Xing Li

Xing Li is the founder of FanFiction.Net. He and several people, including some UCLA students, developed the site in fall of 1998. He was also an admin (using the handle "Diego") at Lit.org.
A 1998 self-description:
Xing Li was an X-Files fan. His first fanwork, created just months before FanFiction.net, was The Definitive X-Files Source, a website that was a resource about the show. In his posts there, he makes several comments about his upcoming new, bigger project, FF.net.
A very early "About Us" page for "Fanfiction.net" lists Xing Li as a "starving student," some of his hobbies and favorite music, and more.About Us
Many fans today find Xing Li to be a mysterious figure as his internet footprint is almost non-existent and in recent years, does not reveal a robust online persona. A fan in 2012 wrote: "It's funny - people complain (wank) about different AO3/DW/LJ people, but there's been no "human" face to ff.net. Something to think of when people write the anthromorphic archive slashfic." Re: Who actually runs Fanfiction.net? , comment at Fail. Fandom. Anon., July 12, 2001
But Xing Li used to be quite approachable and present in his communication with fans. Up until 2006, he included his personal email on all posts and forms, and in the very late-1990s and early 2000s, encouraged fans to email him directly so that he could fix problems.There are numerous messages posted by fans on FanFiction.Net Rants that attest to this. At some point around 2003 or 2004 or so, Xing Li stopped responding to emails asking for technical help, but instead appeared to fix the problem (or not) without further communication.Laura Hale wrote in 2007: "Xing hasn't been heard from in years according to the former [FanFiction.net] staff members I've kept in contact with. The speculation I had was that users were just so nuts. I heard speculation from others that it was probably because he was hiding from intellectual property owners. [...] The speculation as to why is fun. But back around 1999 to 2001, he used to be on AIM and ICQ pretty frequently, would answer e-mails if you e-mailed him at the right address. I think the last person to hear from him that I know was part of the fan type staff was back in 2003." -- partly_bouncy, comments on A look at some fandom based money numbers, post at Fanthropology, 26 June 2007 (WebCite)
Xing Li also was fairly chatty in his public posts on his two websites. At his 1998 website The Definitive X-Files Source, he talks about The X-Files, his excitement about his new site Fanfiction.net,"In the last online Poll many of you wanted a fanfiction section for my xfiles site. Guess what? XcelProductions has just acquired the rights to www.FanFiction.net! You know what this means. hehe...FanFiction.Net is currently under construction but expect a fully automated online system within a few weeks. It will cover fanfictions of all kinds but Xfiles would be THE feature. ;-) Suggestions to the functionality of the site is greatly appreciated. Email me at xing@ucla.edu for any comments/suggestions." -- having a bad cold, and being a student at UCLA. In posts at Fanfiction.net, he talks about many things, including backpacking, physical ailments, his mother's cooking, his admiration for professional women's soccer, his support of the UCLA Bruins, and other topics. Xing Li's infectious enthusiasm and almost supernatural energy and dedication to his work at FF.net is apparent in many, many posts on FF.net's updates: Old News: August 1999-February 2001, as well as to his numerous posts to various Usenet groups One example of a Usenet post at alt.tv.x-files: "Hi everyone, I'm very happy to announce that www.fanfiction.net is now officially open!!!!!! And we have done it 3 weekss ahead of projected finish date. While everyone trick-or-treated we were hard at working debugging the site. =) Here is what the site has to offer: [snipped] As far as we know this is the first and only fully automated fanfiction website where there is no waiting period for any and all changes/submissions. Everyone here at www.xcelpro.com is damn proud of our accomplishment. Actually, it's only the two of us..=) Well, enough of my
talk..go see it for yourselves....Any and all comments are welcomed. Xing" -- www.fanfiction.net is now open!!, November 11, 1998
Xing Li's name was at the bottom of blog posts until 2014, but at some blog posts apparently ceased.blog posts with Xing's name However, they have since resumed. The last entry with his name, as of this edit, is from December 31st, 2017., Archived January 10th, 2019.
There was also a possible 2013 "sighting" of Xing Li on Usenet.First try at Persona and some feedback.
==References==
Category:Fanwriters