Dear Fanpop users,

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

Uploading everything I make is not okay with me.

I am flattered that you consider my work good enough to save and upload my entire post to another site but PLEASE STOP. I am aware of Fanpop, I have an account there, and will post my content when I want it there.

Even when you give me credit, which is often and I do appreciate that, Fanpop still attaches your name to my work and that's my one rule: don't attach your name to my work. I know it isn't your intention to claim you made my icons but that's how Fanpop works. It makes me seriously grumpy to find that I can't post icons that I made because they're already posted and have somebody else's name on them.

I'm not addressing this to people who take a couple of icons and upload them for their own use; that is the point of icons. Uploading everything I make to another site, whether it's the entire post or everything in that fandom, is not okay with me. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mish

Comments

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

In the Fanpop culture, they DO give credit most of the time. It's kind of like when we use icons, it's our names on the comment/post and the credit is on our userpics page. The problem is that Fanpop aggregates everything uploaded and tagged and then attaches the name of the uploader rather than the maker. I don't see a lot of original content happening to accompany the icons.

I think that's entirely in keeping with the Fanpop atmosphere, which feels like a corporate exploitation of fandom rather than an entity that grew out of fandom. But that's my personal impression; I'm sure those who like Fanpop would disagree.

I'm not fond of the interface or the layout or the way one interacts on the site. I'd be just as happy if the site went the way of the dodo but I'm sure there are those who feel that way about LJ. There will always be a site that annoys me; myspace users used to hotlink my original photography housed on my server and now Fanpop "steals" my icons. There will undoubtedly be a new annoyance in my future. ;-)

[mizra.livejournal.com]

I've never really worked with Fanpop before, but the whole site feels clunky and convoluted. From a web design standpoint, I absolutely hate it. I feel the navigation should be more streamlined. Less adverts. Eh, that's me talking again.

MySpace was bad about that, and other sites, too, I'm sure. DeviantArt had its moments and plenty of other sites (Angelfire way back when). Social networking or social sharing sites always have loopholes such as this and will probably be the bane of artists of any medium everywhere. XD

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

It's the overwhelming presence of ads and the clunky interface that does nothing to facilitate communication between fans other than to "give props" that lead me to conclude that the site is feeding off of fans rather than being a site that exists to let fans get together and squee about all the happy things of fandom.

I have accepted that putting icons or my original photography or any other image on the web is to release my control of it. I am asking that fellow fans not use my content in lieu of creating their own (when it's supplying mass content to another site) but that's an appeal to people to respect the LJ ethos and fandom etiquette. I realize it it, to some extent, blowing against the wind.