Phish Fanhood: Phish.net as a Distinct Virtual Fan Community with Offline Significance

The band Phish, founded in 1983 in acollege dorm, holds a strange place in the popularculture of modern music. Known for theirexperimental 'jamming' style of music, Phish hasnever enjoyed widespread popularity, yet they havea large group of extremely loyal fans, leading totremendous success with live tours. This devout fanfollowing comprises a unique group of individualsfrom geographically diverse areas that share acommon interest and often common values. Usingnewly emergent media and communicationtechnologies Phish fans have created internet-basedcommunities that act as centers for informationsharing and social support. The focus of this essayis one such group, Phish.net, which labels itself as"for phans, by phans." I will determine the site'sstatus as a community, explore the norms reinforcedonline, and establish the effects resonating offline.As Henry Jenkins states, "…fandom has both beenreshaped by and helped to reshape cyberculture."1This essay will go beyond looking at how fandomand cyberculture intersect and delve further, intohow this established online fan community andinformation hub generates coordinated action fromits members in the offline world. By first analyzingprevious works on Internet communities, this paperwill establish Phish.net as a legitimate, distinctcommunity. Next, using the structure of and forumposts from Phish.net, I will outline the valuesreinforced by this community. Finally, I will applyresearch on the offline effects of onlinecommunities to evaluate the extent to whichPhish.net influences members' actions offline. Iargue, based on previous research and the analysisof Phish.net's virtual community, that this site is anonline community with defined norms and aconsiderable impact on member's social andpolitical views offline.