From Fan History Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

**Michael Jackson**
A picture of Michael Jackson
Date of Birth	August 29, 1958
Origins	Indiana
Genre	Pop
Years active	(1967–2009)
Label(s)	Motown, Epic, Sony
Official website	MichaelJackson.com
Important fansites	Michael Jackson Fan Club

Michael Jackson, the proclaimed "King of Pop", was one of the most well-known entertainers of the 20th century. His legacy on generations of fans, musicians and performers who followed him is near impossible to measure, despite the controversy which surrounded his later years. His 1982 album Thriller is the world's best-selling record of all time[2] and he is noted for his innovations and importance on the development of the music video artform as well as his live performances and music. His fanbase extends worldwide, and has produced a wide array of fanworks including fanzines, fan fiction, fan art, tribute fan videos, and much more. His unexpected death in 2009 shocked the world and became an international news story, one where social networking services such as Twitter and LiveJournal became primary sources of information rivaling the mainstream media and press.

[edit] The Artist

Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he was only 11 when he débuted onto the professional music scene as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1969. He began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of The Jackson 5, but it was with the release of first Off the Wall in 1979 and then Thriller in 1982 that Michael Jackson's solo career skyrocketed him to international fame and success.

[edit] Discography

Below is a partial list of music albums by Michael Jackson.

Got to Be There (1972)
Ben (1972)
Music & Me (1973)
Forever, Michael (1975)
Off the Wall (1979)
Thriller (1982)
Bad (1987)
Dangerous (1991)
HIStory (1995)
Invincible (2001)

[edit] Terminology

Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used in this fan community.

This section needs more information.

[edit] Kerfluffles

Below is a list of issues that have come up regarding Michael Jackson.

Did Michael Jackson’s family pay for Twitter followers?

[edit] Timeline

Below is a partial timeline of events that took place in this fan community.

[edit] The 1970s

This section needs more information.

[edit] The 1980s

Cover of Off The Wall #1, published 1988.

This section needs more information.

In 1988, Adrian Grant published the first issue of Off The Wall, the first Michael Jackson fanzine. The fanzine would continue on to run through 1993 and receive official recognition from Jackson, allowing Grant access to Neverland and other exclusive materials.[3]

[edit] The 1990s

This section needs more information.

Fanzines played an important part in Michael Jackson fandom throughout the 1990s. Numerous titles were released, particularly in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. Some fanzines were produced as parts of various fanclubs, whereas others were independent productions to help fans learn news, read tour reviews, and connect with other fans. See Michael Jackson fanzines for more information.

[edit] The 2000s

In 2007, fans showed support on various communities online and outside the courthouse in response to charges of child molestation that were leveled against Michael Jackson.

Google searches for topics related to Michael Jackson peaked at 3PM Pacific on June 25, 2009.

Chart showing blog posts referring to Michael Jackson, from April 28-July 27, 2009. Data according to Technorati[1].

On June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson passed away unexpectedly at the age of 50. The news would cause shockwaves through the media and the internet, overloading many websites and social media networks such as LiveJournal and Twitter.[4] The popular community Ohnotheydidnt would be temporarily suspended by LiveJournal because of the overload to the site's servers, and TweetVolume noted that "Michael Jackson" appeared in more than 66,500 Twitter updates. AOL, CBS, CNN, MSNBC and Yahoo would all show performance issues in the time following the speculation and then announcement of his death. According to Blog Herald, on June 25, 2009,

"People rush to Jackson’s Facebook page, currently sporting 880 991 fans, but expect that number to grow tremendously. Facebook overall is performing sluggishly now, possibly due to the artist’s death. It will be interesting to follow up on traffic spikes and surges later on. Meanwhile, I’m surprised to see that michaeljackson.com is still up and working, but then again it it’s just a simple HTML page with a Sony Music statement." [5]

On June 25, 2009, TMZ said:

"Today was a seminal moment in Internet history. We've never seen anything like it in terms of scope or depth. Historically, celebrity news prompts a worldwide outpouring with several key consumer behaviors – searching, sharing and reacting to the news followed by online tributes has become the modern way to mourn. Princess Diana was the first notable Internet example. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett are the latest. [6]

On June 25, 2009, angry Michael Jackson fans urged people to unfollow Perez Hilton on Twitter because he said that Michael Jackson had faked the situation. [7][8]
By June 29, 2009, it was reported by Gary Taylor, president and owner of president and owner of MJJcommunity.com, that a dozen fans had committed suicide after learning of Michael Jackson's death.[9] A video message posted to the website showed Jesse Jackson urging fans to celebrate his life instead of taking such drastic measures.[10]

[edit] Fan Fiction

There has been a small Michael Jackson fan fiction community that has been semi active over the years. Some of the early activity in the fan fiction community took place on GeoCities, but has since appeared to have settled primarily on several messageboard forums. There are a few multi fandom archives that have hosted stories, but none have particularly active sections for Michael Jackson.

[edit] Michael Jackson's Fan club Lounge

Michael Jackson Fan Club Lounge is a up and coming fan club forum.

Michael Jackson's Fan club Lounge o has forum topics ranging from "The ladies in his life and The Glenda Tapes to The Lounge and Dangerous Liasons, the steamy fan fictions section. While all works of fiction are welcome,The fan fiction section contains a warning of sexually explicit material and requires active posting as some of the stories are sexually explicit and contain adult themes. The fiction varies from short stories to chaptered essays with new material being added regularly. [[11]].

~CobraCrackCentral~

CobraCrackCentral is an exciting new Michael Jackson fan fiction site that has fan fiction with adult themes, music, pictures and links to other Michael Jackson Sites. Quality short stories as well as Chapter stories have been written featuring fictitious leading ladies as well as Lisa Marie Presley, Tatiana Thumbtzen and Debbie Rowe. To date November 14, 2009, there have been over ten high quality fan fiction stories published on CobraCrackCentral Click HERE to access link---[[12]]. New stories are also being published on a regular basis.

[edit] FicWad

There are 5 stories on FicWad as of June 25, 2009.

On April 5, 2006, The Day Michael Jackson came to town! by SupremeBaka became the first Michael Jackson story published on FicWad. [13][14]

[edit] The Internet

[edit] bebo

There is an active community on bebo. The following is a timeline of fandom activity on bebo.

In October 2006, the bebo group clubmj was created. [15]
In September 2007, the bebo group kingofpopinnocent was created. [16] Members proclaimed that Michael Jackson was innocent of child molestation charges.
In September 2007, the bebo group michaelkingofpop was created. [17]
In January 2008, the bebo group michaeljacksonpage was created. [18]
In February 2008, the bebo group Michael------Jackson was created. [19]
In May 2008, the bebo group YourButtIsMine was created. [20]
In January 2009, the bebo group mjfans09 was created. [21]
In March 2009, the bebo group MJAO2 was created. [22]
In April 2009, the bebo group KingOfPopMichael was created. [23]

[edit] Dreamwidth Studios

As of July 6, 2009, there are no communities on Dreamwidth Studios specifically dedicated to Michael Jackson. There is one general community that lists him as an interest, 80s, which has never been posted to as of this date.

[edit] Facebook

Facebook has a very large community of Michael Jackson fans. As of July 6, 2009, over 6,730,000 users on the site listed themselves as fans.[24] Two remembrance communities had 1,300,000 and 3,800,000 members each.[25],[26]

[edit] InsaneJournal

As of June 25, 2009, there are no communities on InsaneJournal specifically dedicated to Michael Jackson. There are some general communities that list him as an interest. None of these are very active.

[edit] LiveJournal

There is an active LiveJournal community for Michael Jackson. As of July 6, 2009, 301 communities list Michael Jackson as an interest. Below is a partial timeline of LiveJournal-related dates.

On November 16, 2003, the LiveJournal community ____mjfans____ was created. [27]
On November 30, 2003, the LiveJournal community mjloyalists was created. [28]
On December 24, 2003, the LiveJournal community jackojokes was created. [29]
On December 29, 2003, the LiveJournal community michael_jackson was created. [30]
On December 29, 2003, the LiveJournal community _jackson_claims was created. [31]
On January 1, 2005, the LiveJournal community u_r_not_alone was created. [32]
On March 3, 2005, the LiveJournal community _mj_fans_unite_ was created. [33]
On March 26, 2005, the LiveJournal community mjcanada was created. [34]
On April 2, 2005, the LiveJournal community mj_icons was created. [35]
On April 6 , 2005, the LiveJournal community _wacko_jacko was created. [36]
On June 14, 2005, the LiveJournal community 00invinciblemj was created. [37]
On October 15, 2005, the LiveJournal community kingofpop4ever was created. [38]
On January 27, 2009, the LiveJournal community kop_fan_art was created. [39]
On February 13, 2009, the LiveJournal community mjfans was created. [40]
On March 8, 2009, the LiveJournal community thisisito2 was created. [41]
On May 1, 2009, the LiveJournal community project_mj was created. [42]
On June 18, 2009, the LiveJournal community mj_stillness was created. [43]

[edit] MySpace

There are a large number of Michael Jackson fans on MySpace. As of July 6, 2009, the Michael Jackson Music Page on MySpace had received over 17,007,126 views, and 605,875 users had friends the page and left 91,530 comments.[44]

[edit] Twitter

There is a community of Michael Jackson fans on Twitter. They are not as organized as other communities on Twitter like Twilight.

[edit] Influential fanworks

This section needs more information.

[edit] Fan fiction

Michael Jackson fan-fiction largely involved Mary Sue-type characters interacting with the star in friendship or romantic situations. london_evenings described Michael Jackson in ontd_mj:

"...with the exception of a few batshit crazy stories involving magic and vampires and whatnot- every fan-fiction was essentially the same thing. Heroine has a ~*exotic*~ ( see: horrible ) first name, has an abusive partner/ex-partner/family member that Michael must save her from, Michael falls in love with heroine minutes after meeting her, lyrics are incorporated into everyday conversations, sex scenes are awkward and uncomfortable for EVERYONE involved, etc."[45]

[edit] Fandom members

This section needs more information.

[edit] Fandom size

[edit] June 2009

As of June 25, 2009, there are 1,000 fans on FanPop. [46]

[edit] Misc

[edit] External links

[edit] Discussion

Why Are Michael Jackson's Fans So Devoted?: ABC News, February 23, 2005

[edit] Fan fiction

[edit] Fansites

[edit] Death coverage

[edit] See also

Michael Jackson fanzines

[edit] Sources

Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this community.

Hess, Elizabeth, Gloria Jacobs, and Barbara Ehrenreich. Adoring Audience : Fan Culture & Popular Media. Ed. Lisa A. Lewis. Florence, KY: Routledge, 1992. 84-88.
Hills, Matt. "Michael Jackson Fans on Trial? “Documenting” Emotivism and Fandom in Wacko About Jacko" Social Semiotics 17.4 (2007). 16 Jan. 2008 <http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/10350330701637056>
Kavesh, Laura. "Frenzied Fans: a Thriller's Appeal Knows No Bounds." Chicago Tribune 12 Mar. 1984.
Rousselet-Blanc, V. (1994). Les fans les dieux de nos nouvelles mythologies : ils vénérent Bruel, Hallyday, Dalida, Presley, Piaf, Michael Jackson, Star Trek, Le prisonnier, Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir. Paris: J.C. Lattès.

Learn more about the music fandoms and the BandFic community by reading the information above. Add more to it by clicking the edit tab and writing more. Use the form to the left to start a new page and share your knowledge of music fandom history with others.

This music fandom-related article is a stub. You can help Fanhistory.com by expanding it.

Michael Jackson

From Fan History Wiki

Contents

[edit] The Artist

[edit] Discography

[edit] Terminology

[edit] Kerfluffles

[edit] Timeline

[edit] The 1970s

[edit] The 1980s

[edit] The 1990s

[edit] The 2000s

[edit] Fan Fiction

[edit] Michael Jackson's Fan club Lounge

[edit] FicWad

[edit] The Internet

[edit] bebo

[edit] Dreamwidth Studios

[edit] Facebook

[edit] InsaneJournal

[edit] LiveJournal

[edit] MySpace

[edit] Twitter

[edit] Influential fanworks

[edit] Fan fiction

[edit] Fandom members

[edit] Fandom size

[edit] June 2009

[edit] Misc

[edit] External links

[edit] Discussion

[edit] Fan fiction

[edit] Fansites

[edit] Death coverage

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

Views

Personal tools

Navigation

Search

Toolbox

Support FH