The Expansion Of Official Fan Forums On The
Internet
Author: Madison Lockwood

The use of web pages built around entertainers has developed
multiple facets. What began as amateurs building web sites to
gush over their favorite entertainer has developed into
sophisticated use of the world's newest and biggest
communications device. Fan sites have become entertainer
promotion sites; entertainer's product promotion sites;
commercial opportunities for enterprising webmasters from
outside the entertainment industry; and features for larger
websites that provide an opportunity for personal networking.

Official Sites vs. Unofficial Sites

Take for instance, your Justin Timberlake. His record company
has at least two sites: justintimnberlake.com and
justintimberlake/uk.com. Those sites promote his latest record
and provide the opportunity to download tunes to your iPod. The
record company has also created an official justintimberlake
site on MySpace, which is basically a copy of their web page.
This is an example of a mainstream artist following the highly
successful track established by independent bands who posted
their music on MySpace as an outreach tool, an alternative to
the broadcast radio outlets that ignored them.

Then there is the "official" site, not surprisingly named
officialjustintimberlake.com. This site provides news; photos
and video clips; a store selling DVDs, CDs, posters and the
like; and a fan "forum" where Justin followers are invited to
post comments and engage in discussion.

That button, however, takes you to a site called "Safe
Searching - the Official Celebrity Network." There's not much
about Justin there, and there's a menu that will take you to
other "official" celebrity forum pages complete with
photographs that accompany the commentary.

That's an example of a relatively benign attempt at "official"
use of the Internet. Of course, the star in question also has a
stack of other unofficial web sites dedicated to his career, and
many of those have heavy inventories of photos and video clips,
mostly from TV appearances. As an example of the value of these
sites, MTV has positioned itself high in the Google search list
as "the ultimate destination for content on Justin Timberlake,
including music videos, live performances, interviews, etc..."

True Fan Sites

With this guy, it's tough to get to the true fan sites. The
first six pages of a Google search are all commercial sites
like "celebrity.org" and "hollywood.com" along with poster
companies, Amazon and other commercial outlets. Hollywood.com
covers all bases: it's a general site for the entertainment
industry, an index for fan sites, and a host company for
individual fan sites - that are sure to end up in their index.
The commercial applications for the Internet in the
entertainment biz can make one's head spin.

Topix.net hosts forums for entertainment personalities, among
other topics. Some of the posts there are highly critical of
Mr. Timberlake. Those are not discussion points you'll find in
the more entertainment oriented commercial sites, but you'll
find many more postings on sites like Topix than on the
media-heavy promotional sites.

A final example of Internet utilization with impact is the
personal diary-type postings that you'll find on the official
sites maintained by many public figures. These posts connect
the artist to the fan in an effective, personal fashion. NASCAR
drivers do it, many musicians do it, and almost all of the teen
stars use this outreach technique. To many impressionable
teenagers, the entertainer is no longer an unreachable idol but
a "friend."


About The Author: Madison Lockwood is a customer relations
associate for http://www.apollohosting.com. She helps clients
understand how a website may benefit them both personally and
professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting,
ecommerce hosting, & VPS hosting to a wide range of customers.