The Ugly.....

I can happily report that "The Ugly" are in the minority at the fan sites I frequent..but they are "out there" ..and so I'll mention them.

By "ugly".. I mean the baddest of the bad. The people who not only can't seem to follow rules but intentionally do so and then when they are called on it.. cry "foul" and or take drastic measures for "revenge".

At the sites I run ..and the ones I frequent.. it takes a lot to get banned. You have to really go out of your way to break the rules.. even after being warned. I think on my main fan site.. I've banned only two (well actually "three" but more on that later) people. Most people respond to warnings and as I said in "The Bad" ..they either work within the rules or leave the site voluntarily.

As part of the "respect for the celebrity" aspect of rules that I've mentioned before.. the sites I frequent all stress respecting a celebs "private time". While public events are announced and people are encouraged to try to attend.. we do not post any info on where the celebs might be during their private time and or working. We may mention general locations of houses and or filming..but not specifics. Not enough to "track them down".

On every fan site you get the person who does not see anything wrong with trying to track down a celeb while they are going about living their life..or working. Most of these people do not consider this "stalking". I've had people argue with me that "stalking" only involves the intent to do physical harm. I don't agree with that. (But that can be the subject of another post ;) ). I do not feel that just because a person chooses to be in the "public eye" that they lose all rights to privacy.

I have had people attempt to use my site to gain information on a celebrity's whereabouts .. in order to track them down as they work, shop, go out to eat, travel etc.. I' ve been made aware of people contacting people on the site via email or private message to ask them for information that the person has said they "know" but haven't posted. When I do find out about this type of behavior.. I feel that is a basis for banning. In the beginning I tried just giving "warnings" but found that this type of person doesn't heed warnings since they don't think they are doing anything wrong to begin with.

One really ugly incident that happened on one of my sites was a member who posted that she happened to work at an establishment that the celebrity involved frequented when he was home. She said that she showed him the site on a lap top and said she'd pass along messages. When people questioned the validity of it all.. another member stuck up for her. Said she had visited her at the city.. and she did work there, did meet the celebrity etc. Well.. in order to get to the bottom of it.. I started checking IPs and such. The two members.. used the same IP originating in the same city as the individual who was "backing up" the story.. not from the city where the celebrity lived or the establishment was supposed to be. This was a case of one very troubled person registering as two different people in order to fool the members of the site and tell lies about the celebrity. So "both" of the users were banned.

The ugliest of the ugly.. seem to reside on the IMDb forums. For those that don't know .. when you look up a celebrity or movie or whatever on IMDb .. there is usually a forum where that topic can be discussed. The problem is that these forums are pretty much not moderated. I've come to the conclusion that the majority of the people who frequent those forums.. have been banned from other sites. The ugliest thing that I have witnessed on the IMDb forums are personal attacks on members and admins at other Fan Sites. ( The people who post regularly at the IMDb forums pride themselves on NOT being "fan sites".) I've seen more than one admin have very personal, insulting things said about them and their families and their sites on IMDb by people who got in to trouble on said fansites for breaking rules. I've seen private messages, emails and personal information posted there with no other purpose than to gain revenge for being reprimanded on sites that these people claim to dislike any way. It is also common for the IMDb forums to contain posts that are very disrespectful to the said celebrities. Since these forums are not fansites you do get people who don't like the celebrity being discussed and that's fine. However, some people go out of their way to post ugly rumors, gossip and invasive razzi photos.

In the internet world you are always going to find a wide range of personalities and on fansites it's no different. When I started running a fansite I had no idea that you almost need a degree in psychology to deal with some of these people. But, as I said.. the worst are in the minority. I wish I didn't even have to mention them, but they are a part of the "fan site" thing.. hopefully I won't have to bring it up again.

The Bad....

Ok.. I am a firm believer in the fact that the Best Fansites must have guidelines and rules. Most of the problems arise when you have an active Discussion Forum on your site. In my case the rules and guidelines set at both the sites I run.. and the sites I am either a moderator at or an active member.. are all decided on based on what the majority of the members want. No decisions or rules are ever made without a lot of discussion and thought.

So most of the "bad" aspects of running a fansite come from people who don't want to follow said rules or guidelines. Here are some of my pet peeves involving rules:

• People who don't read the rules and guidelines..worse is when they don't even feel guilty that they didn't .. you get excuses like "I didn't have time" , "figured a mod would fix it" etc..
• People who purposely break rules. These are people who don't like rules..so they break them just to cause problems.
• People who ONLY want to post "negative" comments about a celebrity. There will always be times when a fan doesn't agree with something a celebrity says or does.. or a role they choose .. however, I don't see the point in joing a "FAN" site and then only posting negative comments. It makes me wonder why the person considers themself a fan??
• People who are not "realistic" about the celebrity. This is probably the opposite of the people who only write negative things. Some fans put celebrities on pedastals and feel that they can do no wrong. They post nothing but gushy "isn't he/she wonderful" .. "he/she" would NEVER do that!" etc... These same fans attack anyone who dares to disagree as being not a "good fan" as if a true fan would never say anything negative about the celebrity.
• People who cry that they are being "picked on" when they are told that they broke a rule. I hate when mods are called "mean" or "bullies" when all they are doing is enforcing rules.
• People who cry "censorship" when certain topics are not allowed on a forum. If it's listed in the rules as not being allowed.. such as religious or politcal discussion.. or topics that are found to be disrespectful to the celebrity.. they should know it's not allowed and just not post it to begin with.
• People who refuse to use the "search" function before starting a post. They say "I don't have time" or "It's too confusing" etc.
• People who feel that they just HAVE to start NEW topics.. as if it's an obligation. When I have told people that a topic was not appropriate or had been discussed a million times already.. I've actually been told "Do you know how hard it is to think of new topics?" Who said they HAD to start any??
• People who start threads and then feel that they can "control" what is posted as replies. They often take any opposing view points as being mean. I tell them.. if you are afraid of what the response will be.. don't ask the question! And nothing makes me madder than when people tell people with opposing view points to "stay out of a thread".

I'm happy to say that at the sites I run.. we don't have many of these problems anymore. We had some "growing pains" early on, but for the most part the trouble makers have given up and left.. with a handful being banned ( more on that in the "Ugly.." ) or the new people have learned to work within the rules. I do belong to a site where there seems to be a large group of people who came into an "established" site.. and seem to want to change the tone of the site. It's become very depressing because they have managed to run off alot of the original members.

Basically it boils down to people who want to work within the guidelines of a forum or fansite. In an earlier post I said that people should find fansites that are a "good fit" for them. There are Fan Sites that are not very moderated or that do not have very many rules. These are usually the sites where "anything goes".. where gossip and paparazzi photos are allowed. I tell people on my sites that if they don't like the rules .. find one of those sites. I'll never understand why people will stay at a Fan Site that has rules that they don't agree with.

The Good....

To me the definition of a great fansite.. is when it is comprised of a group of enthusiastic and yet respectful fans. And when I say "respectful".. I mean of the celebrity and of other members and other celebrities. When these fans are brought together under the guise of honoring a celebrity and end up becoming close friends.. that to me is the reason I continue to participate in fan sites.

I love to see fans appreciate a celebrity for who they really are. See them as a real person behind the public persona. I love to see fans really care about the celebrities career as well as about their family and personal life. At the same time.. I love it when fans are sincerely respectful of the celebrity's private time and family.

On a great fansite you should be able to get up to date info.. as well as discuss the celebrity. Discussions might be about the celebrity's career, or the latest photos, or latest charity project .. or even about their personal life as long as it done in a respectful way. There is a line separating pure innocent interest and potentially damaging gossip. A great fansite is not a "gossip" site.

I have found over the years.. that if you find a fan site that fits your needs.. you will often find that there is a group of other members who not only like the same celebrity, but also have a lot of other interests in common with you. This is why so many fansites have active "Off Topic" areas.. where members can discuss other interests. At the same time, on large sites you will also find people who while liking the same celebrity as you.. may be totally different in other interests and life style. If a site is comprised of members who are respectful.. then these differences can lead to great discussions and sharing. I love it when I see a group of people brought together because of a common interest in a celebrity, who then go on to become close friends sharing thoughts, dreams, interests and philosophies. When this happens.. it makes a site some place that people come to for more than just info on the celebrity. They come for friendship. For me, this may be one of the most important concepts of a great fansite. It's easy to gather info and photos of a celebrity.. it is not so easy to generate an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable discussing the celeb and anything else that comes to mind.

The absolute BEST thing that can come from a great fansite.. is when that bond of friendship leads to support and good deeds. I've seen people with illnesses and family problems gain support from fellow fansite members. I've seen thousands of dollars raised for charity in the name of the celebrity.. but also done as a group project between friends. I've seen birthdays, marriages, romances, births.. all celebrated in fansite communities. I've also seen the death of members mourned in very special and memorable ways. I've seen groups of people who had only known each "online" get together in person .. for small get togethers and large world wide conventions.

This comraderie between people of all ages, races, nationalities, sexes etc.. all born from the common interest in a celebrity.. is what I consider the greatest of the "Good" part of fan sites!

Why Blog ??

I've resisted "blogging" because I run a few fansites and have felt like those were my "blogs" so to speak. Recently, however, I've felt the need to vent about certain things and I feel like I can't post about it on my sites.. or other sites I belong to. Of course, I give my good friends an earful ("eyeful"?) but I don't want to impose on them ..so I thought I'd release my inner frustration with a blog.

I got involved with celebrity fansites over 5 years ago. I had seen a movie, wanted to find out more about the actor.. "googled" him and found a fansite that I liked. I joined and soon found myself a moderator at that site. About a year later, I saw another movie with an actor that I knew nothing about.. I "googled" him.. and found a few fansites, but nothing that I really liked. Most were not updated at all. I was interested in learning how to do a good fan site and wanted to learn webdesign in general.. so I decided to start a fansite for the actor. It's been five years now and my site is one of the largest most popular sites for that particular celeb. In addition to these two sites I mentioned.. I am also very involved with another large, popular fansite for a third actor.

When you become involved in a fansite you learn alot about "people".. all kinds of people. Hopefully, the majority of the members at any given site ..will be people that you have things in common with. These memberships often become a "second family" of sorts. But, along the way you run into your share of "interesting" characters. You run into situations that you never thought you 'd run into in your life. You learn to deal with different personalities, cultures, backgrounds etc.

What I plan to do here is give you a small glimpse into the world of "fansites". I don't plan to mention specific celebrities and definitely not "name names" as far as people I use as examples. I just plan to give you an idea of some of the funny, wild, sad, idiotic, heartwarming .. etc.. experiences that I have run into. Hopefully you'll find it interesting if not enlightening.