sentation and by image-based channels and vectors. These vectors are the media,
the conveyors, the transmitters. That is why media is still important for passing on
the germs, even in times of multiple micro-cultures, frequent blogging or flat “vi-
ral” marketing.
This means that media is still important in this model, as they are the main vectors,
but there are also other possibilities that arise. This is not only through micro-
broadcasting, or narrowcasting, through the Internet, but also a rise of influence
on buzz because of it is attention and trust gained by word-by-mouth transmis-
sions. Hence the chase these days for the “viral” aspects of marketing where brands
fight to get themselves “buzzed” about.
We can see a double model of how fashion spreads, one still centralized, a cathedral
of broadcasting; the classic media. But we also have another viral model, a dy-
namic one running on street level. Where we have the big fashion system control-
ling the first, it also adds a lot of pressure and attention on the second. For a small
designer the first model is usually inaccessible, if not “discovered” by the estab-
lished gatekeeper. The second model is then usually used, but is seldom very profit-
able as it rarely reaches enough potential buyers, even if it gains wide support and
credibility in their community.
Since media still controls the main vectors of dissemination users must find their
own transmitters or hijack the existing ones. This has been done for a long time, as
marginalized groups have established their own “pirate” channels, leaflets, zines,
radio, or TV. Especially the fan fiction’s use of zines can give us inspiration, as this
scene creates an intense symbiotic wave of co-authorship where fans start to “write
back”, plugging-in their own ideas into the stories of the great popular fiction nar-
ratives of our time. Their own vectors disseminate the “hacked” narratives, as the
established ones have refused them.
On the pages of zines, these fans released new vibrations into the hosting stories.
As their germs infected Star Trek heroes with homoerotic desires a whole new par-
allel dimension of the popular story was opened. Amateur writers have also used
zines to document vividly their own featureless everyday lives, yet through this
simple act of spreading or radiating them they have enlivened others in the same
situation. Small viral colonies of hacktivist mindsets spread through photocopied
DIY magazines – this is the fan fiction community.fan and slash fiction
Fan fiction is the tinkering with popular culture mythology, narrative and distribu-
tion. Made by fans or users, it is a phenomenon that renegotiates the right for in-
terpretation and co-authorship. Here, fans share the practice of writing their own
fictions about characters and popular fiction series, such as in TV-series, movies or
comics. In this move the fan takes on the authorship instead of the original au-
thors. The fans writing fan fiction tend not to be just any fans. These are the serious
fans that know the original work thoroughly after several re-readings, committed
following of the episodes and commenting knowledgeably the work or adding new
parts. This is done with a high degree of precision, without changing the main lines
in the work. As we will see it is a form of hacking that usually is done to celebrate
the original works, out of interest and the desire to add one’s ideas to the narrative
and share it with other fans.The famous punk chords
that started off a whole generation
of bands and DIY distribution.