Fandom is my Fandom

3/29/2015 2:30:42 PM ¶ ●

THINK BEFORE YOU USE THAT TITLE!!!!!

From Fanlore the fan run, non profit wiki about media fandom:

“THINK BEFORE YOU USE *THAT* TITLE!!!!! is a 1998 post by Red Valerian at alt.tv.x-files.creative.

The subject: story title reuse.

The post generated 73 responses about an author’s “responsibility” to make sure their story did not have a duplicate title to a fanfic already written.

The discussion is an example of some the tensions that the new world of online fandom could have. Fans were no longer siloed in print zines, the fandom was supposedly small enough that all fans were expected to be in each other’s business, and the X-Files world of fandom was still small enough that a repeat of titles was seen as careless and thoughtless.

Post topics mutated into discussion about BNFs, public scoldings, cliquish behavior, and who gets to decide the rules for everyone else.”