Welcome to our (mostly) weekly discussion group to talk about Stephen, our lives, our friendships with each other, and pretty much anything you’d like to talk about with other readers of No Fact Zone, what we here affectionately call “the Zoners”.
I hope everyone is having a marvelous weekend so far! My brunch consisted of some leftover chicken from my dinner last night at Babe’s in Carrollton, TX and a Dr. Pepper. Hell, I figure if I’m going off the WW wagon, I’m doing it right.
As as webmaster, I’ve been thinking a lot about this new Facebook “Like” button issue. On the one hand, I’m all about getting the good news about Colbert to any platform that will have me, including RSS feed, e-mail, and Facebook feed. We have over 1,000 fans on our Facebook page, over 1,000 readers who follow our Twitter feed on @dbferguson (my personal Twitter feed) and @nofactzone (just the post feed), and close to 1,500 RSS feed readers. It’s not about monetization – we don’t have ads on our feeds (or anywhere else for that matter). I’ve always considered the No Fact Zone Facebook page as more of another type of RSS feed. I just like to keep our community informed. I’ve even toyed with the idea of encouraging an off-topic Zoner community over at Facebook, which has been requested on numerous occasions for years, but not something I felt I had the time or energy to develop and manage as an independent web site.
Now, the downside. Anyone who “likes” a post, or the page for No Fact Zone is diluting from the community we are building on this site. If a person comments about the post on Facebook, it’s splitting the community participation and diluting it between two locations. Is our community really strong enough to be supported on multiple sites? Now, many of us have become good friends over on Twitter, but that’s an even smaller subset of the Colbert Nation subset we have here at NFZ. And on Twitter, we generally keep it off-topic, as it were. On top of that, much of the net is screaming about how Facebook is quickly taking over the web and violating user’s privacy at the same time.
The dilution of the NFZ community has been an issue I have kept in the forefront of my mind since Day 1. While there are a ton of members of the Colbert Nation, our unique uberfan subset here is strong and stable, but not huge. On the other hand, allowing people to easily share our content over on Facebook may help to recruit even more Zoners to our community to share our happiness and celebration of Stephen Colbert. I think we’ve still got quite a bit more room to grow with the community and still be able to maintain the standards that make our group so unique. It’s such a toss up.
So here’s a question for you for this week:
What do you expect to get from your Colbert Nation fandom online experience?
On a fairly regular basis, I do a bit of self-evaluation, and think about why I do the blog, and what I’m getting out of blogging here at No Fact Zone. The reason I started the site was because there was nothing like it online at the time. And I wanted a news site, so I created something I wanted to find when I became a fan. After about two years of blogging, I went to WordCamp Dallas 2008 and my emphasis completely changed. I realized that while I do provide news, the part that was really rewarding to me was community. The friends I’ve made, the feedback we get from each other on what we thought and felt about a particular show, or TV appearance, or event. My perspective about the site changed yet again a few months later, when in October 2008 I met with someone at Comedy Central during my New York trip. He said that the difference between ColbertNation.com and No Fact Zone is that while ColbertNation.com people may be seeking a video, or news, or something else because they like the show, No Fact Zone was for the seriously hard core fans. Our readers are the fans that need more out of their fan experience.
While our site is the best news site out there for anything related to Stephen Colbert and the “Colbert Report”, what brings people back and makes them active in the community is their need to connect with others with this passion that they have in their life. There is a part of me, a rather large part of me in fact, that considers being a member of the Colbert Nation a part of who I am. I watch “Chuck” every week, I watch “Lost” and read all the theories the day after the show, but I am a member of the Colbert Nation. With the Colbert Nation, I not only just watch and read, but I participate. That’s what defines my passion for the show in a different way than other shows I watch. And for most of you, you experience the same thing. There is something that clicks with people that turns them from being a watcher to being an active, online fan. It drives us to buy cheap plastic bracelets at an exorbitant price and wear them on a daily basis. It drives us to buy ice cream, and books, and obscure NASA patches. It drives us to stay up until midnight, or to wake up at 6a in the morning, to watch a show every day. That’s a pretty serious commitment. But we don’t want to miss even one moment of the show, or the fandom experience. It drives us to blog about it every day, and to talk about it in the comments. It drives us to get online to connect with others who simply get it. And here, when it comes to the ‘Colbert Report’, we are most definitely it-getters.
So I’m wanting to hear your honest fan experience online. I’m trying to figure out the best way to bring you the fandom experience you need and want, without diluting the Zoner fan experience as a whole. Do you consider your Facebook experience and your NFZ experience to be two different opportunities? Do you spend most of your time here in the comments? Do you participate over at CN.com forums? Do you participate with your friends on LJ on the fanfic boards? Do you read NFZ, but do your participating on Twitter?
And finally, and most importantly, what do you expect to get out of your online fandom experience online? And are we doing everything we can here to help you with that?
Also, here’s some classic eye candy from the premiere of ‘Speed Racer’. Enjoy!
DB, thanks for a particularly amazing Weekend Branch today.
This question of what we expect/want/need of our internet community is really thought provoking. I split my time between NFZ and CN communities. I enjoy the company of others who groove on TCR, Mr. Colbert and TDS, where we can josh and discussion and share.
CN.com feels a bit crazy whereas, NFZ gives me a place to relax and enjoy news and ideas and dare I say, more Colbert-esque fandom. There is joy and smarts here that is contagious and energizing.
Thanks, DB, thanks for a great space to play in!
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There is joy and smarts here that is contagious and energizing”
I second that!
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Thanks for this post! To speak for myself, I like the Facebook feed simply because it reminds me, on a crazy busy day, to come her because something new has been posted. To be honest, I never comment on FB; I might click like, but I come straight to this site to continue the conversation, precisely because it IS a conversation here. (As it happens, my job has also blocked FB, but not this, so I can go on NFZ at lunchtime, which I’m grateful for.)
As a former (well, kind of former) X-Phile — an X Files fan — what I’d like from NFZ is what I got on the official website of that series at the height of its popularity: a place to discuss the show, what we thought about it, and also the issues each spisode raises. With Stephen being so political, there’s a lot we could talk about. And I think this site is the place to do that, more than Twitter, with its character limitation, or FB. It’s about interaction, while ColbertNation is about offical news. (By the way, we X-Philes also met at a gathering we put together. I am still friends with several of them years after the show ended.)
Additionally, the links are important to me and something that I’m appreciative of. ColbertNation doesn’t do that–the Second City Anniversary and so forth.
And by the way, LOVE that photo of him you posted!
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What a great post for sharing and discussion! TBH,I am a more active participant in discussions in LJ communities, but I do love the Colbert news provided here & comment directly here sometimes. I have also met some lovely people here that I talk to on Twitter, and enjoy the links your Twitter feed provides to NFZ posts (I didn’t realize there was a @nofactzone as well, but I like following your personal feed). Personally I don’t care for the fbook style of commenting on posts where there is no way to respond directly to someone, it’s much easier/more fun to comment here.
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firstly the thing i love about nfz is that right after i watch the show (usually they post the clips at around 2 in the afternoon my time) i know that a review of the show has already been posted and i love reading other fans opinion of the show. on top of that nfz has been great for me as a new hard core fan. whenever i am unsure about something it is great that i can turn to older zoners for guidance.
in regards to the facebook issue, i think it would be better to keep our community as one because thru nfz we can see who are the hard core fans as apposed to facebook where you get more of the avg colbert viewers commenting. and while i am all abt spreading the colbert love there is something abt having a smaller tighter community that is very comforting.
thanks db for creating a great outlet for us truthinistas
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It’s lovely to hear how reflective you are about the nature of the site and Colbert fandom. NFZ is in good hands :).
As far as my online experience, I’m here ridiculously often, and I go to the CN boards too, but mostly for the pictures, and I’ve only replied to a thread there twice, I think. I don’t do twitter (except for reading Stephenathome’s ), and I’ve never really paid much attention to the NFZ facebook page, but maybe I should. I’ve just never felt a need to seek out MORE info or MORE opinions or MORE people because this site feeds my obsession just fine.
Part of it is privacy, which is a little weird because I’m not at all a private person, but I like this site because it IS separate, whereas on facebook it seems like everyone I’ve ever known in my entire life can know what I like, what I’m doing, etc. That’s also what’s kept me from wearing a WristStrong bracelet… it just seems so public and declarative, and I’m afraid people will misunderstand or judge somehow (yes, I should get over that), but HERE there is pretty much no chance of being misunderstood or judged since everyone is as crazy as I am (in a good way, of course).
Thanks for everything!
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i totally agree with just abt everything u said besides the wristSTRONG part. i only have twitter so that i can read @stephenathome’s and why settle for the hamburger (aka other colbert news feeds) when u can have the steak (aka NFZ!)
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*shame* I know, I know, I don’t even agree with myself about the WristStrong. I should get one right this second and stop living in the closet!
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i think you’ll find the more you wear it the less you care about what people will say. if they ask simply explain that colbert broke his wrist had his cast signed by famous people, auctioned it for a lot of money and gave that money to charity. and along with that he wanted to bring “wrist violence” awareness and the proceeds go to chairty. people like hearing the charity part.
plus if stephen can wear YOU can wear it!
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I can understand your logic behind not wearing a WristStrong. But I guess for me, I see it as a sense of pride – not only for the show, but for the philanthropy aspect of it as well. And not a lot of people actually ask me about what it means, but when they do, I’ve come to enjoy the fact that I get to tell them the entire backstory behind it. :]
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You don’t have to worry about “outing” yourself by wearing the WristSTRONG bracelet – I’ve been wearing mine daily since they came out in 2007, and only two people have ever known what it was. :)
When people ask me what it is, I say it’s a fundraiser ran by Stephen Colbert that raises money for families of injured soldiers at Walter Reed. That’s usually a simple enough answer for people, I’ve found.
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I ordered one :) Maybe it will get to me in time to make its debut on Stephen’s birthday, then I can just keep it on!
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I don’t have a Wriststrong bracelet either but I’m ok with that. I have donated, more than once actually, to the Yellow Ribbon Fund and support the work they do. For me, that’s enough. :-)
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I wore my WristStrong bracelet today after reading this. lol. I, apparently, have a tiny wrist, so this bracelet is really loose and goes halfway up my forearm. So I don’t wear it very often. I wish they had the option of buying a “youth” size, like Livestrong bracelets.
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I’m afraid I don’t have much time right row to post, but let me just say I spend most of my time at NFZ looking at and posting comments. The NFZ community is #1 for me. CN and Facebook are a distant second and third. Thanks for everything DB!
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I’m glad to hear that you routinely reflect on what you’re doing here with the Colbert Nation fanbase. That’s clear from how conscientious and fan-friendly the blog is. :)
Personally, I’m not a Twitter or Facebook person. When it comes to the Colbert Nation fandom and fandom arms thereof, I’m strictly on No Fact Zone and the LiveJournal communities. I want to find people who share my interests and care about The Colbert Report as much as I do. So far, NFZ and the LiveJournal communities have done that for me! I love coming to this site to read episode reports and you guys do such comprehensive coverage!! I know if I wasn’t following No Fact Zone, I wouldn’t be hearing some of this stuff anywhere else. Thank you, DB, for making this site such a great fandom experience! :)
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I don’t comment a whole lot here on NFZ, but it is my site of choice to lurk on.
That sounds creepy.
For the privacy reasons stated above by friedthing, I tend to not be active on fan pages, beyond clicking “like,” on facebook. (But I wear a WristSTRONG bracelet pretty much all the time.) On the other hand, the CN boards, while more anonymous than FB, are totally overwhelming to me.
If I want good, up-to-the-date, well written and on topic reporting, I come here. I vote in favorite segment polls, I browse through comments, but like I said, I just don’t do all that much commenting of my own. Mostly because I get all weird and self-conscious about how I sometimes get a bit rambly.
Hi.
Anyway, most of my interactions are live-tweet type commentary (when I manage to stay awake), or off-topic stuff on twitter with other fans I’ve met here. So I would say NFZ.net, not it’s FB page, and not CN is my portal to the community, but I hang out mostly in the grungy alley named twitter.
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Interesting thoughtful post, DB. NFZ has become my premium Colbert place of choice along with CN.com for the show clips. I’m usually behind in viewing so I like to come here first, read the write-ups so I know what to pay special attention to (I’m not worried about being spoiled), it also helps explain if the guest or topic is unknown to me. I follow StephenatHome on Twitter and offical TCR on FB, but I haven’t been hugely lured into other FB and, having had an account for a mere few months, I can see how addictive and invasive it can be. I didn’t actually know NFZ was on FB, LJ and Twitter. But *this* is where I feed my Colbert needs, because it’s the best damn SC site around and it’s my one-stop shop of brilliance and fun.
I don’t have a wriststrong but I proudly wear my offcial Colbert Nation cap, and am *desperately* waiting for someone down here to ask me what it means. Anyone in NZ, please, let me tell you about the awesomeness that is Stephen Colbert!
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Most of my sentiments have been defined already in the above comments: I come here first. End of story! :) Then, I may look around at other places, but I always end up back here. I use Facebook to keep up with friends/family and never thought to see if NFZ had a page. I just recently joined Twitter (shellichelle) but it is just an extension of this community as it is limited by characters and thus impedes deep discussion or commenting.
I was quick to learn this is the place to be for great info and the place to stay to participate in a great community. I felt welcome from day one and hope I have been welcoming to others as well. Thanks DB for your concentrated efforts with this site!
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I really love this NFZ community! I always enjoy reading the episode guides and then reading through the comments and seeing what other fans thought and seeing what their favorite parts were. Sometimes others will notice a subtle little thing during the show that I also noticed (and I feel a, sort of, kinship lol) and sometimes others will catch something I completely missed and it’s fun to go back and watch the segment to see the subtle little thing I would have otherwise missed. This site is most definitely the number one Colbert site for me, to feed my sense of fandom. I check this site an unhealthy amount of times a day. haha.
I used to post on the message boards over at Colbert Nation a lot. But I just lost interest in message boards altogether. I was really obsessed with posting on message boards all during middle school, high school, and college, but shortly after I graduated and got a job I sort of stopped. Mostly just because I definitely had less free time. So this fansite is nice because it’s so centralized and I can post a comment in each comment section whenever I feel I have something to add in regards to my thoughts on a certain post. Sometimes there are so many threads on message boards that it’s hard to find one that pinpoints what you relate to and which specific topic you want to talk about.
Something I seem to notice about message boards which I frequented (not necessarily the ones at Colbert Nation) is that there is a lot of negativity. I guess I just felt like I wanted to go through and read which parts of the episode were people’s favorite parts, but instead I felt like I was reading through all of their least favorite parts. It’s one thing to give your opinion about if you felt something new the writer’s tried didn’t work, but I’ve been on message boards before where you seem to see those same Debbie Downer’s posting about all the things they dislike instead of focusing on what they did like. Everyone here seems to be so positive and clearly shares the love of all things Colbert and shares the love of this great community. :)
I feel a bit weird about Facebook because of how public it is. As in, I’m posting under a username here, whereas on Facebook I would be posting with my regular account showing my full name and picture. I don’t like that idea. I like it-getters and want to meet and interact with other it-getters, but it seems like there would be more “lurkers” on Facebook who would see my full name, picture, profile (although I do have privacy settings) and everything, and I don’t like that thought. I “Like” a lot of fan pages and join groups about things I support, but I don’t ever really post on the walls or the discussion boards of those pages, just for privacy purposes.
In conclusion (I basically just wrote an essay, may as well write a concluding paragraph lol), I love this site!! =)
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I know a couple of people who’ve told me they appreciate the NFZ FB page, but they generally treat it as an RSS feed to let them know when new posts are up. Personally, I no longer follow pages on FB; I don’t necessarily have a problem with announcing my Colbert Nation allegiance to IRL acquaintances, but the new “privacy” changes have made all pages public, which is decidedly Not Cool.
I connect with several Zoners on Twitter, but it’s generally off topic, personal stuff. I’ve never participated on the CN boards much – they’re just too scattered and inconsistent for my taste.
To me, the heart of the community is here at NFZ. All those other feeds are just additional ways to direct people here, where the real discussion happens. Of course I love all the news and guides and features, but I also spend a lot of time in the comments. As a fan (not just as a Completist), I find it really rewarding to participate in a community of others who share my interest and passion for the show. Love shared is love amplified.
I’d never been a hardcore fan of anything before TCR, and never participated in a fan community before NFZ. But TCR rang my bell, and NFZ put out the welcome mat, and I haven’t looked back! So thanks to DB, and thanks to all the Zoners for being the fantastic people you are :)
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“I’d never been a hardcore fan of anything before TCR, and never participated in a fan community before NFZ. But TCR rang my bell, and NFZ put out the welcome mat, and I haven’t looked back! So thanks to DB, and thanks to all the Zoners for being the fantastic people you are :)”
Amen!
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When I started commenting on NFZ last year, I was immediately welcomed into the community. It was immensely comforting to begin a back-and-forth with all of these other people who just get it. I also like the fact that this site does not focus on Stephen’s personal life (ie his family). It’s incredibly respectful and speaks to the true nature of the site and us as fans in general – that at the core of it all is this simple and centered admiration for TCR and for Stephen.
With that in mind, I am a fan of the page on FB, but I do not spend any time reading it, because I spend all of my time right here on NFZ. But I do think it can be a useful tool to get news out. I spend absolutely no time on the CN.com boards, not only because I do not have time, but because I never felt a connection to it. And as for twitter, I had an account for exactly one day, and then I just couldn’t do it anymore. So I read StephenAtHome and that works just fine.
The fact that I check NFZ everyday and that I see it as part of my daily routine speaks to how much I appreciate it and how fulfilling it has been. Sure, I watch other shows like 24 (since it first premiered) and would consider myself a hardcore fan. But to me, being a member of the Colbert Nation sort of means being a part of something that is bigger than yourself. And I think NFZ is an integral part of that. Thanks DB! :)
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What happened to Colbert University? I can’t find the page anymore. I know it was being restructured, but last time I checked, there was still something to look at. I haven’t looked for it for awhile, but this discussion got me thinking about CU:)
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Lisa has gotten all of the content from CU onto a new site, the Colbrary. It’s organized a bit better, but it’s still not 100% live yet. We’ll make an announcement as soon as I have a free weekend to put the final touches on it.
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Hooray, thanks so much DB! Can’t wait to see it.
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Speaking as a relatively new fan (only got into Colbert this year), I do find the online community thing a bit overwhleming at the moment, largely because I don’t really know anyone in it yet and I’m not quite sure what the best way of communicating is or what I want out of it…
I’m wary to talk a lot about Colbert on Facebook and Twitter, although I do follow NFZ and the Report fan page. Both my Facebook and my Twitter are linked to my real name and plenty of my work colleagues read them, so I don’t want to look like a crazed obsessive. So far my preferred place to chat has been the CN forums in the fangirl section because it’s private and friendly, with a reasonably small community. The main forums seem a bit more ‘Wild West’ than the fangirl section, you’re never quite sure if you are going to meet with a friendly response or a grumpy one when you post.
I have posted here a couple of times, but there is less structure to the comments (as opposed to the CN forum) so I never know when someone has replied to my post and I usually forget to check back! I think, because of that, I find it less a community area than a place to make general observations and get news. I can’t really, for example, make a post myself here saying ‘Hey, anyone else going to the July 1 show?’ (which I am, YAY!!!) and connect with other fans like I could on the forum. I’m pretty keen to meet other Australian fans as well, but I don’t really know how to go about it.
As I spend more time here I’m sure I’ll get to recognise certain posters and maybe feel more comfortable bantering with them, but I’m definitely not there yet. :)
I also second the question about the Colbert University – I’ve been dying to read about Colbert’s shelves and the Q&As but it seems to have disappeared?
Anyway, just want to say that this site is such a fabulous source of news and information for a Colbert fan, especially a newbie like me, so thanks SO MUCH for all that you do.
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Welcome, Arrow! And yes, jumping into a new fandom can be very daunting. I’ve been doing the fandom thing for years, and I know that terrifying feeling of just wanting to connect, and finding a huge pile of people that seem to all know each other and know way more than I do. I do my best to remember that we have new people coming to the site every single day that want to make those same connections that I wanted to make when I first started the site.
The C-Section serves a very valuable purpose in the fandom. We talk about news, and the episodes, and keep our topics of conversation very topic-driven. But sometimes it feels good to have a place to be able to just post “GOOD GOD DID YOU SEE THAT TIE?!”
And you make a very good point about the community created content in a message board. It is definitely good to be able to drive conversation to topics that are created by the community and not just the bloggers. We started these Weekend Brunch posts to be able to help create a bit of an off-topic area for people to meet and greet each week to help build those relationships that are built through off-topic discussions. It’s not quite the same as a message board, obviously, but it’s a good format for our blog.
When NFZ first started, the primary “fangirl” posting spot was the OSCLA boards. They’re still around, but not as active as they were in their heyday, although the more active posters are still around in other parts of the fandom. It is good to have that outlet where the ladies can let their fangirl flag fly.
As for fangirling here at NFZ, we do have our moments where we simply adore the beauty that is Stephen. However, I’ve also made a very conscious effort to not be too excessive with the fangirling here, so that both men and women feel comfortable participating in the comments. We are still primarily a female community, but we’ve got quite a few males that come and contribute on a regular basis.
And as far as remembering to come back – we use a plugin here that shoots an e-mail to a poster if someone responds to their comment. So you should be seeing those as well.
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I joined this community first when I started really getting into TCR and it’s still my favorite one. I was active on the old CN board and on the new one too for awhile, but the Lair/C-section just didn’t appeal to me and activity on the rest of the board has really declined. Plus, I just don’t have the spare time for a messageboard. I rarely look there anymore. I don’t have a Twitter account. I do have a FB account and I’m a FB fan of NFZ but I come here directly to discuss episodes and get my Colbert related news. It’s still the best place by far!
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