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Fandom Wank is a blog-based online community located on the LiveJournal clone JournalFen. The site describes itself as a locus for discussion of flamewars, egotism, and dramatic feuds within fandom.^[1]

Contents 1 Etymology and wider connotations 2 Site details 3 Criticism 4 In-jokes and slogans 5 Spin-off communities 6 The Cabal 7 References 7.1 Notes 8 External links

Etymology and wider connotations

"Wank" is a British, Irish and Australian sexual slang term for masturbation. It is used to refer to those in fandom communities allegedly engaged in mental masturbation instead of making useful contributions. It also relates to the term fan wank, meaning an audience-created excuse for some apparent error in a fictional work.

Within a small fandom subculture, the term "Fandom Wank" encompasses myriad forms of dispute, argument, and controversy between fans, and any conflict or oddity may be referred to as "wanky" or "fandom wank material" whether or not it has been posted to the actual community.

Because the LiveJournal engine does not allow spaces in journal names, the community is registered as "fandom_wank" on JournalFen. It is commonly referred to as "f_w" or "fw".

Site details

The site, with over three thousand members^[2], discusses topics including disputes within fandoms, the behavior of various authors and Big Name Fans, fans' objections to an author's decisions, and arguments over fan fiction or fan art. These incidents form what the community refers to as "wank," which members seek out on LiveJournal, mailing lists, and other fora. Fandoms commonly associated with wank include Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

The community has been removed due to terms of service violations from several online blogging services (including LiveJournal and Blurty)^[3], and has spent time on several other mediums, including Yahoo!Groups^[4], and CrazyLife.org^[5][6] before moving to JournalFen. At one point, it was deleted by its own moderators^[7], only to be undeleted by the administrators^[8][9].

Criticism

Members of various fandoms criticize the Fandom Wank community for its perceived aggressiveness toward wank "targets" and the behavior of some of its members. Some fans^[10][11] say the community engages in a form of online bullying and cyberstalking by searching out and posting their work and thoughts as objects of ridicule. Numerous regulars and occasional visitors to the site have admitted to joining other communities and forums, or keeping tabs on some bloggers, for the sole purpose of finding examples of "wank" to post on Fandom Wank. The community has a rule against notifying people being featured on the site, but many targets have received notices from members or readers. Moderators claim there is no feasible way of preventing this because of the community's size and openness. Some targets of this behavior, including a fan fiction site called "Detention", have claimed to withdraw their contributions to the fan community because of wank reports. ^[12].

In-jokes and slogans

Like other online communties, Fandom Wank has its share of inside jokes. Many of these jokes originate in the comments section and are spread through the use of user icons. These in-jokes include:

• Mock Mock Mockity Mock Mock - slogan on their main page
• My hed iz pastede on yay - originated from a popular "wank" known as Crystalwank. The pastede on joke is also used when one shows off something of dubious credibility.
• The Hive Vagina - originated from complaints that the participants of Fandom Wank being primarily female and apparently all from one mind. It comes from the term Hive mind referring to a form of collective thought.
• We eat our own - self-explanatory comment about how reporters are not spared from mock.
• Beaded dead pony - arose from a typographical error; used to describe redundant topics, and is usually seen as just Beaded Pony.
• There's a new turkey every year - often employed when a person featured in a report begins to revel in his/her dubious celebrity. The "turkey" refers to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey, which is not celebrated at Thanksgiving but instead is torn apart and devoured. The phrase reminds the would-be celebrity that he/she is being mocked, not praised, and that Fandom Wank will quickly move on to a new target.
• That's nice, but what are your thoughts on Yaoi? - coined after a (now former) member explained at great length her decidedly off-topic opinion on yaoi; is now used to cut short any rant that gets too long and self-involved.
• Please, no furbashing! - Brought into prominence after a user posted to otf_wank requesting there be no bashing of furries while posting two wanks dedicated to furries.
• OKAY - Used to respond to trolling comments, including threats of legal action.

Spin-off communities

As the main community is meant for fandom reports, other communities have been created to cater to different mediums. The community 'otf_wank' caters to "wank that's not related to fandom - animal rights wank, religion wank, etc"^[13]. Other communities include 'clairvoyantwank'^[14] and 'i_wank'^[15].

In March 2006, Fandom Wank founded the community "HP_Cornfield", for posts about "HMS Harmony", a group of partisans for the relationship of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, a topic which has been banned from the main community. The Cornfield now allows any "shipping wank."

Fandom Wank has its own Wiki, hosted on the domain "fandomwank.com". It admits to being biased^[16].

The Cabal

Similar to There Is No Cabal on USENET, there have been accusations that the community is run by a cabal, which includes moderators and moderators' friends^[17]; such a community, loosely referred to as the Cabal, does exist in the form of a recipe exchange group^[18].

References

Notes

External links

• Fandom Wank
• A Fandom Wank wiki