Fandomtwits and How Not to Be One

Fandom ethics and etiquette. They keep fandoms grounded and running smoothly. In theory at any rate; practice, as you've no doubt found, is often quite different. Much like Real Life™, there are certain things You Just Don't Do and most people understand that. But there are - how shall we put this? - exceptions to the rule.

The Fandomtwits.

:cue thundering and ominous music, perhaps 'Tocatta & Fugue in D minor for young ladies in underwired nightdresses.':

'What exactly is a fandomtwit?' you may ask. It's fairly simple.

A fandomtwit is a person or persons who happen to be unfortunately 'gifted' with large amounts of stupidity -- especially where basic fandom etiquette and ethics are concerned. Their crimes against fandom range from the mildly annoying to the 'death is too good for them' stupid, with a pit stop at 'foaming-at-the-mouth-and-plotting-their-slow-painful-death' angry. They are and will no doubt continue to be apparent in fandom until a) it's possible to reach through your computer screen and strangle them and b) murder is no longer a punishable offence.

Believe me when I say I'm waiting for that day with the utmost glee. Until then The Top 5 Golden Rules o' Fandom Ethics will have to suffice. What are the Golden Rules O' Fandom? I hear you ask. It's quite simple; they are the result of canvassing the Zendom Listsibs - as between us all we must have at least fifty years of fandom-time under our belt - for what they'd consider to be major rules for partaking in Fandom. It's all that plus a smidgeon of my own personal fandom experience collected together in the hopes that it'll help or guide someone out there as they tumble head first into the wonderful world of fandom. It's not meant to be the Be All And End All and I certainly don't claim to be perfect. It is, as already stated, a means of help and guidance.

That said, on with the show.

The Top Five Golden Rules O' Fandom. Or; Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me. [Note: The list is in reverse numerical order: 5,4,3,2,1.]

5. Thou Shalt Not Throw Thy Metaphorical Toys Out Of Thine Cot: In which mailing lists and the etiquette thereof are discussed.

Mailing lists; they really are the backbone of fandom. From Ye Olde Days of Usenet to the Yahoogroups of today, they are where the fic ends up, where shows are discussed and friendships made. All good, clean fun really. But (and there is always a 'but') they're also the place where fandom ethics are most often trod underfoot as people suddenly gain the mental age of a five year old: running amok, throwing their toys out of the cot and generally falling into the idea that because it's the Internet, you can act like a spoilt brat and get away with it. You know of what I speak; Flame Wars and General Fandomtwittage, coming soon to an Inbox near you!

There are many rules and guidelines that go along with Mailing Lists and what follows are only the ones that came up the most often when I canvassed my listsibs.

i) Don't throw yourself into the deep end until you've learnt to swim in the shallows. In other words, don't just jump straight into a discussion, chances are you'll grab the wrong end of the stick and end up on the bad side of your new listsibs. The best thing to do is to hone your lurking skills, young grasshopper, and spend some time observing the ebb and flow of the list. Then you can ease a toe into the deep end, safe in the knowledge that Jaws is not waiting to bite your leg off. This is applicable for fandom dwellers of any length really, I still do it and I've been in fandom for nigh on four years.

ii) Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice. To quote that sickly sweet, somewhat clichéd dogma of Thumper the rabbit: If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all. Now, this is not to say that you can't voice your opinions, oh no! Where would all the fun and interest in discussions go if that was the case? No, it's merely a suggestion. So you don't like a view that's been touted in the latest, greatest list discussion? Well, say so but (there's that 'but' again) do it politely. Back your view up with facts or serious thoughts and not personal attacks or rudeness - rudeness can also fall under been snarky and/or bitchy. Which one gets your view across like an intelligent person and which one makes you sound like an idiot? And furthermore, which one would you rather be?

iii) When in doubt, ask the list mod. No, really. If your question is not answered in the lists rules - which by the way, is something you should always pay attention to - ask the list mod first before posting to the group. This saves you getting in trouble from posting something that isn't appropriate for the list. Did I mention reading the list rules and FAQ? Let me say it again: Read the List Rules. Follow the List Rules, Ask the List Mod, it makes life so much easier for all concerned.

4. Thou Shalt Not Open Thy Trap To Change Foot: In which why outing fic and fandom is not such a great idea is discussed.

Note: This section deals with two fanfic subsets; Fictional Person Fic (FPF/S) and Real Person Fic (RPF/S) but there are things that both share and rather than writing them out twice, I'll be dealing with them first. And in case you're wondering, I'm active in both Fictional and Real fandoms and have seen some of these things first-hand.

In the words of Gandalf: Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe. Now, I'm not saying that we should be lurking at the back of the closet or shoving it under the rug but in general fandom experience, it's *never* a good idea to shove fanfic out into the spotlight. And when I say 'spotlight' I mean The Powers That Be (TPTB) of your show or in the case of RPF, the people you are writing about. It's not big and it sure as hell isn't clever. Here are a few hard-and-fast rules that are applicable to both fandom subsections.

1. Do not, I can not stress this enough, do not show your fic to anyone related to the program or person you're writing about.

2. Do not 'out' an author. i.e., if you know their real name and they use a pseudonym, then the chances are that they don't want their real name bandied about. You're invading their privacy if you do and that's just not on. The same goes if they're writing fic under another pseudonym and you know their normal nom de plume. They more than likely have a reason for it and it's not up to you to reveal them.

Let me give you a few general examples of things that have happened when fandoms have been given the bad spotlight treatment. They're generalised because apart from the fact there are certain legal reasons that prevent me from giving more details, I've got no personal wish to get hauled up for defamation, plus, as tempting as it is to name and shame because frankly, some people deserve it, I am writing an article on Fandom Ethics and hypocrisy is not something I'm fond of.

Fictional: There have been cases where authors, creators and PTB have been exposed to fandoms, either through fic or sites and have promptly retaliated with lawsuits and Cease & Desist letters left, right and center. All of which have led to fic going underground and well respected sites and such shutting down. You need to remember that companies have the money and under current copyright laws, the right to protect their creative interests when they see fit and this often means lawyers and other related items. There are very few, if any, fans who can afford to fight back. We do all this for non-profit and as a hobby and that's what normally helps keep fandoms alive, as long as we're not making profit, TPTB are less likely to come down on us like a pile of bricks. It pays to remember this should you ever get the urge to show your fic or site to a PTB or other such person.

Real: I'm not going to go into the ramifications of RPF, for one thing, it would require a whole article to itself and two, it isn't really relevant to this article. It's my belief that RPF should follow the Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe philosophy a lot more than FPF, despite having a better legal leg to stand on. RPF can fall under the US Parody Laws and also actors/bands can't usually afford the mass lawsuits, and their public persona is not a creative interest - but people need to remember that they are real and have to deal with the other person(s) on a regular basis. There have been several cases, especially recently, where people have thought it would be a good idea to tell or show people about the fic, mostly because they seemed to think that they either wouldn't mind, would be interested or that it would be "cool" to do so. Well, it's bloody well not "cool", you make them uncomfortable/freak them out and you make several hundred fandom enemies very, very quickly. In simpler words: Don't Do It.

3. Thou Shall Let Ye Author Know What Thou Thinketh: In which feedback and the etiquette there of is discussed.

How many of us *don't* like receiving feedback on our fics? Show of hands? Thought so, we all like getting feedback, we like to know what people thought of the fic; whether it touched them in some way or whether they thought it was downright hot. It's one of the reasons we post our fics. If I didn't want feedback, I'd write my stories and leave them on my hard-drive where the only person who could see them would be me. And I don't know about everyone else but I like the feedback where constructive criticism is offered (Keyword there being 'constructive') better than a one-liner that just says something like: "Wow! I loved it! Write more!"

Unfortunately, it would seem that those of us who do are being increasingly outnumbered by those who don't. Everywhere you go it seems that 90% of the lists operate a "No negative comments!" rule, with just about anything vaguely critical considered "negative" and therefore bad.

i) The Inevitable Return of That Damn Disney Rabbit. To quote Thumper once again; if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all. Yes, I know that appears to contradict everything I said above, but look at it this way: Yes, the fic may suck like a hoover with spelling mistakes everywhere but is it worth the time needed to write an email telling them so? Surely there is another fic that you enjoyed, one that deserves the time spent writing an email telling the author that you enjoyed it a lot more than the fic of suck? However, maybe, the fic of suck has promise, if it wasn't for the spelling mistakes so why don't you write them an email that offers constructive crit or an offer to beta for them next time? This leads me nicely into the next sub-rule.

ii) Unfortunately this is where the "No Negative Comments" rule kicks in. People are afraid to offer Constructive Crit because of fears that they'll taken as flamers. So maybe an idea would be to email them first and ask if they'd mind constructive crit, and if the reply is positive -as I'd hope it would be, if they're trying to improve - then send away, if there's no answer or the answer is negative, don't waste your time, they obviously think they're above improving - Hah! - and you'd just end up being cast as the bad guy in their little soap opera.

2. Thou Shalt Get A Second Opinion: Beta readers and why they're A Good Thing.

I'm just going to take this moment to thank my beta readers in advance, because I know that once I finish this article and send it off to them, they'll rip it apart and put it back together again, with suggestions. Which is what beta readers are there for. So, beloved betas? Thank you.

Beta Readers are, in general, worth their weight in gold, and this is from a writer's point of view. I never used to use a beta reader when I started writing fic but I do now and I can see the difference in my work. That's difference to the point of cringing every time I read one of my old fics and wondering why in the hell I didn't use a beta reader.

They're A Good Thing because they provide you with a second opinion and tell you what works and what doesn't. And then, they offer suggestions and replacements and help you polish it up, ready to face the world. And more often than not, you'll find that your story has improved (hooray!) after you and your beta have picked it apart. It's far too easy to miss mistakes, especially when you've been staring at a fic for ages; they haven't, so they're a fresh pair of eyes and that tends to save you from embarrassing mistakes that you can't correct because the fic is out there, it's on the mailing lists and you can't get it back.

i) Beta Readers and where to find them. Nowadays, Beta Reader Listings are springing up left, right and center in fandoms and that's a good thing. Beta Listings are a listing of people who'll be willing beta read fic, normally they come with information on the beta reader, like: The 'ships they'll beta, what they're strong points are - Grammar, Spelling, etc, etc - how long they take on average to beta fic and various other bits of info. you can then select the one that suits you the best and *politely* email them and ask if they can beta your fic. Do not just send the fic and expect it to be betaed.

If there are no Beta Reader Listings in your fandom, then turn to the mailing lists. Write a polite email asking if there is anyone out there who'd be willing to beta your fic, and if so, could they contact you off-list. Make sure that you specify what your weaknesses are and what you'd like them to keep an eye out for, on top of normal beta-type things.

ii) Beta Readers are human too. Speaking from a beta's point of view, it's true. We are real, live humans, with lives, feelings and everything and sometimes, people need to remember that.

You need to remember that sometimes your beta reader may not be able to beta a fic, maybe they've got a holiday, exams or a business trip. Either way, don't bitch at them. They do this as part of their own free time. If it's desperate or you can't wait, try asking someone else to beta for you. Also, don't bother, well, wasting our time, if you're not going to use any of the suggestions. I've seen it happen to fellow betas before and it's quite frankly, annoying. It's also considered polite to thank your beta reader.

1. Thou Shalt Not Claim Others Work As Thy Own: Plagiarism.

The dictionary defines plagiarism as follows: The act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own, and you know what? I would love not to have to do this section. It would be so fricking great if plagiarism didn't happen.

But it does. So not only is the Golden Rule Number One, it's also, as far as I'm concerned, The Golden Rule that laid the Golden Egg.

It's not big and it's not clever and yet people still do it. And it's the most-often broken Fandom Ethic. In Real Life, plagiarism can get you expelled from College and University, or in the case of a fellow Zendom listsib's Ancient History department; your brain extracted via your nose. I'm personally, all in favour of the last one for use in fandom. Heh.

It may appear by that definition that writing fanfiction is plagiarism but it's not. We're using other people's characters without their permission but we don't hide that fact, all fic is disclaimered with references to who really owns them which pulls it out of plagiarisim and into the realm of copyright infringement, but that's a whole new tangent that I'm not going to go into here. Crediting and disclaimers, by the way, do not mean you can steal a fic and put a disclaimer on it saying so. The plagiarism that I'm referring to is inter-fandom or intera-fandom stuff. It's not nice, you know, to spend a lot of time on a fic: Writing, researching, drafting and redrafting etc only to see it suddenly reappear under someone else's name, only with different characters or a different fandom, all because someone else was too lazy to write a fic themselves.

And the problem with on-line fandom rather than the old paper-based, is that's it's so huge and changes all the time, so theoretically, someone could get away with it. However, with the fact that it's on-line, it means that people are active in more than one fandom and this means that they have more chance of spotting plagiarised fic. You read a fic in say, Forever Knight and then a couple months later, that fic pops up in Buffy, with just the characters and fandom changed and you contact the original author and the whole thing snowballs from there on and the so-called author is banned from the list(s). It's not as good as, say, removing their brains through their nose because they can change emails and names and no one would be any the wiser, but at least the fandom is more aware of the problem and people keep an eye out.

All in all, it's a bad thing. Don't Do It. Forchristssake.

So there you have it. The Five Golden Rules o' Fandom, in numerical order and all.

Here's hoping they help someone out there or at the very least, amused you. And egads, I'm wordy.

Meghan is an 18 year old expat South African who crash-landed into fandom in the summer of '98. She's a self-confessed fandom butterfly who at the time of writing this, is active in seven fandoms, some receiving more love than others. When she's not doing fandom-related things, she can be found attached to the network at college cursing in Elvish as it eats her work and spits it back out. She's in the middle of an advanced IT course and plans to be a web designer when she grows up.She's also popculture's willing whore, as the amount of references in this article will prove.