on which to focus (like the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan base) also helped to highlight the participatory cultures investigated at length by Henry Jenkins and scholars inspired by his studies. Of particular interest to me has been the concept of ‘”transmedia storytelling,” which I would hope to use towards literary programs or similar in the near future. But as Stephen Cane mentioned, “The Internet changed everything,” bringing people from throughout the world together in virtual communities while allowing for opportunities that would have been otherwise unavailable for many people.

For instance, I currently live far out in a secluded countryside setting. It is takes a long time to get to town, and I have to carpool with family members to do so (which tends to become an all-day affair). So a combination of mobility and economic difficulties would have made it difficult for me to pursue a program like Library & Information Science at San Jose State University (if I’d needed to go to the actual campus). But thanks to the internet, and LIS having the option for an on-line program, it was possible for me to check out what library science had to offer and connect with people from across the country. The Canvas site became a sort of information community, where students could gather to learn from the resources and make contributions.

So I’ve definitely come away with a lot from LIBR 200, and I know all these lessons will inform my practice as an information professional because I’ve gotten a taste of the challenges and rewards librarianship possesses.

And it’s truly inspiring.

Perhaps I’ll write a story about it sometime soon.

 

Thanks for a revolutionary experience!

 

Reflection Blog #7: Emerging Technologies in the MLP-Community

Emerging technologies developed since the 21^st century began have made possible the Web 2.0 system explored in great depth by Michael Stephens (2006)—where users accessing the internet through a variety of means could interact or collaborate on on-line forums or similar information communities. Also included in that research is an emphasis on generating new content, which can benefit all the possible recipients involved while building the skills of the creators. With this said, the participatory cultures Henry Jenkins and his team (n.d.) studied as part of the Pew Internet & American Life Project have since flourished, breaking down barriers constructed by society, location, backgrounds, etc. and bringing people together (often) in creative harmony.

The fan base for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a perfect example of an information community and participatory culture that uses emerging technologies in this way—including coordinating social media platforms with fan websites—to help facilitate communication between members and provide a fulfilling experience for them.

For this blog post, I decided to interview members of the MLP: FIM community who frequented one of the main fan fiction sites for MLP-related materials, FimFiction.net. This I did by posting a notice through my personal user account on the site, hoping fellow fans might come across or respond to it. And imagine my surprise when—within a few hours—not just one but two writers volunteered to do the interview! This, in and of itself, illustrates the ease with which members on such sites can connect or stay updated on what other fans are doing within the community on-line. For the convenience of these two members, I put together a survey-style interview that FimFiction.net allowed me to send to them by Personal Message (PM).

Here were their wonderful responses:

1) How did you learn about the series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?

Dustin Lange: I first learned about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic through my friend at school. I saw he was listening to a song called "Lullaby For a Princess," by Ponyphonic on his computer and asked him why he was litening to a song about ponies. He then told me about it, and I have loved the show ever since.

Weeping Angel of Darkness: I was on Netflix and clicked a random show. My Little Pony.

2) What are your favorite MLP-related sites (such as Equestria Daily, Derpybooru, Fimfiction.net, etc) to visit, and why?

Dustin Lange: My favorite site to visit is FIMFiction.net because I love to read and write.

Weeping Angel of Darkness: I only get on FIMfiction, I like the stories that I find....

 
3) Which types of social media sites (such as Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.) do you use the most frequently to find news, fan works, or connect with other fans? Are there any you prefer over others, and why?

Dustin Lange: I use FIMFiction.net to get news about the show, read fan stories, and connect with other bronies. I prefer using this site over others because it has the highest density of stories and fans of any site I have used.

Weeping Angel of Darkness: [Same as #2]

4) How often do you interact with other members? Is this usually by commenting on their works, contacting them individually (like by email/PM), or both?

Dustin Lange: I interact with other members on a daily basis by both commenting on their works and by private messages.

Weeping Angel of Darkness: I really only get on here, but a friend is a brony, so I talk to him. But that isn't exactly social media is it?

5) What aspect of the MLP: FIM fan community do you enjoy the most?

Dustin Lange: The aspect I enjoy the most about the MLP:FIM fan community is how friendly and caring other fans are! I have gotten a lot of help from a lot of people who have no reason to care for me – a total stranger on the internet – but they still took the time out of their day to try and help me!

Weeping Angel of Darkness: Reading/writing fanfics of course. It is like singing. I know that I cannot do it, but I do it anyway. I love it.

6) What are some of your favorite ways to participate in this fandom?

Dustin Lange: I love to participate in the fandom in many ways! I love to read and write, listen to and make music, as well as discuss the show with other bronies!

Weeping Angel of Darkness: I write fanfics, and give strength to other bronies by announcing that I am one and being persecuted.

7) Are there any areas regarding either the show or fan community you would like to see studied in greater detail (for example, scholarly articles, books, or scientific studies on the growth of the fan base or its impact on our society)?

Dustin Lange: I would love to see how bronies have effected the way society views masculinity. I have always heard that bronies have made an impact, but I haven't seen anyone look into just how much it has changed.

Weeping Angel of Darkness: Well, I WOULD like to see more polls and stuff, and a book or two would be nice. I am thinking of having a study similar to this one on fave characters and seeing how it works. I think they should in fact take more surveys on the impact that the show has on our lives.

8) Finally, what advice or wisdom would you like to share with those new to MLP: FIM and the fan base about this community?

Dustin Lange: If you are friendly, (most) people will be friendly back. If you are a jerk, people will try to reason with you. If you continue to be a jerk, people will rip you apart.

Weeping Angel of Darkness: Be bold. I have to admit that this show unites us, and we are often great communities of... well, love. Have fun, and express yourself!

From these interviews with Dustin Lange and Weeping Angel of Darkness, it is clear to see that the MLP: FIM fandom is a friendly community where members go out of their way to help others succeed. Fans will also tend to gravitate towards sites relevant to their interests, such as FimFiction.net—where they can share their writings, enjoy those of other fans, and strengthen their skills. Regardless of which site they visit, however, all participants in this culture have a well-founded desire to know how their information community has impacted the world even beyond on-line spaces. They want to know how this type of interaction and similar show-related members will affect their lives and the lives of other people.

And that sense of belonging within this information community, and the wish to make the world a better place as a result, are powerful messages stressed by the MLP: FIM fan base.

 

References

- Darkness, W. (Personal communication, November 16, 2014).

- Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., & Weigel, M. (n.d.) Confronting the challenge of participatory culture: Media education for the 21^st century. [PDF File]. Building the Field of Digital Media and Learning: An Occasional Paper on Digital Media and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF (Links to an external site.) 

-Lange, D. (personal communication, November 15, 2014).

- Stephens, M. (2006). Exploring web 2.0 and libraries. Library Technology Reports 42(4), 8-14. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=23317356&site=ehost-live (Links to an external site.)

Reflection Blog #6: Librarian Guides and Adventurous Information Professionals

Our LIBR 200 lesson on librarian stereotypes has been among the most thought-provoking so far (which is saying a lot, given how much material we have covered already)—and it has made me rethink how this profession appears in popular culture or gets viewed by society as a whole. Ever since childhood, it seems, I had been acquainted with the stereotype of the “old maid librarian,” as mentioned by Debbie Hansen in her lecture, and the no-nonsense “enforcer” touched on by Ellen Greenblatt.

But I will always remember how my earliest impressions of librarians were as the silent guardians to vast collections of books. They worked behind the scenes at a public library, pointing those who either needed help or had no idea how to use a library in the right direction. In that light, I suppose they seemed like a type of technical support—or as if they simply “came with” a library and embodied all the knowledge contained therein. For there was no doubt in my mind that librarians were wise or knew a great deal. In my imagination, they would have been the ones the main character of a story came to for hard-to-find information or sage advice in locating some mystical object or unraveling a mystery.

In hindsight, a lot of movies did enforced this image while I was growing up. For instance, the film Matilda (and the children’s story that it came from) featured a young girl named Matilda who managed to fulfil her love of reading—and empower herself in many other ways—by visiting the public library. The librarian, an older woman in sharp-framed glasses notices the child coming in day after day and finally gives her a library card. After that, she disappears while Matilda continues to grow intellectually in-between implied visits to the library. She no longer needs to be there for the storyline to work.

Even in children’s cartoons like Peanuts, where the characters did spend time using a library, the emphasis was more on books and the facilities. And if anyone spoke above a whisper or grew too loud, librarians were the silent and invisible force that kicked them (like Snoopy) out of the building. Other cartoons such as Rugrats did have library episodes where the young cast of characters tended to get introduced to the world-opening wonders of their public library. Yet then the adults would have to fill out tons of paperwork for the library card, while the librarian herself (usually always a woman in these cases) would stare them down like a vulture—searching for the smallest flaw on which to call them out. Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends even had an episode where a young boy has an overdue book and has to dodge an array of ninja-like librarians who are out to get him (as if he were a criminal) to slip it into the return slot—neglecting to realize that he would have to deal with the librarians anyway.

Such cartoons tended to use librarians for humor or comedic effect. And while I didn’t think much of that at the time, it was clear these shows perpetuated the overall cultural stereotypes against librarians and warned me as a child not to cross them in any way.

As an adult, I have come to know better—that librarians are highly educated information professionals who fight for intellectual freedom and truly want to help their patrons in every possible way. Still, I regret to say there are few stories I have read (despite being an ardent bibliophile) or heard where the main character is a librarian and performs in that role throughout the tale. The lists for these books on the Canvas website were helpful, but it still stands.

One example is Geraldine Brooks’ People of the Book, where the rare book expert and conservator Hanna Heath gets the offer to help save the Sarajevo Haggadah—a religious text passed from one person to the next during a period when illuminated bibles had been banned. Using clues found in the book’s gutter, and at different points in the text, Hanna manages to piece together the journey this text must have made over the last few centuries. This information helps to form the basis for the rest of the story, which veers between a historical novel and a romance. Yet Hannah as a rare book expert gets the assignment due to her background in helping to preserve illuminated manuscripts and goes on a long journey as a result. Although, Hannah even goes so far as say she was far more used to the quiet comfort of her scientific lab to such an active or dangerous environment at one point, implying that her line of work is pretty reclusive. So while Brooks does go out of his way to portray the rare book expert as delighting in her work, and some of the process involved, it becomes the launching point used for an adventure that he suggests wouldn’t have been available to someone in that profession.

This perspective is interesting, especially when combined with the thought of an “information professional.”

In fact, I have read quite a wide selection of stories and watched several movies with main characters who would fall into the information professional category. They may not work in libraries or assist patrons within a library setting, yet in many ways their interaction with resources (often books) and use of vast knowledge to help people overcome difficulties or make a variety of contributions places them in this role.

One example is Walter Moers’ The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear. In this novel, the title character relates one long wild yarn about many of the different places he had visited or seen during his life. From his first memory as a baby set adrift in an acorn shell on the high seas, to entertaining ghastly goblins with crying displays, to tramping over a desert made of dried brown sugar, he covers a lot of ground while searching for the perfect place to settle. Each location has a problem or issue that provides a social commentary in some way, but Bluebear is able to overcome them all with the help of a mental encyclopedia inserted into his head by a seven-brained professor who studies dark matter called Professor Nightingale (and yes, this story is as wacky and complicated as it sounds).

So Bluebear especially is the “walking encyclopedia” sometimes attributed to librarians, and using this knowledge he is able to help those he meets along the way and get out of more than one tough scrape. There is also a point, closer to the end of the novel, where he participates in an event in Atlantis (before it disappears off the earth; though this time it doesn’t sink beneath the waves) known as the “Duel of Lies.” The event is actually an oral storytelling gladiator-style competition, more or less, and the participants spend all their time preparing for it by reading books or learning the subtle fact of creating fictions (which he wins, by the way).

By the end of the novel, Bluebear retires to a forest where he becomes a teacher, researcher, and boasts an archive of literature. He writes stories about his adventures and is a guide to whom everyone in the surrounding community comes when in need.

With this said, Bluebear is essentially a librarian in the sense of his education (both from his worldly experiences and knowledge of literature) and the role he performs in helping those he meets. Yet “information professional” might be the term used to describe him best in this capacity because of all the stereotypes connected with the librarian profession—whereas, saying he is an “information professional” makes him sound more active and up to speed on the latest developments.

With this said, the implication I have begun to notice again and again is that “librarians” tend to get stereotyped as slower, quieter, and older individuals (unless they lead a double life as mentioned by Greenblatt). But an “information professional” is a term without the same stereotyped connected to it, and almost gives the impression of a tech-savvy or adventurous person.

Of course, I believe this impression is gradually changing. There is hope that librarians and this job title might have begun to shrug off those stereotypes in popular media.

For example, my chosen fan community is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic—and the main character in this series is a librarian. Twilight Sparkle lived (up until the season 4 finale) in a library and acted as the librarian for the town. But she also became an authority, resource, and guide for all the residents. And when trouble struck, she leaps into action with magic and knowledge at the ready.

With any luck, this might signal a change in how people view librarians as a whole—regardless of whether or not they are also “information professionals.”  

Reflection Blog #5: The Freedom to Distribute Ponies

A participatory culture formed around specific fandoms, where members distribute creations related to copyrighted material, tends to raise legal issues sooner or later. Amid an era where the Web 2.0 technologies discussed by Michael Zimmer (2013) mean a breakdown of barriers or looser standards as to what gets published on-line, the corporate ownership of a franchise like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic had the potential to limit what works fans could share on-line.

In her lecture on Ethical Issues and the Information Seeker, Debbie Hansen (2014) touched on the need to respect authorial rights additionally enforced by the US Copyright Law—though she focused on that issue within a library setting, where the concept of “fair use” allowed information processionals to duplicate or share texts without obtaining the copyright owner’s permission. But this takes on interesting implications in terms of what can circulate on-line, including when people use the intellectual property established by a company as a template for fan creations.

When My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic premiered, most soon-to-be fans didn’t discover or watch the first few episodes on the Hub Network or its website. Instead, individuals who had learned about MLP: FIM and wanted to share the show recorded and posted the clips of, and full episodes onto on-line channels like Youtube.com or Hulu.com. They submitted links that led to these postings on public forums, sent them in emails to friends, etc.

In fact, this was how my brother and I watched the first season. A dear friend of ours sent an email urging us to watch this incredible series he had discovered. And by the time we’d watched ten episodes, almost back-to-back, we had to admit our enjoyment of it.

Youtube.com has often taken down shows distributed in this way, citing the infringement of its policies (often on behalf of the copyright owner).

Yet what made a big difference, and probably helped the MLP fan base to continue expanding, was the fact that Hasbro chose not to take down the episode postings. In fact, they encouraged the practice—even though they couldn’t have foreseen the massive outpouring of fans from various backgrounds and age groups for the show. If Hasbro had chosen to restrict the ability for people to watch MLP: FIM at that time to a narrower selection of conduits, such as the Hub Website or paid video mediums, a fan base would still have flourished but perhaps at a slower pace. Or, users might have sought to subvert the restrictions by other means to share content.

This is by no means an argument that copyright holders should admit to a lack of control over their creations or allow people to post protected content that violates the law. As argued by Hansen, the need to respect authorial ownership within the bounds of fair use is an ethical practice endorsed in a library, and this is just as true elsewhere.

In the case of the MLP: FIM fan base, Hasbro did grant that permission by letting fans circulate materials related to their show and distribute new creations. They never really came out and endorsed it publicly—although due to a mixture of the creators’ interactions with fans in that Web 2.0 environment and what this meant for the show’s ratings or earnings, the move actually served as a type of sly marketing tactic.   

The articles covered in last week’s, and this week’s lecture stress how legal matters and ethics can complicate how information professionals deal with issues like the distribution of content or materials. They touch on the need for intellectual freedom, and some of the restrictions or bands various sources have tried to place on the accessibility of different texts—while making the fine distinction on the right for users to receive information (Dresang, 2006).

But given Hasbro’s reaction, and how the fan base and their creations thrive on-line, it seems the type of mutual consent to share intellectual property with MLP: FIM exemplifies how copyright holders and users might increasingly come to interact on the Internet.

References:

·         Debbie, H. (2014). Ethical Issues and the Information Seeker. Retrieved from: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1117618/files/34242003/download?verifier=mc7nxBK5jp5knHCLvI1zuFdxYErpAHtYTuiFi8Gi&wrap=1

·         Dresang, E. (2006). Intellectual freedom and libraries: Complexity and change in the twenty-first-century digital environment. Library Quarterly, 76(2), 169-192.  http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=llf&AN=22509856&site=ehost-live (Links to an external site.)

·         Zimmer, M. (2013). Assessing the treatment of patron privacy in Library 2.0 literature. Information Technology & Libraries, 32(2). http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/view/3420 (Links to an external site.)

Reflection Blog #4: Community Perceptions of Information Services

When Aaron Schmidt stressed the need for a people-oriented user experience (UX), he touched on an important need shared by everyone who participates in an information community--basically when it comes to on-line interactions. Technology in a virtual environment becomes a means to connect, and so creating a journey map of touchpoints (as he calls them) to make access to a communtity's resources easier makes as much sense as a creating a hospitable place (like a library) in the physical world.

Equestria Daily as an information community calls to mind Richard MacManus' article on Five Signs of a Great User Experience, where he emphasizes the need for social media platforms to help provide users with fast and easy-to-use content. Taking into account both Schmidt and MacManus' observations, one can see why this particular website or source excels. Members who search for Equestria Daily and click onto its homepage will receive instant access to a stream of the latest updates and messages related to a wide variety of fan materials they may enjoy, including comics, animations, and news (related to the show).

But in many ways, Equestria Daily is a launching point towards other resources provided by similar information organizations. From the member of the MLP fan base I interviewed for Reflection Blog #3 (with whom I keep in close contact), and my own personal experience as a member of this information community, I have come to realize that although one can enjoy a wealth of resources on Equestria Daily proper, there are several outgoing links to such on-line places as Tumblr, Twitter, and Youtube.

Without the coordination of the services provided by these different organizations, user experience on Equestria Daily would be considerably narrower and less attuned to the MLP fan base as a whole--because this participatory culture demands a variety of different mediums (and Equestria Daily become something of an intermediary in that case.

So while members can comment on the postings and resources located on the site, they also use and rely on on it to access fan creations elsewhere. This fact is also recognized by many fans who post stories on the MLP fan fiction site, Fimfiction.net, and on DeviantArt. Having the administrators on Equestria Daily include postings that include links to fans' work on external media platforms is a point of honor or special recognition within the fan base.

Members can create original resources on Equestria Daily, submitting .gif images and artwork. But most materials like fan fictions or animations usually get placed on external resources first, although the site will sometimes show these in full view without the need for visitors to leave the page.

I believe this speaks highly for the user experience available on Equestria Daily.  Administrators and members alike depend on a variety of resources, while using the website as a launching point. And, as argued by MacManus, it is also great because it is easy to get addicted to using the site. Since members can access all types of resources through Equestria Daily, they are saved the time of searching through different pages elsewhere to find what they want.

Overall, I am happy to report that community perceptions of Equestria Daily for the MLP fan base are sky-high--and it will continue to be a vital resource within this organization.

Reflection Blog #3 Assignment

Into the virtual world of information pools, where user-generated content thrives amid strong social group identification (Flanagin et al., 2013), My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fans are like partygoers. Many dive right into the vast tangle of networks afforded to the fan base, commenting or interacting with others on sites such as Equestria Daily or Bronibooru.

Most of these fans, and many more, also contribute anything from fan art to music—using numerous social media platforms from Tumblr to Twitter to spread the word about their creations. YouTube, alone, is overflowing with original (and often of professional-quality) animations, some of which now fall under the categorical heading of “PMVs.” If you want to see a good example of this, try watching the PMV “Children of the Night”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW5n3k2VgZE

Others are largely lurkers, venturing into these hospitable communities in the purest spirit of what Reijo Savolainen termed “everyday life information seeking” (2009). They enjoy the creative wealth afforded by fellow fans, and delight in relaxing with or admiring the artistic projects related to MLP: FIM as a whole—but they may not choose to contribute more than the occasional comment, or they might shoot other people links to resources they have enjoyed.

With this said, I have found creative individuals sit at the very core of the MLP: FIM fan base. And this drive towards user-generated content, combined with easy access to social media platforms, make it a formidable information community that actually extends far beyond Equestria Daily to a huge group of sites dedicated to the show—and which often make reference to one another or work in close conjunction.

To get another perspective on the MLP: FIM (and for this particular blog post), I chose to interview someone dear to my heart*, who first introduced me to the show and was nice enough to answer my emailed questions in his usual thoughtful way.  

Here is how our interview went:

Me: If I remember correctly, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic premiered on the Hub Network back around 2011. How did you first find out about the show, and do you happen to know how soon after it aired that fan sites like Equestria Daily or Bronibooru appeared?

Anon: I found out about the show in this way: I was browsing the Something Awful forums in the very early morning (insomnia), looking for something to read, when I found a strange thread in the TV subforum. It was called something like "My Little Pony - No, Seriously" or possibly "My Little Pony - Why is this Good?!?!" It was something along those lines, anyway. I would go and check the Something Awful archives to see the actual name, but they changed it to (I think) "My Little Pony: Rainbow Dash has been a bitch for the last three episodes."

Equestria Daily was probably around within the first five or six episodes of the first season, but I could be wrong. I'm going to ballpark it at January or February 2011.

Bronibooru is a little later, I think around March 2011 judging by what I can find on the site itself. See, there's something called Ponibooru that actually came first, and Bronibooru is a kind of reaction to it. The people who made Bronibooru wanted a version of Ponibooru that had better moderation and a rule about keeping things PG-13. As for Ponibooru, I don't know much about it. I avoid it because, well, it sort of weirds me out.

 

Me:  When or where did you first hear the term “Brony” connected to the show? Was it through an on-line community?

Anon: February or March 2011, and yeah, an online community -- either Something Awful or the new board that came out of it, the one I still go to, "MLPonies.com."

Me: Do you think the ability to interact in on-line communities is one major reason the MLP: FIM fan base got so huge, aside from Lauren Faust’s deft handling of the fourth incarnation’s storyline and characters? Do you think it would have been as popular, or reached as many people, if it hadn’t?

Anon: For your first question, naturally, and for your second question, naturally not.

 

Me: What do you think distinguishes the MLP: FIM fan base from those of other fandoms?

Anon: Honestly? Nothing, or nothing truly unique. IPs for girl's things have gotten popular among men before. The internet has taken things and then run away with them before. Even the massive amount of professional-quality fanworks (remixes, stories, original music, paintings, drawings, sculpture, etc) is also in other fandoms, like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Well, there might be the social activism elements. MLP:FiM was conceived and designed by a feminist who wanted to convey a couple of ideas, the biggest ones being that little girls are worth making a TV show for (most people in the cartoon industry seem to disagree with her on that on the grounds that "little girls don't buy toys"), and that there are many perfectly valid ways to be a girl (brash and brassy, girly-girl, intellectual, hyper and cheerful, artist, athlete...). Combined with the culture of tolerance that has developed among bronies, you get a group of people who have strong opinions on the marginalization of gender and sexual minorities along with, from what I can tell, mentally ill people.

 

Me: What do you like the most about being part of the MLP: FIM community, especially when it comes to accessing materials or interacting with people on-line? Do you think you would have been comfortable, at least at first, with discussing your involvement in MLP: FIM on sites beyond those devoted to that fan group?

Anon: The massive amount of fanworks. I don't know why, but this community seems to attract creative people, many of them professionals.

It's not something I bring up in general, online or offline, except around people I already know are interested in the show. I've never gotten into an argument with anyone about whether it's kosher for an adult male to watch a cartoon for girls, and I like it that way; it'd ultimately end up being an argument over competing value systems and that never goes anywhere.

 

Me: On that note, what do you think are the biggest challenges for men or women in the fan base? Do you believe the ability to interact on-line makes it easier for people to get involved without the fear of being judged for their interests (for whatever reason)?

Anon: The biggest challenge among My Little Pony fans? Well, considering their/our typical age range, probably the increasing gap between how much money a person in their 20's can reasonably be expected to make per year on the one hand, and rising college tuitions on the other. If you mean "as it relates to being an MLP fan," I guess the obvious answer is reconciling the enjoyment of a show for little girls with the fact that a brony is by definition not a little girl.

Me: Have you ever discussed or met up with groups interested in MLP: FIM off-line, or participated in similar activities regarding the show?

Anon: Nope, at least not people I met online, since they're all too far away. My own community is mostly on the East Coast or in other countries, and the closest (that I'd want to go out of my way to hang out with) is in Texas.

Me: What type of content do you tend to search for related to MLP: FIM, and how do you go about it?

Anon: Stories and art. For stories I go to FiMFiction.com or my forum, and for art I go to Bronibooru or my forum. I'm not sure how much detail to go into here, but for stories on FiMFiction I usually tell it to filter for non-mature content only, then ask it to go in order of how many favorites it's gotten versus total views, then look for story descriptions that don't have typos and sound interesting. As for art, I usualy just go to Bronibooru and browse straight through what's come out most recently.

Me: Is there anything you would like to find more of in the MLP: FIM on-line community (such as information on the show, particular types of fan creations, etc.), or anything you feel many of the current fan sites lack? Is there anything that frustrates you about the fan base, or the content for certain websites dedicated to the MLP: FIM?

Anon: Better editing in stories; also FiMFiction, the most well-organized MLP fanfic site I know of, isn't all that well-organized. Frustrates me about the fanbase? Well, I'm not sure what all this shipping is for, but I guess that's not a frustration so much as a minor annoyance. Content for websites dedicated to MLP:FiM? Yeah, the "mature" stuff on FiMFiction sounds disturbing from what I've heard about it. I suppose they're not hurting anybody and I do appreciate that I can filter all that out with a toggle that's always on by default, but uh... wow.

Oh, and the stories written in second-person present.

 

Me: Is there anything else you would like to share concerning on-line communities for MLP: FIM, or advice for people interested in getting involved in it?

Anon:  As to the first, nothing comes to mind. For the second... don't let advertising demographics curate what you enjoy. Why should Coca-Cola and the Axe Body Spray marketing department get the casting vote on what you do with your spare time? As for violating gender roles and intended age groups, so what? Cultural norms change every decade. And as any children's literature class can demonstrate, worthwhile children's fiction is exactly as complex and engaging as the audience makes it.

*My interviewee asked to remain anonymous, so I have replaced any instances of his name in the original posting with "Anon."

--

What helped during this interview was the fact that I also consider myself a part of the MLP: FIM fan base, so it was possible to ask questions that reflected other issues that affected the information community as a whole—such as breaking societal norms—aside from how members gather or use its available resources.

That is a fact I plan to continue studying in terms of the MLP: FIM information community, using Equestria Daily as one of the main hubs for that information (amid a wide variety of similar sites). And I plan to keep enjoying this information pool as long as possible.

 

 

References

- Duo Cartoonist. 2014, 9, 26. Children of the Night [Video File]. Retrieved from             

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW5n3k2VgZE.

 

- Flanagin, A. J., Hocevar, K., & Samahito, S. (2014). Connecting with the

  user-generated web: How group identification impacts online information     

  sharing and evaluation. Information, Communication & Society, 17(6), 683-

  694. Retrieved from

  http://www.comm.ucsb.edu/faculty/flanagin/CV/Flanaginetal2013(ICS).pdf.    

 

-Anonymous (personal communication, September 25, 2014).

- Savolainen, R. (2009) Everyday Life Information Seeking. Encyclopedia of Library and

  Information Sciences, Third Edition. 1780. Retrieved from

  http://libaccess.sjibrary.org/login?url=http://www.tanfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1081/E-

  ELIS3-120043920#.U2FyPVfcfro.

Dear Friends in LIBR 200,

Hi. I am writing this blog post to you because today I learned an important lesson about making decisions. For LIBR 200, Professor Greenblatt asked for each one of us to find an exemplary information community to research for valuable experience (while preparing for our final class paper).

The very first possibility to occur to me was Equestria Daily, since this was a site to which I'd been dedicated (as a respectful lurker) over several months. Although I've also been an ardent fan of the show ever since the four incarnation aired (introduced to me by none other than my witty boyfriend). It was a place where creativity reigned, alongside an active breakdown of gender and various other stereotypes.

So I picked that and announced my decision to do it.

At the same time, because creative writing is also my passion, the prospect of National Novel Writing Month was also tempting. That contest helped me to explore my love for that craft in a new way, and the Office of Lights and Letters has done a great deal to promote literacy programs for people of all ages and backgrounds.

The choice was so hard, and in true "heat of the moment" style (this was quite a literal thing as well, since it's so muggy where I live right now), I decided to change my information community to National Novel Writing Month.

Wisely, Professor Greenblatt expressed some concern over whether there were enough scholary or peer-reviewed articles to use concerning NaNoWriMo, alongside making sure there were members of that information community who I could interview.

The latter would have been fine, since there were various writers on the site with whom I could interact if needed. 

But the former proved far more difficult to manage, especially when I began searching through the articles on Google Scholar and elsewhere. I even got into an on-line chat session with a librarian at the King Library to look through the various databases available for possible articles, like JSTOR and Project Muse.
Note: For your reference, here is the webpage of SJSU databases in question: http://library.calstate.edu/sanjose/databases

Unfortunately, I had no luck finding specific articles for NaNoWriMo (most of the ones I did find were more personal accounts than scholarly works).

This got me to thinking that my first choice of Equestria Daily was, in reality, probably the best choice for me to make. A lot of creativity happens there, including creative writing. They even have an event that mimics National Novel Writing Month, although the subject must be (of course) MLP-related. So it would be a win/win situation.

I should have checked out what academic resources were available to support my research for each information community.

With this in mind, here is a reiteration of why Equestria Daily fulfills the requirements for a good information community, with a slight addition at the end:

1. Exploits the information sharing qualities of technology

Equestria Daily functions as a website and virtual environment for any visitors. The homepage has a stream of postings, each labeled according to the topic they cover. However, the site also makes good use of other social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook to allow community members different ways to access or contribute information.

2. Collaboration among diverse groups

On Equestria Daily, users participate in the community by contributing fan creations, arranging meet-ups at conventions related to MLP, and comment on each other’s work in constructive and genial manner. These submissions clearly come from people who handle similar content in new ways (such as relationships between different characters, possible story lines, and story concepts based on an MLP framework) but also hail from a variety of lifestyles and locations. 

 

3. Formation around user needs

The homepage for Equestria Daily contained all the postings that have ever been placed there. However, there are also nicely labeled sections so visitors can see materials related to specific interests, such as fan art, comics (fan and official), music, etc. All the pages contain a side bar containing the hottest or biggest topics currently available on the site, and even a countdown clock to events like the release of comic issues or site events.

 

4. Helps to overcome trust barriers

I am more of a lurker at this point on the Equestria Daily site, checking it on occasion to see what new things are afoot (or “ahoof”, as the information community there might say). But the great thing about Equestria Daily is the level of privacy afforded to visitors and even contributors. Those who comment on any postings can do so anonymously, only volunteering more personal information when they choose. Even most contributors to the site remain largely unknown, except for the works they produce, or their actions within the fan community as a whole.

 

5. Fosters social connectedness

One wonderful thing about Equestria Daily is the friendly community atmosphere it fosters. The MLP fans who contribute and comment on different resources available are a kind and understanding group. This is because the show they follow emphases this same compassion and diversity, which is why many of them came to the series in the first place. Also, due to how pertinent the strong storytelling, characters, and animation are for fans, Equestria Daily tends to focus on encouraging these creative aspects of the fan base. So various artists can discuss their works and get stronger, mingle with other fans, and form friendships.

6. Has Specific Academic/Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Articles for Additional Support

Although Equestria Daily is, in itself, a resource for the users who participate in the information community. There are also various scholarly articles elsewhere anaylzing or examining the MLP fanbase, and the show's impact on various media and cultural norms.

In the future, I will make sure I can access or gather all the information required before making a decision for a class project. Also, I should have more confidence in my decisions and not change them without careful consideration. That way, those who hear or read my choices won't get confused as to where I stand.

Thank you.

Your Faithful Friend and Fellow Student,

Joyce Jacobo