International Fan Professionalization on Viki

Global economies and digital diasporas have led to a rise in fansubbing sites, one of the largest being Viki. Viki uses amateur expert fans to translate media from around the world into over two hundred languages. Global markets and for-profit fansubbing companies encourage volunteers to establish their own work practices. In examining the posts to one large segmenting forum, this article identifies ways Viki segmenters adapt workplace practices to online fan communities as well as ways that volunteers adapt localized community practices to online spaces. Specifically, volunteers adopted localized professional work etiquette to online leisure activities. This research expands understandings of global fan communities, referencing ways localized community practices continue to intersect with understandings of online work and leisure