Lyndahere (@lyndahere) Is she a big name fan?
@MichelleGallinger “did you actually get tix? I tried could not. I did email hughs rm for tix and dinner no reply yet?” 13 February 2013
@MichelleGallinger “again thx! Btw if ur wondering who the I am, I intro’d myself to you at danforth in TO in pub next dr prior to gbs XX kick of remem?” 13 February 2013
@lyndahere “Hey there, Michelle – I remember you. Thanks for the name-to-face help. Always appreciated! See you at Hughs.” 13 February 2013
@MichelleGalinger “I hope so..still have to get tix going to London but this one has proven to be a bit more challenging” 13 February 2013
@GirlieStarfish “my phone tells me u tweeted me but I can’t see it?” 25 January 2013
@lyndahere “Yes, sorry deleted. Had 2nd thoughts about answering your TOGOG question. G-rated explanations to be found by Googling :-)” 26 January 2013
@GirlieStarfish “lol okay will have to keep Googling then :-) 26 January 2013
When researching and reading about fandom I came across another term I had never heard before on Wikipedia a “Big Name Fan”. I asked the question what constitutes a Big Name Fan? There are certain Big Name Fans in the Great Big Sea fan community.
Wikipedia describes a Big Name Fan as one that has achieved a certain amount of fame and respect for their contributions to the fandom. Some fans have made such a contribution to that fandom they sometimes have their own followers and a certain amount of fame. There are many examples on Lyndahere’s Twitter site of fans contacting her for information about Great Big Sea, Alan Doyle and even Russell Crowe. Lyndahere bootlegs live recordings, writes a blog, some fan fiction and takes photos. While there are many fans who like and follow Lyndahere for her videos and blog not everyone does in the Great Big Sea fan community. She is known to the fans of Russell Crowe and Scott Grimes. The other big name fans are people Great Big Sea members regularly Tweet on Twitter and they attend concerts.
Wikipedia describes a Big Name Fan as one that has achieved a certain amount of fame and respect for their contributions to the fandom. Some fans have made such a contribution to that fandom they sometimes have their own followers and a certain amount of fame. There are many examples on Lyndahere’s Twitter site of fans contacting her for information about Great Big Sea, Alan Doyle and even Russell Crowe. Lyndahere bootlegs live recordings, writes a blog, some fan fiction and takes photos. While there are many fans who like and follow Lyndahere for her videos and blog not everyone does in the Great Big Sea fan community. She is known to the fans of Russell Crowe and Scott Grimes. The other big name fans are people Great Big Sea members regularly Tweet on Twitter and they attend concerts.
“The Neo-Fan Guide” edited by Bob Tucker on the Fanlore site was written to help people understand the science fiction fandom but can be applied across fandoms. He describes a Big Name Fan “BNF or Bnf - The "Big Name Fan," the person who is well-known and who has made a solid reputation for himself. This is usually accomplished by participating in fannish affairs for a long while, or by publishing a superior fanzine, or by consistently writing or illustrating in a manner identified with quality, or by any number of ways which keeps your name before fandom in a responsible manner. The term "Bnf" has to be earned, it can never be appropriated or purchased, nor conferred upon yourself or your friends”. The rest of us are Little Name Fans “LNF - A "Little-name Fan" or "Little-known Fan." You, until you make a respectable reputation for yourself in fandom. It may take only a year or two, or it may take several”.
Fanlore is a wiki that discusses fandom in considerable detail allowing people to contribute research and participate in discussions about fandoms. “Fanlore is a collaborative site by, for, and about fans and fan communities that create and consume fanworks...”. I love these discussions and contributions by fans to a body of knowledge. While they mainly discuss fan fiction a lot of the ideas on Big Name Fans can spread across all kinds of fandom. I hope they help you make up your own ideas about Big Name Fans.
Dracothelizard 2008-01-27 09:38 pm UTC “Well, I'm not surprised if someone who is considered a BNF doesn't want to call themselves that, since BNFs do get associated with being wanky. I think BNFs are known by a large part of fandom, but that a BNF also tries to make themselves be known, by participating actively by creating fanworks and by promoting them.”
carmarthen 2008-01-29 12:42 am UTC “I'd say BNFs may have any or all of the above characteristics:
-Run major website/challenge/other fannish project (may be cross-fandom--you can be a general small-fandom BNF this way)
-Name recognition inside their fandom
-Possible name recognition outside
-Produce popular/frequently-recced fic/art/vids/meta
BNF-dom may or may not translate to a new fandom, depending on the BNF. And yes, I think it's possibly to be a non-wanky BNF.
MNFs are a lot like BNFs, but with less name recognition. They can be wanky or not as well.”
-Run major website/challenge/other fannish project (may be cross-fandom--you can be a general small-fandom BNF this way)
-Name recognition inside their fandom
-Possible name recognition outside
-Produce popular/frequently-recced fic/art/vids/meta
BNF-dom may or may not translate to a new fandom, depending on the BNF. And yes, I think it's possibly to be a non-wanky BNF.
MNFs are a lot like BNFs, but with less name recognition. They can be wanky or not as well.”
maewin_of_hern 2008-01-29 06:12 am UTC “I think a BNF is a fan who has his/her own fans. Someone who's not just liked by everyone, but loved, worshipped, supported etc. by many. Which is something that's hard for me to understand: They are BNFs just because their own fan-being is so awesome? Because their actions (writing fan-fics, hosting communities, whatever) make them "better" fans than others? I mean, sure, if someone devotes a lot of time and effort into his/her fandom, the other fans should acknowledge that work. But why the worshipping? This is something I've only encountered online, that fans are being divided into the BNFs and all the rest.”
angipen 2008-01-29 11:22 am UTC “I think of a BNF as being defined by influence, someone who's accumulated a lot of the social capital that fandom runs on. They might be a popular writer or artist or vidder, or they might mod popular communities or archives, or run a well-known newsletter or contest or fest or other event, or be known for their thoughtful and interesting meta, or something else, or some combination. But they do something that gains them the respect of other people. Other fans listen to them. They might not agree with them all the time, but to me, a BNF is someone who has enough influence to get something done, whether they use it or not”.
skuf2008-01-29 02:02 pm “I define BNF as someone who is relatively well-known in a relatively large part of a given fandom or fandoms”.
wickedwords 2008-01-29 03:01 pm UTC “There are several kinds of BNFs, not just one. There are mono-fandom BNFs who are well known inside their particular fandom but not really known outside of it. There are multi-fandom BNFs, known across fandoms and are usually people that have been around a longer period of time. Same basic structure applies for the distribution mechanism: livejournal BNFs, mailing list BNFs, web board BNFs, RPG BNFs, etc. Or you can treat types of product as single fandoms and get: Fiction BNFs, Meta BNFs, Vidding BNFs, Art BNFs, etc, etc, etc. There are a bazillion ways to slice and dice this, and not just one method for determining if someone is a BNF”.
Jynx 2008-01-29 03:50 pm UTC “…The potential is there the second we start writing for reasons other than personal enjoyment, fan manipulation. I would say things like posting really short chapters to generate more reviews. That doesn't make a BNF, but it has to start somewhere. Time served in fandom, it seems to me that most of the BNF's I'm aware of, or have labeled as such in my head because they fit the framework I've observed BNFs share in their genetic make-up. [BNF gene, I has new invenshun?] In bandom, it tends to be the ones who saw them at their first gig/have been to most gigs/have met band most often, etc. Those aren't necessarily the same fans who write fic, but it's the attitude of superiority that makes me use the BNF label. That their fan process is somehow better than mine.
Fangirls make the BNF, you can't achieve minor deity status in fandom without fangirls - the BNF fan contribution must maintain the fangirls support and devotion either through manipulative LJing, or constant production of their particular medium, usually a combination. BNF's aren't the best authors in my experience, usually far from it. People who devote their time to becoming famous in a particular fandom to the point they earn BNF status, tend to be writing with an agenda [attract as many fans as possible]. Their fan contribution has shifted from author (or whatever) to BNF, different label and therefore different expected behaviors. They need to present their opinion as if it were fact and get snippy if they're questioned”.
dodge_and_weave 2008-01-29 05:40 pm UTC “So after thinking about this for a bit, I'd have to say I think that BNF is a label other fans give to someone who's become popular or known in a fandom for whatever reason. Maybe they're a good writer or artist or reccer, maybe they're a hack, but they're known. And when they get to that certain point of popularity, where others might start calling them a BNF, it's up to them on how they are going to behave to the label. Do they just carry on and do what they've been doing, without changing? Do they start courting more popularity or courting fanbrats? Do they intentionally start wank because they know their popular status can make waves and gossip? I think some BNF's start believing their own press, per say. They actually do think everything they write is golden or do is golden, and they are above crit status. And their opinions count for more than others for whatever reason- they've been around longer, they've met someone part of the show or the book author, they're actually published in real life- that sort of thing”.
Brick_me 2008-01-30 02:12 pm UTC “I agree mostly with jynx: BNF is more a personality type for me than anything to do with quality or popularity of fandom output. It's probably an unfair labeling, but when I see people who act in certain ways that seems to me as though they are actively trying to get popular and get attention, I label them as "BNF" in my mind. BNFs often name drop; if I check an LJ and see in the top entry that there are more than three usernames mentioned, I'll automatically roll my eyes and think they're doing it to show off how many "friends" they have. They also often pat their friends' back to get their friends to pat their back, e.g. by exaggerated fic recs for someone on their flist which don't tell me so much about the story or content of a given fic as it tells me what a wonderful writer and a sweetie this friend is. They also tend to often mention how they're sorry they haven't been able to reply to all of their feedback (but they'll get to it! Just you wait!), or mention how they can't or won't reply to comments left on their non-fanwork entries (implying that they get so many).
In short, in puts me off and I will be biased against this kind of person for the rest of my shared fandom time with them. I think this negative attitude I have about the topic comes from how perfectly useless I think it is to be (or be considered) a BNF. Wow, so a few hundred to a few thousand people in fandom know your name and will recognize it on sight. I can't see how that's something worth striving for; it's so arbitary and, by all real life standards, such a pathetically small thing to want or be proud of. And I certainly find people who fangirl these BNFs pathetic, too. One thing is to like and appreciate someone's writing or art or vids or meta, another thing entirely to be a fan of another fan. I just don't get it. I'm in fandom to be friends, or at least have equal-opportunity conversations about something we all like. There are very few people I consider BNFs in a neutral or positive light. torch is one, because I see her as not (in public, at least) dislay any of the personality traits that I associate with BNFs, but I personally still think she's probably has a fair share of name-recognition. But then, she's been around steadily writing fic for more than a decade”.
In short, in puts me off and I will be biased against this kind of person for the rest of my shared fandom time with them. I think this negative attitude I have about the topic comes from how perfectly useless I think it is to be (or be considered) a BNF. Wow, so a few hundred to a few thousand people in fandom know your name and will recognize it on sight. I can't see how that's something worth striving for; it's so arbitary and, by all real life standards, such a pathetically small thing to want or be proud of. And I certainly find people who fangirl these BNFs pathetic, too. One thing is to like and appreciate someone's writing or art or vids or meta, another thing entirely to be a fan of another fan. I just don't get it. I'm in fandom to be friends, or at least have equal-opportunity conversations about something we all like. There are very few people I consider BNFs in a neutral or positive light. torch is one, because I see her as not (in public, at least) dislay any of the personality traits that I associate with BNFs, but I personally still think she's probably has a fair share of name-recognition. But then, she's been around steadily writing fic for more than a decade”.
