If a showrunner gives you the implicit, or explicit impression that they also take into account what the “fans on the internet” are saying, or needing, that showrunner is pulling your leg. Trust me on this one. They know exactly what to say publicity-wise to keep you feeling “part of the process.” We are not part of the process.
We beg to differ. Having spent the last two years researching the reciprocal relationship between fans and creators (showrunners, writers, producers, and actors), fans are most definitely a part of the process. Showrunners care, they do listen (they'd be foolish not to) and they do take fan input into consideration. This doesn't mean they always act on it. If they're good at what they do, they stick to their own creative vision, which is why fans like the show in the first place.
We have noticed the growing tendency of fans to police other fans. Maybe it's always existed but it becomes impossible to ignore when somebody tacks the "Rules of Being a Good Fan" on the back of a bathroom door at a Supernatural convention (Why It's Not Safe to Come Out of the Fan Closet (http://fangasmthebook.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/why-its-not-safe-to-come-out-of-the-fan-closet/)).
Boundaries have always been an essential part of fandom - establishing them, crossing them, re-establishing them, negotiating them with each other and with the creators - but who gets to figure out the right place to draw them?
creator/fan interaction
We beg to differ. Having spent the last two years researching the reciprocal relationship between fans and creators (showrunners, writers, producers, and actors), fans are most definitely a part of the process. Showrunners care, they do listen (they'd be foolish not to) and they do take fan input into consideration. This doesn't mean they always act on it. If they're good at what they do, they stick to their own creative vision, which is why fans like the show in the first place.
We have noticed the growing tendency of fans to police other fans. Maybe it's always existed but it becomes impossible to ignore when somebody tacks the "Rules of Being a Good Fan" on the back of a bathroom door at a Supernatural convention (Why It's Not Safe to Come Out of the Fan Closet (http://fangasmthebook.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/why-its-not-safe-to-come-out-of-the-fan-closet/)).
Boundaries have always been an essential part of fandom - establishing them, crossing them, re-establishing them, negotiating them with each other and with the creators - but who gets to figure out the right place to draw them?