When people think of problematic online use, most think of actions such as online pornography, stalking, gambling and shopping among others, but few think of the online activity I am about to discuss.
Fanfiction is, put simply, fiction written by fans. Going beyond that, it is often fans of certain books, movies, shows etc who take it upon themselves to write stories about the characters involved in the aforementioned categories. These stories may be a continuation of a storyline that was forgotten, a "ship" that was not written in the storyline (a ship is a romantic association between two characters) or a complete alternate universe that includes the characters.
Fanfiction exists in many different places from sites such as livejournal to fanfiction.net. However, all the sites have certain things in common. The reader has the ability to chose between completed and WIP (works in progress) stories, as well as choosing the characters involved, the length of the story and the overall genre. There is always a forum/reviewing option allowing for immediate feedback for the author of the story.
The fanfiction community also has certain guidelines which are usually never explicitly stated yet followed by most users. One is that when writing a story about a particular genre of entertainment, the story will involve the characters and not the actual people playing those roles. Another is that proper English grammar rules will be followed. Third, reviews will be constructive and not just along the lines of "This story sucks" etc.
Although both reading as well as writing fan fiction stories can lead to PIU, I wish to focus on just those who actually write the stories.
Davis, Flett and Besser (2002) list four dimensions for problematic internet use. They are diminished impulse control, loneliness/depression, social comfort, and distraction/procrastination. Since I have never indulged in writing these types of stories, I will use what are termed as authors notes to discuss if the above dimensions exist in this online activity.
Diminished impulse control in when people cannot control themselves online or feel a "high" after indulging in an online activity. This exists in the fanfiction world because there have been many times where authors' notes stated something along the lines of "I know I have homework to do yet I couldn't help but write another chapter". Many authors forgo sleep, and other real world activities in order to update their stories. Many author's also feel bouts of extreme happiness when their story is read (hits received) or reviewed.
Loneliness/depression is when people depend on the Internet for their happiness. I have never seen an author's note that specifically states that the author feels attached to the Internet and cannot survive without it, but it can exist since I know people who have met their best friends through fan fiction and often cannot go even a day without logging in.
Social comfort is when people believe the Internet is more accepting of them then people in real life and also when people use the Internet to expand their social network. This definitely exists in the fan fiction world since I have read many a profile or author's note talking about how the readers are more accepting of a certain writing style than that person's teacher or how friends made fun of that person but the readers online accept him/her. Many people who write for the same category or subtopic within a genre often become extremely close and help each other out with story lines or editing (known as a beta).
Distraction/procrastination is when the Internet is used to avoid participating in real world activities. Fan fiction is a way for people to escape their real world. They have control over the characters in their stories, thereby feeling like they have some control over their actual lives. Fan fiction also provides much activity for procrastination since you can update your story, edit previous chapters, reply to reviews, chat on forums, starts genre communities, or read other stories.
The above four dimensions exist in the fan fiction world making it a prime place for PIU to appear.
Caplan's Theory of Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being (2003) talks about three main points as outlined in the lecture which are:
1. individuals with psychosocial problems hold negative perceptions about their social competence
2. these individuals prefer online interaction because it is less threatening and they feel more efficacious
3. preference for online interaction leads to excessive and compulsive online interaction, which then worsens their problems (at school, home work)
According to Caplan, the above things occur due to certain Internet affordances such as anonymity, control, less social risk and greater intimacy.
Although there is no way for me to confirm Caplan's three main points since I have never analyzed most of the users in the fan fiction world although I have to mention that many a story is left incomplete due to real world responsibilities showing that not all people who participate in fan fiction become addicted to it. However, some do since some stories (upwords of 100,000 words) are finished in less than a month.
The internet affordances, however, do exist in the fan fiction world. Anonymity is offered by the fact that your profile consists of your username and you are under no obligation to include any other information about you. Control is offered by the fact that you can adjust your profile to fit whatever you want to be as well as having control over the characters in your story. There is less social risk involved since all interactions are mediated and often anonymous allowing for no real world punishment for actions online. There is also greater intimacy since many authors reveal things about themselves through their writing, notes or profiles.
In the fan fiction world, both individual and Internet dimensions allow for PIU to occur. In my humble opinion, in this case, I feel that individual dimensions play more of a part since the community places almost all responsibility of time management and effort in the hands of the users and less on themselves.
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1 comment:
Radhiki,
I recall my twin sister was, at one point, retained by the enchantment of sharing stories about her life while seeking reciprocity and positive feedback to "feel a high," on Livejournal. This, of course, was before MySpace became her thing. Still, some of my friends write short stories on fanfiction.net. They have it set-up almost as a resume and the more they add the more they build a portfolio and ultimately the more they feel the diminished impulse control that Davis describes. You also make apparent its potential for distraction and social comfort, which I think are two key factors exemplified by these types of sites. Although I've never been a contributor, I'm sure that the intimacy may be on higher levels than say, a chartroom, when someone shares a personal poem or story through these sites and anticipates feedback. This can lead to higher levels of social comfort and ways to "escape." Something you didn't actually state but alluded to, was a subset of Caplan's hypotheses, is the website's potential for excessive use, mood alteration, compulsive use. You mentioned that contributors could sometimes write over 100,000 words in a month (I don't think I've written that much since I've been in college). This is an obvious case for excessive use and that much time spent on the site could also lead to parallels to compulsive use and mood alteration. When that reciprocity exists, people may be searching constantly in hopes of feedback on their latest story and might receive mood alteration depending on the encouragement or negativity of that feedback. Overall, I felt that your post was well organized, well written, and extensive. Great Job!
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