erika, it was a gift. It's your own damn business what you do with it. I'm glad you could at least get to LA to see Nilly. Even if it turned out you couldn't go, it was still a gift, for you. Just because we can do it.

Thanks again...(shakes fist at PTB that I had to go back early)

Wow. Normally when I haven't checked a thread for weeks (or months) I'll just skip to the recent stuff. I'm so glad I didn't do that in this thread. Fascinating stuff.

Research. Well, google, anyway. Found this definition for Big Name Fan.

BNF:
Big Name Fan; a fan of accomplishment who is not merely "well known" but "well liked" throughout the microcosm. It is important to note that, unlike certain other designations (e.g., "fan", "neofan", "trufan") one cannot legitimately claim BNFdom for one's self; to do so invites laughs of derision, since it's a term of admiration which must be applied to you by others, if at all. Because fandom is an anarchistic meritocracy, a BNF has status but no real power.

Is fandom an anarchistic meritocracy? Isn't BNF a term of derision? ie, get a fucking life, yo?

a fan of accomplishment who is not merely "well known" but "well liked" throughout the microcosm.

See, I thought being feared and despised was part of being a BNF.

I think the definition of BNF has mutated some since the move to LJ, frankly.

When I was first in internet-based fandom, there were the fans, and there were the so-called "divas", who were perceived as self-important, faux-friendly, and above the masses.

Realspace fandom has been using the term BNF for yonks, and Nutty can probably correct me, but I think since at least the 50s. Referred mostly to fans who put together cons and zines, you know: the folks who did the infrastructure work that held the fandom together. I don't believe it had any negative connotation (I could be wrong about this).

After the rise of LJ, "BNF" showed up in internet fandom, and it almost instantly had a negative connotation. A BNF was someone who was well-known but that some people didn't like, and one was supposed to deny BNF-dom if accused of it.

Now I think it carries both meanings: can be neutral, can be negative.

See, I thought being feared and despised was part of being a BNF

Well, by whom? I can't think of one person on line who is universally liked. I always figured it was sort of like you guys, please don't hurt me, for although there is fear, I do not despise, nor is this said with any derision people who were well known, because they wrote, and got read by many, and talked at panels, and ran sites, etc.

Is fandom an anarchistic meritocracy?

My fandom is an anachronistic meritocracy. Shoot. Now I want an LJ icon that says that.

But it was never true that "BNF" means "universally liked" or even "well liked". Being a Big Name has always made you a target for envy, or more likely to become a jerk, depending on which side of the Name you're looking from.

I've always thought of BNFdom as being a measure of what's been contributed to a fandom, and how much notice those contributions got. I've written a few short fics and made some LJ icons; I don't qualify. The people who build websites, organize fundraisers, and write popular (and, more importantly, *good*) fic are BNFs.

I've been a Big Name Fan for a few portions of my involvement in fandom. I'm felt despised and pitied, but the only time I ever thought that envy came into play was an incident within the Firefly fandom, and my lack of tact contributed greatly.

The Wonderfalls cancellation was where I think I regained some sense that I didn't need to tilt at windmills in order to feel some sense of respect, or in a desperate bid for attention from my heroes.

I never got involved in fic, it's a whole unknown variable in fandom to me. The reason is that I can't write it. If I can't be a rock star, I don't get involved. For someone with such low self-esteem, I have a hugely over-inflated ego.