Fanlore:What Fanlore is not

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search

What Fanlore is not

Fanlore is not Wikipedia - either in methodology, policies, or scope.

  • Fanlore represents a Plural Point of View and uses an inclusive tone, rather than a neutral one.
  • Fanlore has no notability requirement.

Fanlore is not an encyclopedia of popular culture.

  • The focus of the Fanlore wiki is fandom itself: fan works, fan activities, fan terminology, individual fans, and fannish-related events. So in essence, we are an encyclopedia of fannish culture, and we are interested in popular culture references that supports that.
  • For this reason, images accompanying a Fanlore page should be of a fannish nature unless there is a reason for them not to be (e.g. for commentary purposes). Logos and official publicity photos should be avoided, and any copyrighted images must fall under the terms of fair use.

Fanlore is not exclusively dedicated to or reserved for X fandom.

  • All fandoms that create and consume fanworks are welcome.

Fanlore is not a repository for plot summaries, character biographies, or other canon information.

  • The focus of every page should be about the fandom. Canon details are important if they can be associated with particular fannish activity or associated with a fan community, a fan work, or fannish event. While a page is young, there may be more canon details on a page than details related to fan activities, but in the end, fandom should dominate on the majority of pages in the wiki.

Fanlore is not an index of every fanwork ever created.

  • A page about a fan might list all of their fanworks, but a separate page should not be created for each individual work unless Fanlore contributors have something to say about them. Pages for controversial and/or significant fanworks are always desired.

Fanlore is not an arbiter of relevance.

Fanlore is not a blog, a webspace provider or a social networking tool.

Fanlore is not censored.

  • Fanlore does have a strong interest in allowing fans to keep their privacy, when necessary, and articles that "out" fans without their permission will be changed.

Fanlore is not a forum for a personal autobiography.

  • The people pages in the main namespace should stick to fannish history & engagement. User pages (the page that a Fanlore contributor receives when they create an account) may be used for that kind of information.

Fanlore is not a space to advertise.

  • Fans are welcome and encouraged to add their own experiences, works and communities to Fanlore. However, the purpose of creating these pages or adding these links should be to inform visitors to the wiki and expand Fanlore, not simply to promote a person, community or work.
  • As Fanlore encourages its members to edit and add information to any article, additions that are written in an excessively promotional manner may be changed or proposed for deletion.