Pondering Protocol... and Fandom

All this protocol talk reminded me of an article I read last semester, M. Consalvo (2003) “Cyber-Slaying Media Fans: Code, Digital Poaching, and Corporate Control of the Internet,” The Journal of Communication Inquiry, vol.27, no.1, pp. 67-86. This article examines how online fans are limited by Internet coding, specifically HTML, the basic Internet code used to create functioning websites. Consalvo proposes the idea of fans as cyborgs (“fan-borgs”), because their use of and reliance on the Internet and computer mediated communication has become so integral to their survival and growth that the technology has become ubiquitous within fan culture. This reliance, however, has its downfall. Consalvo argues that while the Internet was created as a medium of anonymous and unrestricted communication, this is not the reality. In practice, the Internet is regulated by deep levels of coding (“the plumbing”), created and controlled by expert programmers and corporations that determines how the HTML is used and manifested. This architectural authorship belies the oft-touted freedom of the Internet, and Consalvo contends that it functions to limit fan-borgs in their responses to and manipulations of media content. The specific fandoms examined are the Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer online communities. Both communities have experienced hostile corporate attempts to limit their online activity, but as overtly active members of participatory culture, they responded in an organized and cohesive fashion.