Fanboyism at Large on IMDB.com Productive or Counter-Productive?

Jacob Ritteman Doc Mara Intro to Writing Studies 4/12/10

*A note to readers: my research was not able to back my hypothesis, forcing my study to transform into a case study. Deeper research (which wasnt possible for me to perform for this paper) could result with more optimal conclusions.

When any form of art, or any other similar entity for that matter, is presented to a group of persons, opinions are inevitable, and these opinions will surely provoke arguments due to them clashing with one another. If one were to navigate the never-ending message boards of the Internet Movie Database, most commonly known as imdb.com, one would find continuous battles waging between persons in an attempt to attain victory for their own opinion. This is most consistently found on boards delegated to science fiction movies and television shows. The most beneficial product of these boards is the ability for any person to anonymously promote and defend their opinions in a fairly secure environment. This most surely can allow for people who are shy, maturing, scared of women, etc. to develop a sense of confidence which can be applied to real life situations which may challenge their personal beliefs; my research should compliment this thought. The environment of IMDB is quite friendly aside from the rare and random trolling done by those who cannot find anything better to do and find amusement from those who freak out on them. Trolling is done by visiting a board and saying absolutely ridiculous things or making blatantly fictitious claims. An example of this could be someone claiming Star Trek is the gayest show to ever exist, or to say something to the effect of Edward Norton confirmed

he is retiring from acting!!!!!!!! when the person is knowledgeable of the fact he has not declared any such thing. The site also has an option which allows users to block others and their comments which in turn provides them with the ability to scan posts without having to come across any they dont wish to see. With this said, its quite apparent as to why anonymity can be a bad thing; users can post whatever they want, whenever they want. However, if posts get too explicit or insulting, administrators can swoop in and delete them at will. A fanboy can be defined as a person who blindly follows whatever item they choose to support and respect regardless if it sheds them of all honor and dignity. Many fanboys patrol the internet in search of conversation related to anything that goes against whatever precious thing or person they support so passionately. Fanboyism can arguably be thought of as the origin of most biased materials out there on the web. Many users of the internet despise fanboys, yet I find it safe to say everyone is a fanboy one way or another; even if they dont know it. Sadly enough, to be deemed one is an insult most commonly found among the gaming community. Unfortunately this title has been slowly infiltrating into the movie buff realms of the internet particularly imdb.com. I do not believe it would be such an insulting term to throw at someone if it didnt have such an immature-deeming ring to it; mainly because it shows such great loyalty - but also great stupidity in some cases. This immaturity-assignment could be considered the terms biggest downfall, or also its greatest feature for insulting purposes. Obviously, if one goes to a message board which is dedicated to a movie such as Star Wars and starts bashing it in every way possible, fanboys will type and click to its aid and

retaliate relentlessly. These are the most frequent fanboy outbreaks which will happen with movies. LOST, which I personally enjoy along with Star Wars, is a supreme example of a science fiction television show which has incredible amounts of fanboys on standby. Its important to note that in the gaming community, fanboys are mostly restricted to console wars; whichever console has their favorite specifications and exclusive games will be supported until death. For example, people will claim an Xbox is better than a Playstation 3 merely because the Halo franchise is an exclusive title on the Xbox. An example of a popular site which is clearly biased towards Xbox is that of Ign.com reviewers will give higher ratings to an Xbox version of a game as opposed to a PS3 version of that same game when there is no outstanding differences present. Many online interaction sites and social networking sites (imdb.com isnt an actual networking site, more of an anonymous interaction site) receive a lot of criticism from scientists and communication experts, who say it hampers ones ability to communicate effectively in everyday society. However, even from a simple Google search, its easy to see how many different areas of the internet are dedicated to helping people with common interpersonal communication skills especially communication within a relationship. For example, Inc.com features an extensive article designed solely for the purpose of aiding troubled persons in communicating with employees and peers. This is where my research comes into play; after posting a topic on IMDB which inquired whether users felt posting aided or harmed them, my feedback was somewhat disappointing. Of the few people who replied with something useful, they each said they didnt feel it affected them one way or another. One person said, I'd say no. I'm much more uninhibited on here than

I would be in real life. I'm naturally an argumentative person and will defend myself no matter what, but I'd be much more apt to insult someone online than I would in real life. I don't think societal rules apply to online forums (well some do but they aren't as strict and there isn't as much pressure to follow them on here). This user seemed as if theyre quite smart and possess communication skills which are nearly top notch in the real world, which could explain why they feel online posting doesnt affect them either way. The biggest problem with online discussion, which is notably also a less-extreme problem in face-to-face discussions as well, is users more often than not fail to respect some persons have a differing opinion which cannot be swayed either way. This results in endless debating with little-to-no change in claims/points and becomes both boring and quite annoying. Granted, there are always users who claim incredibly ridiculous things and are shut down almost instantaneously - the sad part is this will happen even if that person wasnt being a troll but merely sharing an honest thought. This problem must worry researchers by leading them to think people who do not respect opinions will carry these methods over into reality, which causes them to claim anonymous online interaction as a negative, counter-productive practice. A good sign which supports the positive side of the argument is Ive witnessed over the years how much certain boards which I visit frequently have been escalating in maturity. To see this change and evolution leads one to find it quite reasonable this type of interaction can help a persons skills in the real world its very interesting to consider. After looking deeper into this topic, I was not able to prove my hypothesis, which claimed online interaction improves interpersonal communication skills. However, I was not

able to debunk said hypothesis either. It is quite possible that further and more in-depth research could achieve glory. Sadly, my research study more so turned into a case study; which merely allowed me to analyze the situation which intrigued me greatly from the start. The internet can provide a person with the ability to interact with others anonymously, cross paths with fanboys, and even come across detailed lists and guide dedicated to helping them improve on their own communication skills. There is no clear, definite evidence that blogging, interacting with others, and other types of internet communication hamper ones own interpersonal communication in the real world of everyday society. Therefore, fanboyism on the Internet Movie Data Base is neither productive nor counter-productive, but merely provides as a tool to casually interact with others and get your own opinions out there. Works Cited 20/03/2010. . 20/03/2010 <www.imdb.com>. 2010. Inc Magazine. 29/03/2010 <http://www.inc.com/guides/growth/23032.html#>.

29/03/2010. . 29/03/2010 <www.ign.com>.