The structure of independent fan produced texts allows a level of freedom far greater than anything produced by the mainstream media. Text producers are able to keep their anonymousness while still forming relations and communities based on their shared interests and beliefs. In mainstream media anything published anonymously or under a pseudonym is void of credibility while it is the norm for fan texts. The rise of the internet has meant publication and distribution of fan texts are far easier than 20 years ago when fans communicated through hard copy zines letters sent through the slow post. Through the internet anyone can be a text producer, distributor and consumer. Fan writing can be distributed independently by producers or as a contribution to collaborative host sites. The advantage of publishing fan writing independently is that nothing will be filtered or edited by another party allowing complete creative autonomy. While the advantage of submitting to a host site is that they attract a larger audience, hence a text will gain more readers and recognition. Also, a higher quality of work on host sites can be expected as everything submitted must be approved.
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