"One of the internet's most bizarre tribes"

[sunnyskywalker]

Here's an article which might be of interest: Six Apart's Teen Alien Problem. Some representative quotes:

Pity the poor internet executive who runs foul of the fan-fiction community, one of the internet's most bizarre tribes.

O RLY? I don't know about you, but I've heard of far stranger things on the internet.

So far, just another tedious free-speech case.

1) Technically, no, since Six Apart isn't the government. 2) Tedious free-speech case? You say this in an internet news article?

Those who care can discuss, forever, whether there's a difference between the promotion of pedophilia and "slash" fictional accounts of sex between teens, sex between aliens, sex between teens and aliens, sex between teens, aliens and Captain Kirk., and all the other permutations that spring from the minds of the internet's freakier fanfic obsessives.

Those wacky obsessives and their endless philosophical and linguistic debates. Why don't they obsess over something normal, like football? But hey, at least this acknowledges that fanfic isn't all about the porn - only the "freakier" fanfic obsessives talk about this stuff.

And way to totally not understand the definition of "slash."

One can't accuse these companies of cynicism: the community, in each case, came before the corporate ambition. But all three companies now have business objectives: Fanlib has big-money backers to satisfy; Six Apart wants to go public, and has other more respectable units;; and Linden Lab needs the blue-chip marketers to fund, indirectly, its tremendous technology costs. The freaks will have to go. But, if they do, what's left?

Yes, quite the dilemma.

Also, I did not know that Six Apart is planning to go public. Should I worry?