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FanLib crisis management: A suggestion
May. 29th, 2007 09:48 pmby Emmuzka, a communications professional
1. Start being human. This means that every employee and their dog should have a lj account. Don't have the time? Make time! Mingle with the fans, allow all kinds of comments, comment back. Go to conventions. Be fannish, be human.
2. Apologize. Show that you misunderstood the fandom and underestimated their willingness to follow your plans. Answer questions. Better yet, make YouTube clips where you answer questions in person.
3. Take responsibility. Seriously consider if it could be possible to promise the fans to take the possible heat from the copyright owners and that the fans will never ever be sued, not if it's up to them (think Google's "fuck you" for the demand of the user information).
4. Explain yourself. Tell what you are exactly after with the site. Avoid generalizations and advertisement jargon.
5. Don't hide. Do not take down anything that you already have in the net, it just makes the fans even more interested of the content of the pages. Note that the fandom and the entertainment world cross; The fans will find out if you talk about them like they were sheep, and the entertainment business will notice when the fans rise a hassle.
6. Show respect. Don't talk down to the fans. Don't ask their personal information or passwords. Show interest. Recognize that fanfiction is all about not drawing inside the lines. Recognize that NC-17, rps, slash, violence and so forth a are part or fanfic and you just can't drop these aspects to make the fic mainstream and not lose something in the process. Don't talk trash about other web sites.
7. Do a make-over to the FanLib site. Separate clearly the fanfic archive and the fan events. Do a "what this means"-version of TOS. If you don't interpret your legal jargon, the fans will do it for you. Never link to Wikipedia. Create a level between "teen" and "mature" in the fanfic categorization. Never change story ratings without informing the author first. Make it possible to search slash. Make clear what kind of fic will not be tolerated.
8. Invent something new to lure the people in. Maybe you could offer a web browser text editor for on-the-run writing, and small insider groups for beta-reading or collaborative writing. Maybe you could offer continuing fanzine contest where the best writer and a few voters will get her work as a paper fanzine. Maybe you should pay the writers according to their popularity. Host fanvids. Anything.
1. Start being human. This means that every employee and their dog should have a lj account. Don't have the time? Make time! Mingle with the fans, allow all kinds of comments, comment back. Go to conventions. Be fannish, be human.
2. Apologize. Show that you misunderstood the fandom and underestimated their willingness to follow your plans. Answer questions. Better yet, make YouTube clips where you answer questions in person.
3. Take responsibility. Seriously consider if it could be possible to promise the fans to take the possible heat from the copyright owners and that the fans will never ever be sued, not if it's up to them (think Google's "fuck you" for the demand of the user information).
4. Explain yourself. Tell what you are exactly after with the site. Avoid generalizations and advertisement jargon.
5. Don't hide. Do not take down anything that you already have in the net, it just makes the fans even more interested of the content of the pages. Note that the fandom and the entertainment world cross; The fans will find out if you talk about them like they were sheep, and the entertainment business will notice when the fans rise a hassle.
6. Show respect. Don't talk down to the fans. Don't ask their personal information or passwords. Show interest. Recognize that fanfiction is all about not drawing inside the lines. Recognize that NC-17, rps, slash, violence and so forth a are part or fanfic and you just can't drop these aspects to make the fic mainstream and not lose something in the process. Don't talk trash about other web sites.
7. Do a make-over to the FanLib site. Separate clearly the fanfic archive and the fan events. Do a "what this means"-version of TOS. If you don't interpret your legal jargon, the fans will do it for you. Never link to Wikipedia. Create a level between "teen" and "mature" in the fanfic categorization. Never change story ratings without informing the author first. Make it possible to search slash. Make clear what kind of fic will not be tolerated.
8. Invent something new to lure the people in. Maybe you could offer a web browser text editor for on-the-run writing, and small insider groups for beta-reading or collaborative writing. Maybe you could offer continuing fanzine contest where the best writer and a few voters will get her work as a paper fanzine. Maybe you should pay the writers according to their popularity. Host fanvids. Anything.
