Perkins Miller is the CEO of Fandom, which both hosts thousands of wikis for everything from Disney to Grand Theft Auto and also runs several publications. Millions of people contribute millions of pieces of content to the platform, and Fandom surrounds all that content with ads and uses all that data to generate insights about how fans think about their favorite games, TV shows, and movies.

While you might enjoy the content, a lot of people have complaints — especially about the sheer number of ads. We talked about what it means to host user-generated content in 2023; content moderation; and the general state of media, especially games media, which is pretty rocky right now. I’m also gearing up to host the Code Conference in September (apply to attend here), and I’ve been thinking a lot about AI, search, and the web — all very much big challenges on the horizon for Fandom.

Links:

Layoffs Hit GameSpot, Giant Bomb Just Months After Fandom Buys Them - Kotaku

How Fandom's first-party data, FanDNA, is expanding to improve recommendations for advertisers and audiences - Digiday

The AI feedback loop: Researchers warn of 'model collapse' as AI trains on AI-generated content - VentureBeat

How Reddit crushed the biggest protest in its history - The Verge

‘Not for Machines to Harvest’: Data Revolts Break Out Against A.I. - The New York Times

Someone keeps accusing fanfiction authors of writing their fic with AI, and nobody knows why - The Verge

Massive Zelda Wiki Reclaims Independence Six Months Before Tears of the Kingdom - Kotaku

Official Minecraft wiki editors so furious at Fandom's 'degraded' functionality and popups they're overwhelmingly voting to leave the site - PC Gamer

Trials and Tribble-ations (episode) - Memory Alpha

Apply to attend the Code Conference

Transcript:

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters, and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

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