Harry Potter and the World Wide Web

Monique Trottier Web: SoMisguided.com Twitter: @somisguided

How the Internet Revolution Affected Fan Participation in the Series

http://SoMisguided.com/

1990s: Email

In the early 90s we get email, which is still a highly effective communication tool. It’s the mechanism used by publishers to send scoops to the fan sites. These messages can be forwarded or copied and pasted online.

Monique TrottierWeb: SoMisguided.com Twitter: @somisguided

1995: Real Audio

In 1995, we get Real Audio. This is the technology that allows us to stream audio and create internet radio.


1995 & 1998: Search

In 1995 we get Yahoo! and in 1998 Google. Suddenly we have incredibly powerful search engines that allow us to not just surf the web but to actually search for the things we want to see. These search engines also thrive on links. The cross-linking between fan sites establishes the reputation of certain sites and helps identify who’s who in the online fan community.

Search engines also are the #1 tool that amplify and make persistent our online conversation. Now there is a way to see who’s talking about what, how many sites are talking about one thing, and that information is indexed and archived in the search engines.


Search indexes become our Time

TURNers. So the online stage is set for 1997 when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is published in the UK. What follows is a $100,000 advance from Scholastic to publish the book in the US. The online media pick up on this story along with the Cinderella story of Jo as a single mom writing in cafes.

And we get the early fan sites, we get the first US book tour, we get onto the NYTimes bestseller list and stay there.


$$$ 1998: Ecommerce

By 1998 ecommerce has truly hit the world wide web. Amazon.com is raking in real money. And it means that US residents will soon be able to buy UK editions online.

eBay launches which soon becomes the auction site for signed first editions and other Harry Potter memorabilia.


1999: MP3s

In 1999, MP3s take off and Napster launches. Suddenly we have a file format that’s great for music and a peer-to-peer file sharing network that allows us to really easily pass files around.


<html> 1999: Blogging

1999 is also the year of MySpace.com and LiveJournal: 2 sites that play a huge role in terms of virtual communities and giving fans really easy ways to create communities and to stay in touch. It’s becoming easier and easier to make a website.


1999: Fan Sites

1999 also sees the birth of MuggleNet.com. 12-year-old Emerson Spartz gives us what’s to become one of the premier fan sites. These early days eventually lead to his in-person meeting with JKRowling and the launch 6 years later of Mugglecast.


What does it all mean?

We have the community, the content, the collaboration and the creativity for fans to start moving en masse as a fan community. The press call it POTTERmania.


1999-2000

With the publication of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets we get Jo’s first online chat and we learn to pronounce Hermione.

2000 is the year of high-speed internet. Broadband adoption in North America is high. We have faster connections. Faster ways to keep in touch.

Jo’s North American tour is record breaking. We gather 20,000 fans in the Toronto Skydome and break the Guiness World Record for the largest public reading by an author.


The first 3 years of Harry Potter have laid a solid technical

foundation:


Then there’s 3 long years before another

book. In the 3 year wait, fans take those tools and generate an incredible amount of fan content.

1. The Leaky Cauldron comes on the scene.

2. Wikipedia launches and we start thinking about creating databases on information—the Harry Potter Lexicon (2000).


continued...

3. We have the Harry Potter Aggregated Network, the Floo Network, FictionAlley. There are tons of fan sites.

4. The books are translated into 40 different languages.

5. We get 2 school books for Red Nose Day.

6. And the first movie comes out November 16, 2001.


What does the 1st film mean?

For the first time fans see the world that they’ve been imagining. Which means that there is no dearth of things to talk about. Fans start blogging, joining fan sites, and in 2003, 2 exciting things happen.


#1 2003: iTunes

#1. Apple launches iTunes. Which soon becomes the easiest way to buy and search for music.

Then in June 2005, iTunes introduces built-in support for podcasting, and users can subscribe to podcasts for free.

Anyone can submit their podcast. Consumers become Creators.


#2 2003: Nimbus

The second thing that happened in 2003 is Nimbus — The first fan-organized, large-scale conference all about Harry Potter. As a fan community, they are large enough to need a conference.

The online space has created the need for a physical space to share ideas, news and gossip.


2004: JKRowling.com

2004: That explosion of voices means that someone needs to step up as the Official Source. JK Rowling and her publishers take up the call to action. JKRowling.com is re-designed and becomes THE source for Harry Potter announcements.


2005: YouTube

2005. YouTube.com launches. We finally have audio and video in a way that is easy to share.

With YouTube in particular, there’s a built-in piece of technology that let’s us grab a piece of code and embed it on any site. This means fans can grab stills and clips from the movies can create their own mashups, movie trailers, music videos.


2005: Podcasting

AND, we get the first Harry Potter Podcasts: MuggleCast and the first PotterCast.

And at that height of PotterMania, there are over 200 weekly podcasts created by fans.


2006: Facebook

2006: We get Facebook.

All of this is a huge lead up to 2007...


July 11, 2007

July 11, 2007: We had the release of the movie (Order of the Phoenix) and 10 days later on July 21 the publication of the final book.

So we have a movie, the final book and the 10-year anniversary of the publication of the first book.


The Perfect Storm Story

It’s the "perfect storm." The height of Pottermania: the goodbyes to the series, the tell-all interviews with author J.K. Rowling, the fan reviews … the harsh articles talking about the Harry Potter buzz machine.

But you can see from our Short History of the Internet that it was less about marketing and more about timing.


What am I saying?

Harry Potter wouldn’t have happened the way it happened without the web.

For marketers, this means you have to understand • that blogging is the new press release• twitter is the new story scoop • Facebook is the new cocktail party


Monique Trottier

Monique Trottier is president of Boxcar Marketing, an internet marketing company. Former internet marketing manager of Raincoast Books, she spearheaded major online marketing campaigns, including promotion of Harry Potter and the creation of the first Canadian-publisher podcast and blog.

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Harry Potter and the World Wide Web