[ SECRET POST #1126 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1126 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 078 secrets from Secret Submission Post #161.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 4 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - take it to comments ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom.livejournal.com]

135. http://i49.tinypic.com/mmszlj.png

[(Anonymous)]

Replying anon because I don't want this to be "Hey, look, I did a Good Thing!", but you are not the only one with some misgivings. I participated in the auction; I donated a couple small pieces of art that were not fandom related, although I do make the occasional fannish drawing. I didn't want the money and the fandom to mix for me, though.

I put one post up on my journal, linking to the pieces I had for auction, and that was it. I don't fault anyone for doing things as they see fit, but I will probably do the rest of my giving in private, because I'm not sure it's possible for me to entirely keep my ego out of it otherwise.

In short, OP, I think your concerns and perceptions are valid, and I also think you are SO not alone. I know my f-list enough to know most of them have contributed somewhere; it's the kind of people they are, but they don't talk about it, really. I respect that.

[(Anonymous)]

Piece of advice: never go to Japan.

[lady-wormtongue.livejournal.com]

I don't think that making a big deal about how much money one's fanwork got is particularly classy. So I understand your misgivings. I don't have a problem with help_haiti on the whole, though, because it's made a ton of money for a great cause.

[(Anonymous)]

I think you've stated your misgivings eloquently, OP, and at some levels I definitely agree with you. Even though I participated--both bidding and offering--I felt really uncomfortable with the implied, half-hidden competition. Luckily my flist was all really cool with it and no one was obnoxiously proud of themselves or anything; I don't think anyone posted at all saying how much their stories went for. So yeah, there's a certain unfortunate sense of commodification, I think, but I'm hoping it won't become common. I won't be doing something like that again, because I found the whole experience surprisingly awkward in ways I hadn't expected, even though it was for a good cause.

OT

[soymade.livejournal.com]

I think you've stated your misgivings eloquently, OP


See? This is why there are long secrets, goddammit.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

BRB LOLing forever at someone describing reluctance to commoditize and market something as "conservative."

Ah, for the days when that wouldn't have been funny. I get what you mean, OP, and while I bid on a couple of things I understand your misgivings, but the idea of one of the FREE MARKET$ 4EVA people reading this and recoiling is still making me giggle.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I was debating whether or not my stance was Conservative or Liberal... it really had me going for a while. :P Ultimately, I based my use of the word on my attitude toward the fanworks-money relationship, though perhaps "traditional" would have been a better term.

I think getting TOOSRS about fandom is a silly thing in general, but help_haiti and all the money it raised set off distant alarm bells in my head. o_O

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I agree, I think it's really tacky.

But I haven't seen any of that at all on my flist or in my comms—only the beginning of people posting the fics they're writing—so at least it isn't widespread. I posted who won, and at the very beginning I posted being excited that I got one bid, but that's it.

[likekind.livejournal.com]

i definitely see where you're coming from, and i've had similar misgivings myself, but on the whole i'm pretty optimistic about the whole fandom being commoditized business. the first reason is that i think why help_haiti was so successful is because it was about fundraising, not profiteering. Like the way people who would normally never run a marathon will dress up in stupid costumes and hop all the way to raise money, the point is the charity itself, not the commercialization of fandom, if that makes sense.

another big reason is that fandom basically can't be commoditized anyway for legal reasons, The only reason fandom exists to the extent that it does now is mainly because it's not for profit - apart from a few exceptions, authors and corporations don't have a reason to start waving around their copyrights until something distasteful in fandom becomes visible to them.

and finally, what i think is the most hopeful and compelling reason against commodification is that most people in fandom seem to not want it to be commoditized. people get all the pleasure they need from the joy of creating a fanwork and getting feedback and constructive criticism for it, connecting with others who share their interests and passions from around the world, and in return being able to enjoy other people's fanworks for free and often making good friends in the process. while i do know that some money-making does go on in areas of fandom - commissioned portraits, for instance - i think the death of FanLib (http://www.fanhistory.com/wiki/FanLib) goes a long way to point towards fandom resisting being commodified. it wasn't just lack of interest that killed FanLib, after all, there was a backlash and downright hostility against the idea of fandom, fans and fanworks being so crassly commercially exploited by outsiders.

so, to make an extremely long comment short, i'd say that fandom will only be commodified if there's a consensus between the buyer and seller (and it isn't visible to the copyright holders). considering that, seeing as the 'free' aspect of fandom is one of its biggest draw cards, i'd guess that good causes like help_haiti are the only ways commercialism is really going to enter fandom, if at all.

[likekind.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, i forgot to add that the people boasting on your flist are super tacky and totally missing the point - but hopefully they're the exception, not the rule. (plus, since they're not actually getting the money, their boasting would be more comparable to people boasting about how many comments they received rather than how much money they made... right?)

[lefaym.livejournal.com]

I have seen some people on my flist mentioning how much their fics went for (and I have done so myself), but where I've seen it, it's been framed more as thanking the winning bidder for their generosity; I certainly haven't had the feeling that it was getting competetive or commodified.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe I was being too sensitive when I first read those posts on my f-list. There was definitely thanking the person who won the bid-- but why not take it into private correspondence? It's a lot classier to just keep it between you and the winning bidder, but that's just the way I feel. Then again, I also understand that people like to pimp the fanart they've received for stuff they've written on their LJs, which is... almost? the same thing. *shrugs* It's definitely a weird gray area...