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.

Here's a roundup of stories about transformative works that might be of interest to fans:

• The Telegraph reviews a new interpretive dance piece based on the life of Osamu Tezuka "revered in his homeland as “the god of manga”." The review uncovers the fannishness at the heart of the project: "To render one art form through another is not easy...“As an adult, we sometimes try to undo our childhood. We are discouraged from saying what we really care about – things like cartoon books – but now I want to uncover it instead.”
• Two other examples of how fans "render one art form through another" appear in Fandom in Stitches which pulls together quilt making patterns for a variety of fandoms, and the Post-It War taking place among office workers in France which "draws heavily on the nerd canon."
• Such creativity with fandom texts gets overlooked by videomaker CGP Grey who posted "Forever Less One Day" critiquing U.S. copyright law by using Star Wars and other texts as examples of how far copyright has been extended compared to its original intent. While informative, the video makes no mention of transformative works which fall under fair use even though his video is an example of commentary. (The video post also includes a transcript.)

If you're part of manga fandoms or are involved in fan crafts, why not contribute your experiences 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 "next generation fandom" that may be of interest to fans:

• The Wharton business school recently held a For the Win: Serious Gamification conference in which business, government, and education providers came together to discuss how to motivate behavior in work spaces and the marketplace by leveraging their experience with motivating television viewers and fans in online game spaces. The participants noted, however, that success in leveraging fannish behavior in the workspace was dependent on both good design and projects "that really get at something core that people really, genuinely want to do."
• In this ESPN post, a sports journalist notes that Twitter has not only given athletes a way to interact with fans, but has also colored the way that he reports on those athletes based upon what he learns about them through those interactions. He concludes that "Twitter has given fans a vehicle to root for players as human beings rather than as characterless objects, numerical fractions of a team." Twitter is also enabling fans to root for shows before they air. This Adweek article describes how advertisers are pre-identifying audiences by following conversations about upcoming TV shows. This advertiser attention could allow fans to draw in financial commitments for favorite stars' or producers' projects before they even air.

If you're part of gaming or sports fandoms why not contribute your experiences to Fanlore? Additions to the site 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 pseudonyms online that might be of interest to fans:

• Google's decision to restrict its new + accounts to people using their legal names has resulted in a variety of protests from affected groups. The My Name is Me project has collected thousands of posts from online users who support choice in how a person identifies themselves, including OTW Board members Francesca Coppa and Rachel Barenblat, The Velveteen Rabbi. Social media scholar danah boyd called the effort to police self-identification as "an authoritarian assertion of power over vulnerable people." Both she and the My Name is Me page list a number of groups negatively affected by such policies including fans.
• In a different look at the advantages of pseudonymity, author Hanne Blank discusses how difficult she finds it to accept praise for her professionally known work, but is greatly cheered to get comments on her fanfic posts from people she doesn't know, and who don't know her -- a contrast many fans may be familiar with.

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.