Here's a roundup of stories about technologies used by fans that might be of interest to fans:

• As this Nielsen study reveals, a major reason "for following/"liking" a...celebrity on Social Networking Sites" is "to show support" and to share the fannishness of one's friends. However, at least one case of sharing with friends has been impeded by changes to Google Reader. Aside from the Sharebros group and Iranian dissidents, many fans have relied on the Reader to collect RSS feeds from various fansites, especially if the fans used independent blogs as their home base. Google is folding Reader into its Google+ site, but although they have backtracked on their policy of banning pseudonyms, changes to the Reader's functionality may yet disrupt people's personal networks. This is likely to be particularly unwelcome news in the wake of similar problems with the sale and transfer of del.icio.us.
• Unfortunately, fan concerns have rarely been a priority for the entities providing entertainment and services as this "letter to the editor" points out in regards to the history of sports fandom in ancient times: "The welfare of the average fan has only occasionally and for quite specific reasons (absent here) been an object of great concern to the people who organise games." Instead, "the public benefited only when there was competition among the rich to provide better amenities."

If you used del.icio.us or other social networking tools, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on fandom statistics that might be of interest to fans:

• MarketingCharts.com posted survey results on sports fans which provided both expected and unexpected data. "For instance, 73% of Avid Gymnastics Fans are female and 81% of Avid Figure Skating Fans are female. This is a unique demographic makeup since Avid Fans of sports like the Olympics, Women’s Tennis and the WNBA – classically “female friendly” sports – are only about 50% female." What's more, fan interest in these sports was higher than other well known sports such as college basketball, NASCAR, the NHL, or the men's PGA tour. However the compiled statistic lumped together "avid fans" with people who were only "a little interested" in the sport, making the results clearer about how many men, women, or ethnic and racial group members were disinterested in the sport than "Avid Fans".
• Our News of Note post on October 3 cited a study showing low-rated shows were getting more fan activity than high-rated shows. Nielsen has now released some figures on The Relationship Between Social Media Buzz and TV Ratings which states that the two are positively correlated -- the higher the show ratings, the more likely there is social media activity surrounding it. They also looked at "the genre of the show, whether the program aired on broadcast or cable, and the length of time the show had been on-air...the amount of ad dollars spent promoting the show and prior ratings (both episode and season)" as factors. In addition the service Tweetreach noted that Twitter traffic could predict the cancellation of new TV shows by measuring both the number of tweets and the favorable or unfavorable nature of their content.

If you're part of a sports fandom, or if you use social media to play in fandom, why not contribute your perspectives to Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on fannish concepts that might be of interest to fans:

• One feature of many fandom communities is a gift economy. Scientific American explores the concept with a look at the Burning Man festival as an example of the difference between an economic and social mode and finds that in the social mode "We give each other goods and services not because we stand to gain, but because we want to be good citizens." Even though "gifts are motivated by a desire to show off or to win social status...it doesn’t matter; people are still being motivated to help each other out and to create enormous value without any financial incentives."
• At Pop Culture Pirate Elisa Kreisinger explains what remixes entail. The term has been co-opted "as a synonym for ‘combination’ to give things an edgy, hip connotation. It’s kind of like when everyone put the letter ‘i’ in front of their product to make it seem more youth-orientated" but remixes are a form of activism. "We’re remixing to show, rather than just tell, what we want to see in pop culture and Hollywood. When we see work that represents our values and principles, it deepens our sense [of] community, closing the gap between critic and fan."

If you're part of the gift economy and share remixes, why not contribute your own stories and projects to Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here’s a roundup of stories about fans leading the way that might be of interest to fans:

• Fans have managed to put all sorts of sites and technologies to use to recommend and share reading material. A recent study suggests that the key to eBook adoption is to facilitate sharing and recommendations among readers. A different study done with iTunes users supports this finding, noting that purchases increased by 50% among users offered recommendations, primarily because they were broadening their interests. What's more, sharing recommendations increased a sense of community. "The authors found that all kinds of users -- close as well as far -- became closer to one another on their networks in the [group given recommendations] relative to [those who did not get them]."
• Writers and readers working together to further develop stories has also been a staple of fan communities. Now Amazon is developing an infrastructure for readers to have conversations with authors and Nieman Labs suggests that this will change what books are about by creating extensions to the original texts. "Authorship in that sense being not just about creation, but about influence more diffusively...Amazon is encouraging, in other words, questions whose answers aren’t just supplemental to the books they address, but also literally extensive to them. The answers, in effect, become part of the books."
• Lastly, this blog post uses Harry Potter to speculate on how movies, books, and fan fiction are on a detail-oriented spectrum. "[M]ovies can pare away your details and get at the core of your story" while if "you think the world of the books can—nay, should—be fleshed out even more...you may find fanfiction...right up your (Diagon) alley."

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.