Digital Cultures 323: Let's do this

[emilyc323]

A reflection on Fandom Studies

I really enjoyed the guest speaker we had in class last week. Michelle was so knowledgeable on the subject and was a great public speaker. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts in response to her talk as someone who happens to have a lot of background knowledge on the subject.

1. On the topic of gender and sports vs. pop culture.

As someone who is a huge fangirl who lives in a family with two huge sports fans, I definitely have experienced the gender and popularity divide between what kind of fans are “acceptable.” Spending hundreds of dollars on Mets tickets is fine and a fun family outing, but buying convention tickets is considered weird. Almost every night is spent watching the Mets game but asking for an hour or two to watch my favorite shows is an issue. It’s definitely frustrating how certain things are acceptable to like and others aren’t just based on what they are - it sometimes feels like things are reverting back to jocks and geeks in high school. It’s my opinion that everyone should just be accepted for whatever they like because in the end they’re happy and why sh*t on someone else’s happiness, ya feel?

2. On the topic of the fan-creator relationship

So I actually *just* did my own presentation on this topic specifically regarding the show Supernatural, so clearly this topic is one of great interest. I think the balance between fan service and writers completely ignoring their audience (or often lack thereof) is really interesting and also how it correlates to a show/movie/book’s success. I think this is an area that can use a lot more research and something I definitely want to look into more.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

[digitaltentori-blog]

Dangers in journalism

Extra blog post #1 

A headline in the NYTimes caught my eye this week as it read: “Mexican newspaper shuts down, says its too dangerous to continue”. 

A known Mexican newspaper of around 30 years has shut down due to having three journalists from other news organizations killed just last month. The newspaper stated it was simply to dangerous to continue as journalism had become a high-risk profession with the killings and increased violence or threats to reporters. 

While this is giving the people involved in the violence a victory, it is clear to see why closing down the newspaper would be the safest option for the employees. This however, may mean that online news and anonymous postings may become more popular in Mexico or in the any part of the world where discussing sensitive topics can be extremely dangerous. 

As the newspaper shut down, many people most likely expressed their feelings and emotions online either through social media or anonymous postings. This can serve as another example of how online presences can evolve and multiply depending on the current situations around people as I am sure “journalists” online will continue to post their thoughts and emotions about Mexico’s future of newspaper and journalism through the safety that the anonymity of internet can provide. 

[emilyc323]

It is an absolute tragedy that this has occurred. I think that in America we sometimes take the first amendment for granted, but this is really eye opening.

I think in any country, whether it be in ours with so much political discourse or in Mexico where there is life threatening violence, the press is the people’s biggest ally, and it is a shame that this newspaper had to shut down. Though, of course, I understand that safety comes before anything and it was necessary. I do hope that the journalists who were working there, after mourning of course, will look into online writing and continue their crucial work.

I like what you said about online presences can evolve, and I definitely see that happening not just in Mexico but globally. Many newspapers have had to start doing only online editions because people just aren’t buying print newspapers anymore. I think watching how online journalism is really important and I am curious to see how it will change given the state of the world and current international relations/the political climate.

[rachelsylvia13-blog]

Wouldn’t it be nice?

Ever since examining the amount of hours we spend consuming content on our phones, I’ve felt myself become hyper-aware of my device use and the use of those around me. Suddenly, I feel a little guilty about the amount of time I spend using my phone and started reflecting on the reasons why I use it. I’ve elected to moderate some of my device behaviors, from the times I engage with it to the kind and amount of content I consume while using it.

Looking around I’ve started to feel like I’ve chosen the red pill in The Matrix. I feel so aware of mine and others consumption, while everyone around me doesn’t seem to realize or consider the amount of hours and reasons they are on their phone.

Prior to reflection, I used my phone (and admittedly sometimes still do) for many reasons beyond just communicating with others. My phone was the perfect tool to get out of every awkward or uncomfortable situation. If I didn’t want to talk to someone while waiting to walk into the classroom, I would whip out my phone and suddenly I was untouchable, invisible; no one would approach me. If there was an awkward silence in conversation, I would fill it with screen time, oftentimes continuing the conversation with something I just read on my phone. Need a distraction from the existential dread that comes with being an upperclassman in college? Not a problem, that’s what scrolling through social media feeds is for. I spent so much time using my phone to get away from things that made me uncomfortable that isolating myself from the world happening around me was a talent, which turned into a pretty nasty habit.

When I started recognizing that my phone use was having a negative impact on my relationships with others and myself, I decided to take a step back. I set boundaries for myself. I don’t use my phone when I am with others, I think twice before absentmindedly hitting the like button and I stopped taking out my phone to fill a spare moment and started people watching. These choices, however irrelevant they may seem, have had a profound impact. I feel more confident when speaking to others and I feel closer to my friends and family. While I still find myself needing a distraction sometimes, I have stopped distracting myself from important relationships and present moment.

The difficulty, then, is that those around me still use their devices the way I used to. I find myself looking around a room full of my peers and every one of them is looking at their phone. Even starting a conversation does not pull their eyes from the screen. In order for our relationships to improve with others there needs to be reflection and adaptation of our technology habits to each relationship.

Do I expect people to have a technological epiphany and change their habits for the better? No. But it would be nice.

[emilyc323]

I wrote a little bit about this in my media fast post, and I really like what you’re saying here. I definitely have found myself noticing my media habits as well as my friends’ habits more often and I’m not exactly proud of how dependent I have become. I know that whenever I don’t have something preoccupying me my default is to grab my phone and browse Tumblr or Facebook, and while I know it isn’t a good habit, I don’t really always think it’s so bad?

Yes, if you are using your phone instead of talking to people in person or using technology to avoid interactions, that’s an issue. But if you’re sitting on the T, or waiting in a checkout line, or doing something where you’d be solitary anyway, what’s wrong with entertaining yourself? Before phones people pulled out a book (and still do) or played with a cup and ball, etc. so what is so wrong with trying to put off boredom?

I guess I just get tired of the “hurr durr boo technology” vibe that I get often from baby boomers and earlier generations that seem to target millennials as the ultimate culprit of this when I see older generations doing it just as much, and it’s not our fault we were brought up in this on slaughter of new technology. I realize this went on a bit of a spiral, but here’s where I ended up. I think that we should all work to be more social in person and put down the phone when together, but that it’s okay to fill solitary time with technology, but who knows if that will stay the same in the direction technology is headed

[beccaruesch-blog]

Pop Your Bubble

A new launch by Kind Snacks’ recently caught my eye and reminded me of the conversation we had earlier on this semester about the “filter bubble”. Kind recently launched a Facebook-plugin, called “Pop Your Bubble”, that is designed to connect you with users outside your bubble and introduce you to different content and view points. 

Users can visit www.popyourbubble.com and link it to their Facebook profiles. The site then uses an algorithm that matches you up with profiles least similar to your own. You can follow users and all of a sudden have a feed that is vastly different from what you see every day on your original Facebook feed. 

A screenshot of www.popyourbubble.com

My first thought on this was immediately intrigue. There are definitely a lot of people who seem to be annoyed with the filter bubble and feel like they are not getting a well-rounded stance on what’s going on. One of the things I thought was most intriguing was that Kind Snacks’, of all brands, was the company who launched this. I never would have thought that a granola bar company would be the first to make waves in popping the filter bubble, but it seems that is the beauty of the digital world. 

I do, however, have to wonder if this will be successful. Even though I’ve heard people say they are annoyed with the filter bubble, my hunch is that once people are exposed to views and posts that are vastly different from what they’re used to, they will not like it. My guess would be that people will become angry and upset and therefore, stop using the website and feed altogether. I could definitely see “Pop Your Bubble” kicking off for a 15-minutes of fame sort of thing, but right now, I am having a hard time seeing it being a platform that people consistently use on a long-term basis. 

[emilyc323]

I really like the concept because as I scroll Facebook I often feel like I’m not getting every side of the story. I am curious why the program is coming from a granola bar company, but I guess that is kind of besides the point.

I think the filter bubble concept has become bigger than just differing political views in the past months since the election. Though often falling on party lines, I find that the conversation often comes to one about whether certain types of people deserve human decency and rights, and frankly it’s not that I don’t want to engage in intellectual conversations, it’s that I don’t want to surround myself in people’s opinions that invalidate my right to exist as a human being.

I agree that I think this program will probably be one to have its 15 minutes of fame rather than be one that sticks around, but I think as an experiment it is certainly a poignant one and I will be curious to see how many people use it!

[emilyc323]

IRL memes aka inside jokes... and real memes?

The inside joke isn’t anything new - inside jokes have been around well before technology. But I believe with the use of social media and group messages inside jokes have found a way to become memes, and sometimes vice versa.

Let me explain using my experienes with my “squad.” For starters, we use an app called “group me” for our group chats. The app has a feature that allows users to add meme text overlay to any photo. We use this feature quite often, taking moments from our everyday lives and turning them literally into memes. (Which I won’t share as my friends probably wouldn’t appreciate that.) 

But especially within my friend group online memes have a way of getting into our real life conversations. Whether showing each other memes at the dining hall or casually using them in conversation, memes have enhanced our friendship, even in a small way.

I enjoy looking at how social media affects real life and real life interactions, because I think the integration will only increase in the near future. And the best way to use the technology to our advantage is to understand it.

[emilyc323]

The Power of the Unicorn

Just how much power can an Instagram-worthy product have? As we’ve seen this week with the Unicorn Frappucino from Starbucks, quite a lot.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, a week or two ago pictures were leaked on social media of a mystical new beverage. A few days later the Unicorn Frappucino was born - a sour mango flavored white mocha that changes colors. And, it costs a pretty penny - $5.30 for the regular size.

Now the irony is that the overall review of the drink is not a positive one. I’ve heard “gross,” “tastes like drinking tropical Skittles,” and it is too sweet - it has the same amount of sugar as three Snickers bars. But that hasn’t stopped people from buying it. So if it tastes terrible, why would someone pay $5+ for it? Short answer - for the gram.

Long answer - a blue and pink color changing Starbucks drink deemed a Unicorn beverage? That *is* the Instagram aesthetic of 2017. For the past week it has been impossible to go online without seeing a photo of the beverage - not because people want to drink it, but because people want a picture of it. A potential Instagram photo has driven at least thousands to purchase it - making Starbucks millions and gaining them tons of free advertising.

The Unicorn Frappucino may only exist for five days, but the lesson it has tought about potential social media power will be used for years to come

[emilyc323]

Are Marches as Great as they Seem?

In our most recent class we talked about social movements and ways to measure their effectiveness. During class I looked at the Women’s March that took place in January. My partner and I decided that while getting coverage and making a statement, overall it did not accomplish much actual change and was not very effective. Well, this weekend across the country the March for Science took place. 

The premise was about the same as the Women’s March, just obviously with a different focus. And though nowhere near the members drawn by the Women’s March, it still definitely made an impact. And yet looking at pictures on social media, I got the same feeling I did after the Women’s March... what now?

Are the thousands of people going to these marches going to donate any money to organizations working to help science? What if they donated money instead of buying airfare and hotel and poster making material? Will they attend town hall meetings or call their representatives? While attending a march is all well and good, I want to see the same amount of people working to truly make a difference and help the field of science in this time of facts being under attack.

I guess I just don’t understand the difference these marches will make. I hope that in the coming days the organizers and/or participants will work to be instrumental towards direct change, because right now direct change is what we need.

[emilyc323]

My Media Fast - How am I Still Life?

Earlier this semester I did an assignment for my “Media, Messages, and Society” class called a media fast. For 24 hours I had to go without all media: TV, computer, phone, music - everything. As someone who spends quite a lot of time texting, on social media, and watching Youtube and Netflix, I knew this was going to be a challenge. I chose a day when I had quite a lot of classes and work so that I would be able to be preoccupied by other things, but I still found it really hard.

Whenever there was a moment of downtime I felt the itch to reach into my pocket and check my notifications. Any moment I wasn’t doing something I found myself getting bored. Even when hanging out with my friends I noticed that at times they’d all be on devices and I would just be sitting there thinking “Hello?”

At the end of the day when I turned on my phone, it didn’t feel like “Oh my God my lifesource I missed you so much!” But rather I just caught up with some friends and talked to my mom. If I were to pinpoint one thing I learned from this exercise, it would be that I didn’t die from being away from my phone and social media. I think this summer I might try to do this again and get more in touch with myself.

[emilyc323]

Everything is Snapchat

This week Facebook launched a “stories” feature, very similar to the current feature on Instagram and more popularly Snapchat. They have essentially tried to mirror both the story and the direct messaging features of Snapchat but within their own platform. Facebook introduced the “story” feature a few weeks ago on their separate messenger app but just now have added story buttons to the top of the page as well as a camera featuring filters and direct messaging.

Now due to the overwhelming success of Snapchat it’s not surprising that other platforms have tried to provide the same features. But I’ve found among other users I know that the Facebook stories have just been found to be somewhat redundant and derivative. Many of us use snapchat stories and even some use Instagram for a more professional story experience. But considering that Facebook owns Instagram and many people already use the Instagram feature and they probably don’t need to post the same situation on three different platforms, I don’t see it going very well. 

It’s also caused lots of confusion among non-millenials who use Facebook. On multiple occasions my parents and other older Facebook friends have been very alarmed by the new feature and have had to ask me what they mean. While I understand integrating the stories feature into Instagram because they both have a big millenial demographic. But Facebook has many users who don’t use Instagram or Snapchat and therefore I am curious to see just how much this new feature is used.

[emilyc323]

Is Black Mirror our Future?

A few weeks ago when I was looking for a new Netflix show to watch I decided to try Black Mirror, a Netflix original series that has gotten great reviews. The first episode shows a world in which every person has a social score out of five and each person’s number determines what kind of house they can buy, what plane tickets are available, etc. The main character, Lacie, played Bryce Dallas Howard, works incredibly hard to maintain her social score to the point where she is a completely different person.

After watching the show I first was thinking about how different it was from our world. But then I came to realize how maybe they’re not so different after all. Even if we don’t have scores circling around our head and how popular we are doesn’t necessarily impact our economic life, how popular we are definitely affects more than just our online lives. As someone hoping to work in social media my pages are just a big a part of my resume as my educational experience. Additionally having lots of followers can lead to sponsorships, PR packages, and more. And some people have jobs solely based on social media such as Youtubers and Viners. So while we may not have implanted contacts or literally get rated by every person we meet, we’re not as far from this world as it may seem.

[emilyc323]

The Makeup World Needs Some Help.

Many loved and worshipped “Makeup Gurus” create tutorials for looks using new, high end expensive makeup products each video, a practice that is unattainable for most makeup lovers. 

Makeup lovers, many of whom are young and don’t have as much disposable income (including myself,) may want to recreate these looks or be like these makeup gurus but cannot afford the same products.

[digitalcultures323]

Assignment #4 (due 2/28)

Read: Participatory Culture in a Networked Era, chapter 4, 5 Present Shock, Chapter 2

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bqMY82xzWo

Write:

In the sub-chapter Time is a Technology, Rushkoff elaborates the many ways in which time has become increasingly subdivided and carefully measured over the course of human history, citing as examples:

- Calendar - Prayer - Clocks - Church bells - Clock towers - Digital timepieces

How does your relationship with time, schedules, and the recording of life’s events in social media affect your own productivity and quality of life? With regard to the digital revisiting of experience, Rushkoff explains how “time in the digital era is no longer linear but disembodied and associative” (85). What topics from this chapter particularly resonate with your own personal experience?

[lindsey-ann-ribeiro-blog]

“Time is a Technology” - Douglas Rushkoff

Douglas Rushkoff, writer of “Present Shock” has put into words the anxiety of this modern day life that I have felt for a long time now. It’s nice to have an elaborate timeline to review, to help me understand why and what has actually been happening since the beginning of “time”. In a way I feel better that the anxiety I constantly feel about time and information has a reason, but that doesn’t make it okay. 

When I was a kid, I wouldn’t so much worry about the future, or the past, I would just live in the present and focus on what I was doing. School, play, work, food, etc. I didn’t have a phone, if I needed to know where i was going, I would ring a friend and write down directions. I wouldn’t worry if I got lost because I had done it so many times in the past. I wasn’t afraid of what I was going to go to school for, or if I would make the right decisions in life. I was a lot more carefree. 

Up until I was about 25 I used a landline for a phone. If someone needed to get in touch with me they would have to leave me a message on my answering machine. I didn’t worry about it, unless of course it was a boy! But even then, I lived my life and came home when I came home. Ever since I got that cell phone, and the computer, I felt a bit different. I was excited about it, but I didn’t know what I was in for. I think I was just submerged into so hard that I never realized until recently. I think now people are realizing how hard they’ve been hit and changed by this technology and information overload. It’s too much and honestly I don’t think there is any getting out of it at this point. Our lives have been designed around it. 

Not only has it affected the way that I communicate, but it has made me second guess the field I have chosen to go into. Life is already hard enough to keep up with, and the graphic design field is 10x that. Software is changing daily. Most of the changes are unnecessary if you ask me, but it doesn’t matter. If you are a designer, and want to stay a designer, you have to keep updating your knowledge and software, it’s expensive and time consuming. More than it should be. It seems that because people are so aware of the information overload and time, that we subconsciously want to fix things that don’t need fixing. This takes away from things that really matter. Like friends, family, fun, and everything else that makes you you and a happy person.  

Douglas Rushkoff, “Present Shock” chapter 2 (Time is Technology)

[emilyc323]

I really like your chronological comparison of childhood to now. It reminded me of my own childhood when I just read and played with dolls and wasn’t worried about keeping up with what my friends were saying and being available 24/7. I also like what you said about being worried about the job market always changing. Constantly here at school I am told “You don’t even know what jobs you’ll have because they haven’t been invented yet!” While at the same time being told “Write about what you want to do with your life!” It feels hard to do both at once. And, sometimes it does feel like everything is moving too quickly. I think the thing to do like you said is to focus on what matters and believe in yourself, because no matter how much things change we will thrive.

[chloe-meck-blog]

Communities and Social Media

It was difficult to come up with a community I could say I relate to specifically on social media. I would say with many of the communities I identify with I might follow with social media platforms, but interact more in person especially since I do not use social media too heavily. 

I do however interact often with Baltimore related pages, mostly on Facebook and Instagram. I grew up there and moved to the Boston area in 2009. I use social media to catch-up with my friends and family still in that area, check-in with any new happenings/initiatives, cheer on B-more sports teams and try to support the local businesses there as much as I can (if shipping is possible!)

One of my favorite findings through this community on FB has been a business called Baltimore in a Box. They rely heavily on social media for marketing and pack up Baltimore related items to be shipped anywhere. Not only do I follow them for this service, but they also post a lot of Baltimore related news and photos.

Being able to interact with this physical community from even hundreds of miles away through social media is still so exciting for me. I am still able to be involved and aware of what is going on in my hometown just by logging into a platform. 

[emilyc323]

Home is the first community we ever belong to. It’s where we play, it’s where we make friends, and it’s where we build our, well, home.

Leaving that home, whether for college or for other reasons, can be hard. Luckily, with the internet we can now connect to places and people that aren’t physically where we are, and therefore there are more opportunities to build communities. I think it’s awesome that you were able to find a community and this business so that even here at school you can be home.

[emilyc323]

Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick..?

“People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.”

This quote from Doctor Who pretty much sums up this chapter in Present Shock, even though here the Doctor is talking about time travel and physics. It still applies now in the digital age.

My life and timeline are governed by technology. My phone wakes me up in the morning, and I immediately check my social media. I spend my day periodically checking it, and then practically force myself to stay awake so that I can keep scrolling through Tumblr. It reminds me when to take my medications, I use apps to make sure I’m drinking enough water, and almost all of my social interactions happen through this small device. I use it to remember what was happening a year ago through TimeHop and I know something is worth remembering if it is “Instagram worthy.” I don’t think this affects my quality of life, but it definitely affects how I live my life. 

One section in the chapter that definitely spoke to me was on page 85 when Douglass Rushkoff said, “We are always-on. Our boss isn’t the guy in the corner office, but a PDA in our pocket... There is no safe time. If we are truly to take time away from the program, we feel we must disconnect altogether and live “off the grid,” as if we were members of a different, predigital era.” This is 100% true. For a class this semester I had to take 24 hours and go completely media and it was nearly impossible. All of my classwork, my friends, and my job exist very much online and it almost felt as though I was completely alone for that day and unable to do anything. As I just mentioned, my job involves the internet in that I literally run three social media accounts for a company. That means day or night when people tweet at us I respond. I am always there to answer texts or emails from my boss. I am definitely always on. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but right now it’s the only way I know how to be.

[emilyc323]

The future of journalism... or is it?

After reading various articles in Neiman’s Lab 2017 predictions for journalism, I chose a few to highlight in this blog post. One is an article I think will definitely occur in the coming year, and one I think may happen, but certainly won’t be emphasized this year.

Katie Zhu wrote an article entitled “The Year of Minority Media.” In the article she detailed that 2017 will be the year that minority journalists will finally get in the spotlight. What I found most interesting was the emphasis on the necessity of this shift. I found her highlight of Teen Vogue to be particularly interested. She said, “Their incisive political coverage has shocked many who believe the magazine to only cover the best hairstyles or nail polish for teen girls, but after [Elaine] Welteroth took over as editor in May, Teen Vogue’s editorial strategy was steered to tackle the heady topics of racism, feminism, activism, and the rest of the -isms, covering these topics better than most traditional news organizations.” Teen Vogue has definitely stepped on to the scene as one of the most “woke” sources lately and it’s refreshing to see a medium often geared at young women hoping to tackle such deep issues. In the Trump administration era in which diversity and supporting all minorities is so important, and in this time in which all media is considered “the enemy,” it is very important for media to give a voice to those most affected and it is for this reason I think this prediction will come true.

The other article I’d like to highlight is Melody Kramer’s article entitled “Radically Rethinking Design.” I chose this article because of all the ones I read, I felt this one was interesting, but as far as things that will be explored and accomplished in the coming year the design of headlines seems unlikely to be a priority. Though to people interested graphic design and visual communication the topic of visual headlines may peak interest, I do not seeing it being a prioritized subject in this hectic climate.

Sources: http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/radically-rethinking-design/

http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/the-year-of-minority-media/

[emilyc323]

The Legacy of the Check Please Fandom

I have to admit, I did not read the second prompt before writing about the first and now this seems like a somewhat silly community to have chosen. Nevertheless, here we are.

I’m also realizing I probably didn’t quite do the last prompt quite right either, but also I considered the class I was writing for and just went with it. Also I’m reading that this is being submitted much later than it was supposed to - It’s supposed to be submitted by 5 P.M., I thought it was 6 P.M., and it’s not even up by 6 P.M. Wow I’m failing at this whole directions thing. 

please don’t fail me. I’ll do better.

Well after The history of the Check Please community is actually a fairly small one. The comic started in 2014, and gained some followers in it’s first year or two. However, the comic *exploded* at the end of the second year (in the comic) when a certain two characters finally kissed after building it up for almost three years in real time. The fandom exploded. Thousands of fanfics and blogs and pieces of fan art appeared and it became a true community. The community was shaped by opinions of controversial characters and trying to predict what would happen next and even debating what was considered canon by parse-ing out the little details in every comic and extra information but out by the author. I’m not sure if there’s exactly a legacy yet just because it’s so new - to contrast the Supernatural fandom has a lengthy and weird legacy among the tumblr community including things such as “can add a supernatural related gif to *any* post” and “don’t mess with the supernatural fandom.” With time, I believe the Check Please fandom will create the legacy of being open and welcome, extremely talented and patient, and big fans of pie.

[emilyc323]

Life in the fandom community

I find it ironic to be interpreting and disassembling my interactions with others on tumblr... on tumblr. Not sure why, it just seems like you’re giving someone feedback directly to their face. Tumblr is home to a lot of different kinds of blogs - food, aesthetic, puppies, porn, class blogs, and my personal favorite, fandoms. Fandoms are groups of people that become heavily invested in a piece of media - whether that be a movie, book, musical, or most often a T.V. show. Now of course in everyday life you can find other people to watch or read these things with and later discuss them, I mean star trek conventions were happening well before the internet existed. But the internet and particularly tumblr have given fans a way to connect with each other, and this is especially useful because fangirls often feel isolated in their fangirling.

One fandom I am very involved in here on Tumblr is the “Check Please” Fandom.

Check Please is a webcomic that tells the story of Eric Bittle (right) and his years at Samwell University, where he’s on the hockey team and as pictured bakes a lot of pies. Now, because Check Please is actually housed on Tumblr, (omgcheckplease.tumblr.com), the fandom somewhat grew around it and now thrives daily, posting headcanons (ideas about characters or events that grow off of the already canon content), fan art, fan fiction, and just general connection between people whenever new material is posted. I found myself in this community starting in the summer and actually shortly after found out one of my in real life best friends here at school was actually a huge fan, so that’s been fun since then. But either way it’s been so much fun to find more people to talk about this awesome comic with, and I thank tumblr for that opportunity.