After our past Blog Entry regarding YouTube vs. Hulu, I thought it was funny that under my "Recommended videos" on YouTube, a preview of Glee's "Teenage Dream" popped up as a video I might enjoy. After seeing my practicum project extend to my YouTube recommendations, I decided to explore the thread on Gleeforum.com regarding this week's episode "Never Been Kissed," and more specifically, the performance of "Teenage Dream" that was gaining so much Hype. After looking at member's posts about the upcoming episode, which aired this past Tuesday, I started to notice a language I was unfamiliar with, but the members of Gleeforum.com seemed to mutually understand. The word "Shipping" seemed to be popping up all over the forum regarding the newly established homosexual relationship between Kurt and new character Blaine, and I was confused to say that least. Many of the members on the forum were saying they were "shipping" Kurt and Blaine, and Ihad no idea what they were talking about. I decided to talk to one particular member, MarissaMayhem, who had also used the term in one of her posts, and I was surprised to get a response less than 24 hours later. I asked Marissa about why she joined Glee Forum and she was kind enough to clear up what the term "shipping" meant for me. 
Here's her response, if you cannot read the screen shot:
Hello! 
Shipping basically means that you support that couple, like if you say "I ship Kurt/Blaine", you are basically saying you are a fan of that couple.
I wouldn't say that I've made any friends here, but then again, I don't really post that often or get involved. I'm a college student too and I just don't have a lot of time for a lot of posting. Mostly I come here to read up on what everyone is thinking and to get spoilers. I'm pretty well versed though in fan forums though. I don't post often here but I used to post quite frequently at others but school came back around and I lost the time.
I hope you have fun here though. From just reading around this place is really fun.
I thought it was funny how she said she didn't post that much, but she has posted 137 posts since joining the site September 2009. I'm hoping to interact more with the fans on the site, and try and figure out the gratifications users and fans can get from fan forums and interactions with other members on the site.
I must say that I am not shocked that you got a response, and more importantly how quickly you got it. A lot of these fans check these sites every hour, or keep it open all the time during their online time. Also, because it is a site dealing with an easy going topic, like Glee, the fans/forum attendees are more likely to be nice and friendly to newcomers. If you asked a similar question to someone on a political forum, that person may not be so nice. It would be an interesting study to do.
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