Fansite

Fansites may offer specialized information on the subject (e.g., episode listings, biographies, storyline plots), pictures taken from various sources, the latest news related to their subject, media downloads, links to other, similar fansites, and the chance to talk to other fans via discussion boards.

It was not an option at the time to simply use one of the well-developed large-scale general-purpose social media platforms that exist now.

Creating a permanent space dedicated to many aspects of a specific fandom often necessitated hosting a fansite, so as to allow room for numerous subtopics and to create dedicated website features which were not possible by using generic forums or chatrooms contemporary to the time.

Hobbyist webmasters launched and built fansites around many topics, such as videogame franchises and entertainment brands (TV series, movies, bands, actors).

In contrast, the benefits of creating and maintaining a fansite without help from these modern services include: greater freedom over website functionality, more flexibility to style webpages without conforming to a unified appearance, and independence from centralized services not directly controlled by fan communities.

However, these benefits come at the cost of designing and hosting a website on a World Wide Web that is far more complex and competitive than in decades past, when fansites more commonly thrived.

These motives, particularly those related to group affiliation and self-esteem, are a driving factor in the creation of unofficial fan sites.