TheoryofFicGate

TheoryofFicGate was a 2015 discussion among fans that included the topics of fandom and visibility, the internet as a public/private place, cultural norms of feedback, fandom and the underground, who has the "right" to read fanfic, what constitutes a real fan, the divide between fans and non-fans, the cohesiveness of fandom as a cooperative group, fannish outrage, the roles of acafans, and the roles and influence of BNFs.
The controversy began roughly February 18, 2015 after several comments were left on a story ("Delilah") which had been posted to Archive of Our Own. The tone and content of these comments did not match fannish cultural norms. 
The fic's author, waldorph, discovered that their fic had been used on an academic syllabus for a DeCal class at the University of California Berkeley called "The Theory of Fanfiction." Students in the class had been meeting once a week to share and explore the forms and themes of fan fiction, the genre’s role in the literary world, and in society as a whole. Commenting on fics was part of the class requirement. 
waldorph then wrote a post called "So Your Fic is Required Reading: Hahahanope." The post went viral, and generated hundreds, if not thousands, of comments. 
Included in these comments and interactions was a nasty troll (not unexpected), and later, an incite by two BNFs to bully and dogpile students in the class.
 
==The Post that Alerted Fans==
'So Your Fic is Required Reading: Hahahanope' is a February 2015 Tumblr post by waldorph. It was created in response to the inclusion of their fic Delilah, along with many other fanfics, as required reading on a class syllabus. This alone might have gone unnoticed, except for the fact that the class also required students to comment in some sort of substantive manner on the fic in question as well. 
In their post, waldorph included links to the other fanfics that were on the syllabus. This was done so that these fics' authors could have a "heads up," and so that other fans could "give them some love" after having a spotlight shone upon them in a way they probably did not expect. 
On Feb 22, 2014 waldorph adopted "TheoryofFicGate" as a tumblr tag.
A summary of events through Feb 23, 2015 by learn from the winter trees: Later documented on the Fan Meta Reader: "Round-up: TheoryOfFicgate".
==Excerpt from waldorph's Post==
==The Class Syllabus, and a Write-Up in a Newspaper ==
The class syllabus: 
From DeCal's newspaper, "The Daily Californian" written in the article "Students explore erotica in fan fiction DeCal at UC Berkeley": 
==The Class was Not Taught by Professors==
Unlike most instructor led classes, "The Theory of Fanfiction" was a "DeCal" class created by undergraduates for other undergraduates and taught by undergraduates. UC Berkeley does give students course credits for the class and while it is signed off by a faculty instructor, there is little oversight.
As several fans noted:
==Bullying, Apologies, and Dogpiling==
A day after the original post, waldorph made this statement: 
That very day, one of the student teachers wrote this apology to waldorph: 
After these apologies, and after the student teacher asked her class to stop adding comments to public posts, a fan named copperbadge made a malicious post in his blog, and another fan, scifigrl47, reblogged it. Excerpt from a discussion thread on FFA:
A fan on FFA posted: 
Another fan added: 
While many agreed that the dogpiling and bullying was bad, others pointed out that linking to the course page which contained the syllabus and the contact info for the two student instructors and their faculty supervisor was not "doxxing": 
No matter what it may be called, the call to arms did have a negative impact on the students in the class. As one class member wrote: 
==In Response To Feedback, Changes Made To The Course==
 
===Discussion at AO3===
See TheoryofFicGate/Discussion at AO3.
===Discussion at Tumblr===
See TheoryofFicGate/Discussion at Tumblr.
===Discussion at Fail_Fandomanon===
See TheoryofFicGate/Discussion at Fail_Fandomanon.
==Additional Reporting==
*Slash Report: 507 Theory of Fic Gate, Series Finales (March 1, 2015)
*The Daily Dot: (February 23, 2015)
* by Bethan Jones for The Learned Fangirl (March 25, 2016)
* From the Internet to the Ivy League: Fanfiction in the Classroom by Elizabeth Minkel (March 25, 2015)
==References==
Category:Academia
Category:2015 Events
Category:ScandalsCategory:Fandom WarsCategory:2018 Featured Articles