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The age of Fandom viral sites, and why ‘Potter’ should copy ‘Twilight’

By Andrew Sims (@Sims) at 1:00 pm, October 17, 2011

Over the past few months there have been three websites which launched to much fanfare within their respective fandoms.

Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Twilight all have a site created by the legal owners, and they are each viral in their own way. But is one better than the other two? And which is best for its respective fandom?

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was first out of the gate with Pottermore a few months ago (though technically it still hasn’t officially launched). The site is a place for fans to go to be sorted, read new content from Jo, and interact in limited ways with fellow Pottermore users.

Next came Lionsgate with TheCapitol.pn for The Hunger Games fans. The site allows you to be placed in a District and receive a District Identification Pass. You’re then encouraged to share the pass on your social media networks. Not much else is offered presently.

Most recently was Summit’s Twilight Time Capsule which allows fans to upload photos, video, and text from a particular time in Twilight history. You can then scroll through all the user-submitted content in an interactive interface. While it looks nice, there are some modifications that should be made so it’s easier to browse the content.

When the Time Capsule was released I was surprised to see a couple Potter fans say that Twilight Time Capsule was copying Pottermore. What? This argument is silly. The two sites don’t compare.

And frankly, Twilight Time Capsule is the best out of the three in terms of catering to the fandom. Time Capsule allows the fans to shape a website using their experiences in the fandom. It’s an extensive archive of moments from the rabid fans who are the reason Twilight exists in the first place.

And before you Twilight haters say, “Well, Twilight doesn’t have new info from its author on their interactive site.” That’s true, but they DO have an encyclopedia with new info in book form. (Edit: And that’s not to say Potter and Hunger Games encyclopedias won’t come out in the future.)

I believe Warner Brothers, J.K. Rowling, or someone from Team Potter should look at Time Capsule and copy it. It’d be wonderful to have an archive of fan photos and videos from the past 10 – 12 years of Harry Potter fandom. I think Potter fans who look at Time Capsule and scoff are just jealous – I know I am (and I’m not scoffing).

While fandom viral sites are nothing new, it’s interesting that three of the biggest book-to-film fandoms each created a Flash-heavy, interactive site around the same time. The book publishers and film studios certainly see the benefit in creating these to test the waters and see what can spread like wildfire. Each of them has plenty of room for improvement, but instead of hating on one “copying” the other, lets encourage additional viral sites to bring some exciting things to each fandom.

View the latest articles in: ZExclusion

http://twitter.com/Shaftsword Shaft Almasy

I don’t know how you would consider them viral
http://twitter.com/myridehome Carla

While I’m no fan of Twilight, I agree that the Time Capsule they put up is way more “interactive” than both Pottermore and Capitol.pn. I think all three have a slightly different purpose though, and don’t necessarily cater to the same people.

Pottermore and Capitol.pn serve as an animated and visual extension to the books/movies and cater to the average fan. Twilight’s Time Capsule caters to fandom as we know it, those of us who actually participate and produce content, with pictures, fan art, discussions, etc. I think it came a little late though, considering the saga is nearing its end. Basically, what Twilight did was create an official hub where the fans can communicate their involvement with the series. Otherwise, networks like FanForum, Tumblr, Livejournal and the many Twilight sites out there have been doing this since day one.
http://fafafab.tumblr.com/ fafafab

Potter should copy Twilight? stop the blasphemy please
Tom

There’s not a lot of ‘Twilight history’ to go in this ‘twilight time capsule’. It’s a good idea, and would be even better with Harry Potter which has been around for a lot longer and has a more interesting history.

I don’t think it’s right to compare this time capsule site with Pottermore, though. They are two hugely different things. Pottermore has had years of work go into it from JK and her team to create the new reading content, and has all the interactiveness with the sorting, the buying stuff, the potions, the duelling, the collecting things, etc. The amount of technical infrastructure that has gone into Pottermore is enormous. This time capsule, while it is a very good, nice and clever idea, is infinitely simpler. It’s not anywhere near on the same scale as Pottermore.

It would be good if something similar were created for the Harry Potter fandom, but would I prefer this over Pottermore? No way! Pretty much anyone with the right resources could build a time capsule site like this. Pottermore could only have come about with the direct involvement of JK Rowling herself.
- Anonymous
  
  You kidding me ? I have a lot of history with Twilight and DAMN GOOD ONES. I was a fan of the books since 2007 have had memories with friends and family with each book coming out and each movie. I have tons of pictures and videos ! This Twilight capsule is for us fans and our memories and sharing them with other fans.
  I’m sure Potter fans have years on us but DON’T INSULT US BY SAYING YOUR BETTER BECAUSE OF THAT ! We love that series just as much as you love Potter.
  - moonshoespotter1712
    
    I think tom just means that harry potter has been around for longer. since the 90′s actually so more than a decade, and more than twilight. you can’t deny that.
Anonymous

Why should Warner people copy the Time Capsule site? For me that’s just as silly as saying that Twilight’s site copied Pottermore… Why can’t these fandoms sites be created without being compared to one another? Why do people always have to be eyeing what the others are doing?

Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games are so difference in their essence (and I think the websites try or should try to catch each particular atmosphere) that their viral material should also be completely different… I think that there is where the Capitol.pn is looking promising because the look and feel is very according to the “totalitarian regime” feel of the book.

Let’s all live in peace shall we?
Clive

There can still be a Potter encyclopedia, and a Hunger Games one. You can’t have Twilights down as part of the debate.
You can add pictures to Pottermore but yes, it’d be nice if fanfiction could be added to the chapters, stories of what’s going on to people around the events of the book. But then again the site could get bogged down with it.
I’m not scoffing Twilights, but i’m not jealous either.
Potter1

Yes. Please stop the blasphemy. Potter copying Twilight? No no no no no no no no no NO!
Steph

Everyone knows that JK Rowling has been working on the Harry Potter Encyopedia since she started the first book. She hasn’t released much info on it, but Potter fans know it should be released soon.
- PotionWillow207
  
  And fans have been saying the encyclopedia will be coming “soon” for at least 5 years. I think we need to accept that at this point it’s an item on a wish list that we may never get. Pottermore might be the closest we will come.
Sectumsara

The Leaky Cauldron had a Fandom Memories page for a few months that sounds quite similar. It was pretty awesome.
Saranoelledelgado

Although this time capsule thing sounds interesting and probably more interactive than Pottermore….UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD POTTER EVER EVER EVER COPY TWILIGHT!!! seriously Andrew????? this disgusts me.
- LeezyChick
  
  jeez, get over yourself – he’s only suggesting that it copy the twilight pages format. Get your facts right BEFORE you get your knickers in a twist!!
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001113783924 Asja ‘Merina’ Dally
  
  Come on, mate, calm down. Just because you don’t like Twilight doesn’t automatically mean that everything involved with it is to be disregarded, whether it’s good quality site stuff or not…
Janie

The Time Capsule idea is ridiculous. Yeah it’s cool to see what other people like out there, but it is no where near as cool as Pottermore. At the end of the day, I don’t want to see someones Twitter update. I want to explore the world of the books I like.
http://twitter.com/AdventureOfNess Vanessa Pereira

*Sigh* As much as I hate to admit it and draw comparisons between Potter and The Hunger Games and Twilight yet again, Andrew has a point. There are aspects that each site does better than the others, although for TheCapitol.pn it’s hard to say considering there is almost basically nothing to do yet. the Time Capsule allows the more interactive-between-users aspect that Pottermore tried to avoid, while Pottermore has more extra information. I’m not a fan of Twilight, but I am pretty jealous that they KNOW they’ll be getting an encyclopedia SOON. I’ll just wait here, pretending to be patient…
Anonymous

i love all three of these fandoms but none of the sites really are that amazing. pottermore was absolutely brilliant at first, but after you finish with everything, theres nothing to do! as for thecapitol.pn i havent been going on it either, its not that great so far. and the twilight time capsule is great if you want to upload you pics but i really dont have anything to upload so again, not much to do! pottermore still is the best, the most detailed, the most gorgeous, the most interesting, at least in the short term.
goldensnidget

Hmmm. Can we not just think of these three series as separate works and please stop getting cross with each other? As for me, my allegiance will always be with Harry Potter (although I’m just reading The Hunger Games, and WOW), and I don’t care that other people like other things, as long as they don’t tell me I’m wrong for liking it, and that theirs is better.

As for the sites, I’d much rather have Pottermore than a site where I can see other fans’ stuff. Not saying that I don’t care about people, but the books are what I love the most, and the books are what I want to find out more about.

Finally, there’s going to be a Twilight encyclopedia?? Ok, I’ve only read the books once, but is there really enough detail to go into a whole encyclopedia?? Meh, I’ll stick to Pottermore…
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001113783924 Asja ‘Merina’ Dally
  
  The Twilight Guide has been out for over a year and a half, and it’s as big as HP7. Just saying :)
  - PotionWillow207
    
    It is so NOT as big as HP7. Not bashing the guide or anything. I like it quite a lot, especially the character drawings. But it is not as big as Deathly Hallows, nor does it have as much content since most of the pages are artwork.
SlythVx13

To be quite honest, I haven’t heard of this time capsule thing until now and wasn’t interested in the Hunger Games site. I enjoy Pottermore, and unlike everyone else, I took my time to complete it. I enjoyed the art, the new information, the sorting, and it’s clear that a lot of thought was put into it. Part of why it’s not so interactive social-wise seems to be for safety reasons. They seem to want everyone incredibly anonymous on there, which I think is smart in a way, considering there are probably some children on there. If we want interaction, we have fansites for that.

Potter doesn’t have to copy anything. None of them do. Everyone should be doing their own thing to give back to their fans, and it’s cool that all 3 authors are doing as much :)
7Starrchasers

I’m a fan of ALL THREE Stories, and I love that they each bring me something different….seriously people who are complaining need to grow up a little…good article Andrew!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002230938851 Maddie Miles

As much as I think it an absolutely repulsive idea for us to copy Twilight, I do think that this Time Capsule thing is an intriguing idea. As someone mentioned, it would be neat for a Potter version since our fandom has been around so much longer, and also since we encompass a more diverse population than Twilight’s fanbase… fans’ Potter memories would be really wonderful. Not that we should do away with Pottermore though; both would be wonderful.
The one objection I had to the Time Capsule was the way they called the whatchamacallits ‘Moments’. Definitely a Pottermore ring to that.
http://twitter.com/20619T Craig Thomson

It’s not really fair to compare them, as each product has it’s seperate aim:

Pottermore is to re-engage consumers with an “expired” format, in order to sell more boxsets, ebooks and dvds. It doesn’t matter if they give anything away because there is no new material to sell.

Thecapitol.pn is designed to bring as many people into the film, as it is a new franchise and they need to get the numbers in the cinemas to justify continuing it as a franchise. They don’t want to give too much away, because they want the secrets to be in the film.

The Time Capsule is working as an internal selling tool to get people engrossed with the franchise more excited with the brand so they drag more people along to the cinema and to buy the books. They don’t want to give much info away because the franchise hasn’t finished, so instead give a tool to feed rumour and debate.

I think each site does that marketing job pretty well myself, and there isn’t much need for them to spend money adapting something in a way which wont really help them sell more stuff.
- http://BreakingDawnMovie.org Will
  
  Yeah, TheCapitolPN has a totally different goal than either Pottermore or Twilight Time Capsule, and Twilight still has two more movies coming up. Granted, both TTC and Pottermore are similar in that they’re “past-tense” compared to TC.pn, which stays in-universe.
Pingback: Who Wins in the Books to Movies Fan Website Market? | Twilight Lexicon
Anonymous

Of course Potter fans would say Twilight copied WHAT’S NEW ? I prefer the Twilight capsule it really does bring memories to the fore front and reminds me why I love that series.
- goldensnidget
  
  You’re being a little generalising – there are plenty of us on here who would prefer it if everyone just accepted that other people like other things, and move on with their lives. It’s also a bit insulting to call us pathetic..
- Anonymous
  
  Like goldensnidget said, you’re really generalizing against Harry Potter. I think remarks like yours only help fuel the feud between the two fan bases more. Not all of us are going around ‘crying’ about Twilght. Some of us actually like it a bit. No need to call us pathetic. And if people want to disagree with Andrew, they have a right to state their opinion as well. I think it’s fine as long as they don’t bash him over it.
Anonymous

More Potter fans crying yay :(
- LeezLuvsEdward
  
  he he he *high five* see you on TTC then?? xxx
- ew_rude
  
  PATHETIC that you’re “yay”-ing over potter fans crying. potter fans just say that it shouldn’t be copying twilight because potter has a more intellectual and deeper plot/writing than twilight’s wettest of dreams, and should not stoop to copying things. yes it’s andrew’s opinion, and i applaud him for stating it, and agree that the TTC is a good site, but others are allowed to have opinions too. i respect that you love the series, but things like this (and all of your previous posts) are exactly why people like me and the rest of the potter fandom can’t help but scoff at you and yours.
- moonshoespotter1712
  
  not all potter fans fit into your stereotype of them. there are some pretty ‘pathetic’ twilight fans too. but that doesn’t mean i’ll judge you as pathetic.
Sahina91

with the TTC, you can’t get sorted into different covens unlike HP where you get sorted into Different Houses, have your own wand, make potions and have duels against each other. i’d rather do this than upload pictures and video’s.
Broyds

I usually like your columns Andrew, but this one was utter bullsh*t. Harry Potter should copy Twilight my A*se.
Pingback: Twilight Time Capsule Does a Better Job for Fans than Pottermore | Free Twilight Breaking Dawn Tickets
Richard

Twilight Time Capsule = Share with your friends about how much you care about a SHIT series. Sure it works better technically, but with the source material…it’ll be THE flop.Pottermore is in BETA still. You really can’t judge it yet because it’s not done.And I’m pretty sure that in like 5 years time, no one will give a flying fuck about anything twilight but nuttymadam and other similarly tragic fans of shit lit.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001113783924 Asja ‘Merina’ Dally
  
  Watch your mouth, mate, please. And have a little respect for fans of books other than Potter, won’t you?
jp

pottermores still in beta. maybe when it opens to the public they’lladd something…? hopefully?
Anonymous

I must say I completely disagree with this. While Twilight time capsule is a great idea for the Twilight fandom, I would much rather have something like Pottermore. I loved the artwork, getting sorted, finding objects, learning new information about certain characters, earning house points, buying things at diagon alley, dueling other players and going through the first book of the series. I like the sense of unity amongst the houses and the fact that you can work together to reach the same goals… ex// sharing potion ingredients to help win the house cup.

With the Twilight time capsule, while it’s a cool place for fans to share their experiences, I feel that I have seen and heard many Potter fans experiences over the internet for the past 10 years. When I want to look for a fan video, I go to youtube. There are plenty of sites on the web which have Potter fan experiences already. While it’s neat to have them all piled on to one site in chronological order, I wouldn’t wish for that over Pottermore.
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Raffc

If Potter copies twilight, twilight fans will go mad!!
Julienbrntt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mftqjgSPEY
Sarah

Hypable.com’s standards have dropped. Can you please employ a decent journalist to write something better than this drivel. So because my opinion differs from yours I must be ‘jealous’ or ‘scoffing’? This Time Capsule thing sounds pretty boring and asinine if you ask me. Probably has something to do with the content generators…
- PotterheadedHungerGamingGleek
  
  Boring and asinine…oh wait doesn’t the describe the Twilight saga as a whole anyhow? :p
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001113783924 Asja ‘Merina’ Dally

To tell the truth, I haven’t even managed to get into Pottermore yet. But this has only served to warm me even more towards the Twilight Time Capsule site. At least I can get on it! Definitely think Pottermore should take a leaf out of it’s book, if only by actually sticking to ‘release days’ and letting people in…
Carolina Gonzalez

The TTC works for the Twilight fandom because the whole thing grew from visual experiences. Sure we love the books, but, honestly, do you really think it would have been so successful if R.Pattz weren’t attached? The man is gorgeous, and I would of course enjoy looking at more pictures of him and the cast.

A time capsule would NOT work for the Potter universe because of it’s age. (It’s older than YouTube and Twitter.) It would not work because we also have young fans, and they need to be protected, so they should not be allowed to post pictures and videos of themselves. It would not work because some of my best Twilight memories are caught on film when I searched for BD the night of it’s release while on vacation and when I stalked the movie cast in LA; my best Potter memories are what I FELT when I read a word, sentence, chapter, and book, which I CAN express on Pottermore. Also, if Pottermore allowed more content from individual users, their servers would crash and the world would implode — too much has happened since the beginning of Pottertime. They are different kinds of experiences and they deserve different ways to communicate them.
I also, for whatever reason, cannot access The Capitol.pn on my laptop. Kind of sucks, but since there’s nothing on it yet, I don’t have to have on opinion about it. :)
- PotionWillow207
  
  Yes, I do think that Twilight would have been as popular without Robert Pattinson. He is nice to look at and a pretty good actor, but myself and every single one of my friends who like Twilight (try the entire theatre department of WIU; about 150 students) agree that Robert Pattinson is by no means our vision of Edward.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=635007208 Tygridia Shaz

People, I think you are missing the point of what Andrew @sims:twitter is saying.

I agree that the content of Pottermore is ok and I love that there is new information. But once you finish reading it -which happens pretty fast-, there’s nothing to do. I would like for it to have something else to do besides the pocion-making, and as most of Potterheads are in our twenties or late teens and have been into this for almost 10 years, it would be interesting to share our journey and be able to discuss on the new material…
Luna

History? What history? Harry Potter has been around 14 years to Twilight’s 6. Pottermore is a wonderful resource for Harry Potter fans. It’s given us something we’ve always wanted…to be sorted (Ravenclaw represent!). On top of that, we’ve got brilliant new information from JKR (who I might add, is actually a talented author…unlike Smeyer). And yes, I would *never* suggest HP succumb to the levels of Twilight as to copy another series (the fans, the marketing, etc). That is their agenda. HP earned it’s success of it’s own accord.
Katie8k2

i think people should just read the books and stop focusing on all this “fandom” crap. it sounds like stuff anime nerds came up with.
AAAA

Harry potter does not need to copy a mediocre website as twilight.
emilyful

I think Twilight’s website has been released too late though. There’s only one film left and without any new content on the website I think it will have become unused in about 2 years.

Harry Potter, on the other hand, has the staying power, I believe, and could benefit from a site similar to this. These are just adjustments that can be done to Pottermore – there’s still one more link on our gates that hasn’t been revealed (isn’t there?). More than anything I just really want a Potter encyclopedia in book form, staying true to the books’ original formats
Annie Moose

Wow. There is a lot of rivalry and immaturity going on in the comments.
I haven’t heard of Twilight Time Capsule until now but I think it’s a great idea that the Harry Potter fandom could do. Since HP fandom has been going for a decade, you could really put a lot of stuff–book releases, movie premiers, etc.
Pottermore is great, but it’s a bit limited community-wise. Sure, you can get sorted or read new info, but there’s not a lot to do after you’ve completed everything.
Capitol.pn is a bit different because it’s more of a glimpse in the world of The Hunger Games (more in-universe) and for it’s for promotion rather than just treating the fans, although it is fun for HG fans to run for mayor, meet your tributes, etc.
Adifferentforest

http://www.adifferentforest.com

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The age of Fandom viral sites, and why ‘Potter’ should copy ‘Twilight’

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