Laurie's+Media+Fandom




 * 2/1/10**

Lost starts tomorrow, so I figured I would start my adventure tonight. I've been reading posts on the Lostpedia site for awhile now, but have never actively participated in it. So, I have joined.



I realize that this is exactly like our class webpage because they are both Wiki's, but I assure you that there will be very different conversations on the Lost site.

After exploring a bit, I found the forum. It has a special section for the Spoilers, and one for each English, Italian, German, French, Polish and Portuguese speaking users.



I found a very dorky, but awesome ranking system. It is based upon the number of posts a person has. Apparently I am still "Adrift." I wonder if this hierarchical system is used for/against members.




 * 2/2/10**

It's LOST Premiere Day!! The internet has been crazy with predictions and excitement for tonight's two hour event. However there is one place this communication is NOT taking place. Apparently the people at Wiki don't want the site to crash, or too many people trying to make edits leading up to and during the show, so they have locked the site. I wanted to do some research during the premiere to see if people were making immediate edits to the episode page, or if people were having live chats on the forums. I will still check, but it looks like we are locked out until later tonight.


 * 2/4/10**

I have just posted my first comment on the space. It is regarding the newest episode, and I was kind of excited about it. I joined a discussion regarding Hurley changing into a red shirt, and how that may not bode well for the character. I wasn't exactly sure how to indent the comment or sign it, but there were instructions on the side of the page that give you instructions on how to make the text red and much more. It's real helpful. I think that I can link my signature to my user page, but I'm not sure how to do that, so I will save that for another time. This is what I entered: This is what it looks like:


 * 2/6/10**

I was a little afraid when I got this message the other day. It's regarding spoilers and how you shouldn't post them. After reading through it, it explained that it is a generated message after you post your first comment. I was relieved when I saw that, I was afraid I had done something wrong!


 * 2/16/10**

So I wanted to try something. Before the newest episode aired, I added a little bit to the episode page. I typed, "It is a Locke Centric episode." I wanted to see how long it would stay up, and how quickly the episode details would be added to the page.



After 20 minutes of the show being over, my contribution was still there!

I decided to look at the revision history and see if there was anything interesting here. From what I could tell, there were several of the same people editing the page quickly after the show had ended. I found it interesting that several people were doing the major edits, but there were still other people editing the page. I wonder if people were editing the posts that others were putting up already.

From here I went to the blogs to see what was going on there. The community blog was giving pointers on what images were okay to use because of The Fair Use Doctrine. I was wondering about that, and I'm glad that they explained what was good (pictures that enhance the article and have something to do with the episode/character, etc.) and what was bad (pictures that while good, don't have much relevance to the article). There were a couple of comments on the end thanking the poster, and of course one complaining about not being able to use the pictures that they wanted.

From here, I went to the community blog postings. This is where the real interaction takes place. People are able to post their crazy theories, and ideas/concerns and have people leave comments. This seems like a more streamlined and broader version of the "Discussion" page for each article. Here people can interact and talk while the show is going on and they can post instantly. The other format seems a little messy to try to keep track of who the comment is for.


 * 2/17/10**

After 13 hours, my contribution to "The Substitute" episode page has been deleted and the full synopsis of the show has been added. Likely more will be added/erased over time. I'll try to check back in a week and see what the page looks like.


 * 2/23/10**

So I decided to try something a little silly. I want to see if I will get yelled at for posting a really crazy theory on the blog. Below are screen shots of the whole thing.

So It's been a little while, but I've been meaning to put these up here. I just haven't, and I'm sorry. I don't remember dates, so I'll try to explain what's going on in these screen shots.

I wanted to see if I would get "flamed" by writing this ridiculous theory post. As I didn't really read the legalese of the site, I was not supposed to post spoilers on this part of it. The only responses I did get were that this was a lame theory and one from the site scolding me.

I thought previously to finding this that there was little synchronous interaction on the site, however this proves that there is a section that people can go to talk about the show as it's going on. This brings people together who may not have others to watch the show with. I didn't participate, but I do applaud the enthusiasm on the board.

This was a conversation that occurred after the show aired on the same forum about the promo that aired the previous week. A lot of people were unhappy with it because it showed scenes that were to come up on that night's episode. The fans wanted a place to go to air their grievances about it, but they were told not to because it was not directly relevant to the show that was just on, and it was considered a spoiler. I didn't get this since the promo was for the show that had just got done. People seem really intense.

I tried to post something on the forum where this was going on, but I actually had to join again. I already have a screen name through the site, but need to set up a different account to join the forum. This seems really backwards considering they are both apart of the bigger site. I think it's because of the way that the site is run/managed, but I was really annoyed that I'd have to go through another set up process just to interact with people on the forums

Here is the process: Even though I already had a screen name I had to pick one, and make sure that it wasn't taken. I'm pretty sure if it wasn't taken for the overall site, it wouldn't be taken for the forums .



I also noticed that Lostpedia was telling it's members to submit questions to be asked of Damon and Carleton during an interview that they would be conducting. I think this is super cool that these guys would choose to participate in an interview by a site that is "official" and may not be the most accurate considering anyone has the power to change/edit and say whatever they want on it without real repercussions. I stumbled upon the fun part of the site where silly fan stuff is posted. It makes me think of participatory culture. This defines what "fanon" is:

This is straight up appropriation, but its fun and was posted on the fan creation pages under the fanon links: media type="youtube" key="VBxjuL4kQCc" height="385" width="640"

This explains what a "parody" is: Okay, here's an example of a parody. It's pretty fun. media type="youtube" key="NR9OtbZ9R8Y" height="385" width="640"

Here's what a "hoax" is:

These would be considered hoaxes, but I would argue that they could be fanon. These are the actual logos:



This is also a real fun way for fans to get involved with the show! A viewing party for the series finale. complete with tips: