MidemNet topic “Social Networking and Online Fandom”
HypeBot is blogging about the conference papers and discussion panels that they are attending at MidemNet and this topic is one that struck a chord with me as being important for an artist - ANY artist, be it a struggling artist (part of the long tail) or a major artist, looking to avoid being a flash in the pan, one-hit wonder, instead creating a career of good music and good choices.
University Professor, Nancy Baym (whose blog can be found at http://www.onlinefandom.com/), presented at the MidemNet conference over the weekend - HypeBot caught the main points of her conference paper.
Important behaviors:
- Sharing emotion
- Building social identity
- Collective intelligence (set lists, fan reviews)
- Sharing interpretations (analyzing lyrics)
- Creating for each other (fan videos, remixes, playlists)
She also shared some mutually beneficial ways for Artists to connect to their fans - to spread the buzz about the artist -
Mutually benificial ways to connect with fans:
- Make personal connections
- Use multiple plaforms, but only as many as you can maintain well.
- Provide social resources
- Encourage their creativity
We agree with these points - these are at the heart of what it is to be a part of the web 2.0 world of promoting your band and spreading the word. Never should interactions between fan and artist be impersonal.
Check out our e-book for other ways of maintaining a good relationship with your fans using your web 2.0 tools.
