What is fanbox and how it work.
so here are the full history \ I found it in google so i want to share with you here so read carefull
Sypnosis
FanBox is a well known virtual community that exists since October 2000. It is a communication tool that helps people to be in touch around the world. This case study will analyze the different aspects and features of a virtual community and how FanBox forms one.
By making use of Schein’s model to get a clearer understanding of Virtual Communities, Rheingold (1998) definition of virtual communities, Wilbur (1993) definition of Virtual communities and analysis and Feenburg and Bakardjieva (2004) interpretation of virtual communities.
About fanBox
FanBox is a site that not only allows people/members to buy, sell, and promote their digital content through web & mobile technologies but also to communicate with each other by exchanging common interest.
"We’ve created the tools that allow our community of over 50 million users to make money by doing what they love Enabled by global billing solutions, FanBox connects musicians, filmmakers, application developers and other content providers to millions of billable consumers worldwide. Unlike other companies that publish members’ music and video without paying the creators of user-generated content, FanBox’s unique community-driven economy ensures that there’s an upside for everyone".(Fanbox Compny Information, 2008)
At FanBox, everybody gets paid. Content providers, as well as any community members that help promote a song or video, accrue actual revenue from content sales. At any time FanBox members can choose to receive a payout for their earnings or apply funds towards additional content purchases and marketing packages.
Headquartered in San Diego, CA, FanBox (formerly known as SMS.ac) was founded in October 2000. Since day-one FanBox has been a profitable, employee-owned technology company. In December 2001 the company experienced the fastest product launch in history with 6 million registered members in its first 6 months of existence.
What began as a web portal for sending text messages (SMS) worldwide evolved into a global community of over 50 million registered users. The company holds billing relationships with hundreds of mobile operators in more than 180 countries. FanBox has maintained positive revenue growth through varying economic climates with zero reliance on advertising dollars.
"Current company proceeds are the result of revenue sharing from user-generated content sales. Through FanBox’s social economy, the company continues to create revenue opportunities to content providers and customers worldwide".(Fanbox Company
A possible inventor of this term and one of its first proponents was Howard Rheingold, who created one of the first major Internet communities, called "The Well". Howard Rheingold is known to be one of the current benchmark of any virtual community. Rhiengold's earlier virtual reality established him as both sharp-eyed observer and talented popularizer of new edge technologies." (Wilbur 1997)
"Virtual communities are social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace". (Rheingold, 1993)
Even when they do not live up to the glorified and normatively laden concept of virtual community, online groups represent one of the great democratic achievements of recent technological development. They illustrate compellingly the possibility of “democratic rationalization” (Feenberg 1999) of technology by users themselves. Furthermore, online groups represent an alternative path of development for computer networking that is different from nearly-complete commercialization that has befallen earlier communication technologies, such as radio and television
"Virtual community is certainly among the most used; and perhaps abused, phrases in the literature on computer-mediated communication (CMC)." (Wilburr 1997)
However Wilbur (1997) tries to explain Rheingold definition of a virtual community. It seems that for Rheingold, despite his immersion in certain virtual communities and his guarded enthusiasm for the use of CMC, the best virtual comunity is an extension of "real community"."
Following further readings of Rheingold, he mentioned about "electronic frontier" metaphor, particularly in his use of term "homesteading to describe pioneers in virtual communities for example building. according to Wilbru, the notion of an electronic frontier has gained considerable currency online, even among computer users who might otherwise have reservations about metaphor so steeped in traditions of imperialism rough justice and sometimes violent opposition of any number of others.
Moreover according to Anderson perception of a virtual community, "all communities larger than primordial villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even these) are imagined. he further discuss that communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity but by the style in which they are imagined.
There is a need to understand how the concept of imagine communities have been developed. Even before the age of the internet, the birth of the imagined community of the nation involved into two "new media": firstly the novel and secondly the newspaper. (Feenberg and Bakardjieva, 2004, pp 37-43)
"The Internet however is one of the latest high technology with imagined communities that are based on the swift interactive exchange of electronic text."(Feenberg and Bakardjieva, 2004, pp 37-43)
Feedberg and Bakardjieva (2004) further argues that "these communities grew out of existing professional networks and solidarity, but they eventually surpassed these origins to offer a new social space for people, strangers and almost-strangers with diverse backgrounds and interests to come together as equals as generators of ideas, to deliberate and act collectively, and in same cases to remain together in long term association."
Before figuring out the concept of virtual community, there is a need to understand what a community is in a whole. According to Wilbur (1997),Community refers firstly to the sharing of common wants, aims and interest between individuals and objects. Moreover, what is important according to Wilbur (1997), is a "holding-in-common" of qualities properties, identities or ideas. Community can be further defined as ai ts citizens and society given it is a communist society.
The Virtual Community can be defined as being a state of real but untouchable activities but which may have the same impact and effect on individuals.
"It is the experience of sharing with unseen others a space of communication.Virtual Community is the illusion of community where there are no real person and no real communication. Virtual Community is a simulation of community." ( Wilbur 1997)
FanBox is a web based desktop that offers many features that help maintain contact with friends, as well as share and store files. FanBox’s interface is like your average desktop, with icons for word processing, internet use, and files.
With FanBox one can chat with MSN, Yahoo IM, and GTalk buddies all at the same time. FanBox users can upload and access their photos from any computer and make them public, so that other users can browse through them, or in order to keep them private for their own personal use. One can even upload documents, photos, videos, music, or whatever one wish in order to share with friends or keep safe for oneself.
FanBox is also a community of interest. It gathers individual of different background and ethnic group through out the world and these person do share same common interest on particular matters or thing for example music. One feel free to share what they think, about their likes and dislikes amongst others. FanBox thus provides individuals with such services.
Sharing Life style on FanBox
Sharing Interest on FanBox
Blogging on FanBox
Moreover FanBox is also a Social community. Events participation like the 4th Annual San Diego Race for Autism in which FanBox and members has taken part. Furthermore organising get togethers for staffs and members who feel part of this community.
Fanbox Company Information. 2008. http://corp.fanbox.com/ (Accessed 29 April 2009)
Feenberg. A., and M. Bakardjieva. 2004. News Media & Society. Virtual Community: no ‘killer implication’. 6(1) 37-43
Rheingold. H. 1993. The Virtual Community. http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/intro.html
(Accessed 28 April 2009)
Wilbur. S. P. 1997. An Archaeology of Cyberspaces, Virtuality, Community, Identity. London: Routledge
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