Equestria Daily
Encyclopedia
Equestria Daily is a 2011-established fan site dedicated to news and fan fiction coverage of the 2010 animated show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
. The site is run with a blog-style
interface by a dedicated team of several editors, and has been officially recognised by the show's production team as well as The Hub, the American children's network on which the show airs.
college student Shaun Scotellaro established the website in January 2011 to collect fan fiction and news specific to the show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. In order to establish the site, Scotellaro had to cut back on his community-college classes in order run the site out of his parents' house in Glendale, Arizona
. Scotellaro has explained that he believed the show needed a unified fan base at this critical time, as he and many other twenty- to thirty-year-old males had recently become supporters of the show – known as 'bronies' – and an overarching concern was that Hasbro
, the copyright owners of the My Little Pony
franchise, would not be authorising a second season. Towards the end of 2010, when the fan-following was still in its infancy and confined mostly to the /co/ and /b/ boards of English imageboard
4chan
, all pony-related content was banned by a moderator who had had enough of the flame war that was being waged between those who enjoyed the show and those who did not. Posting a message containing the word 'pony' became a bannable offence, and this was the final stimulus that prompted Scotellaro to begin Equestria Daily. In addition, regarding video-gaming blogs Joystiq
and Kotaku
, Scotellaro has said in an FAQ
post on his website that he "always wanted to either join one or run one [himself]."
After its creation, the blog quickly gained attention from the fan community. Though Scotellaro ran it solely himself to start with, more and more fans began sending news and updates to him, and the workload increased. By the end of June 2011, the site's staff had been expanded to include two more blog editors, an 'interviewer/YouTube organiser', and a corps of pre-readers for fan fiction submissions, all drawn from the user base of dedicated blog followers. By this point, the website was garnering around 300,000 additional page views per day, and with the supplementary editors was managing to post a greater number of updates with increased frequency, though still primarily of fan fiction. Equestria Daily has also partially branched into other forms of media dissemination, currently possessing a Facebook page, YouTube account and Twitter account, though all updates are still hosted on the originally-established Blogger
site. As of the beginning of November 2011, the site has boasted over 70 million hits
since its creation in January.
, as well as the network which broadcasts the show, The Hub, have both acknowledged the existence of the fan community, and have individually sent official material specifically to Equestria Daily. The Hub had a summer advertising campaign for the show based around a parody of Katy Perry
's "California Gurls
" called "Equestria Girls", and an extended promotional version of the song was sent to Scotellaro's blog for "our favorite Pony fans." Hasbro themselves sent a review copy of their interactive iOS
storybook "Twilight Sparkle: Teacher for a Day
" to Equestria Daily, and several key figures in the production team have done exclusive interviews for the website, including supervising director and current showrunner Jayson Thiessen and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic developer and creative director Lauren Faust
.
Scotellaro was also briefly featured on an episode of NPR
's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated television series that premiered on October 10, 2010 on the United States cable network The Hub, and is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works. The series is produced by Hasbro Studios and DHX Media Vancouver...
. The site is run with a blog-style
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
interface by a dedicated team of several editors, and has been officially recognised by the show's production team as well as The Hub, the American children's network on which the show airs.
History
23-year-old ArizonanArizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
college student Shaun Scotellaro established the website in January 2011 to collect fan fiction and news specific to the show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. In order to establish the site, Scotellaro had to cut back on his community-college classes in order run the site out of his parents' house in Glendale, Arizona
Glendale, Arizona
Glendale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, located about nine miles northwest from Downtown Phoenix. According to 2010 Census Bureau, the population of the city is 226,721....
. Scotellaro has explained that he believed the show needed a unified fan base at this critical time, as he and many other twenty- to thirty-year-old males had recently become supporters of the show – known as 'bronies' – and an overarching concern was that Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
, the copyright owners of the My Little Pony
My Little Pony
My Little Pony is a brand of toy ponies marketed primarily to girls produced by the toy manufacturer Hasbro. These ponies can be identified by their colorful bodies and manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their flanks...
franchise, would not be authorising a second season. Towards the end of 2010, when the fan-following was still in its infancy and confined mostly to the /co/ and /b/ boards of English imageboard
Imageboard
An imageboard or image board is a type of Internet forum that revolves around the posting of images. The first imageboards were created in Japan, and many English-language imageboards today are centered around Japanese culture...
4chan
4chan
4chan is an English-language imageboard website. Launched on October 1, 2003, its boards were originally used for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime...
, all pony-related content was banned by a moderator who had had enough of the flame war that was being waged between those who enjoyed the show and those who did not. Posting a message containing the word 'pony' became a bannable offence, and this was the final stimulus that prompted Scotellaro to begin Equestria Daily. In addition, regarding video-gaming blogs Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
and Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
, Scotellaro has said in an FAQ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
post on his website that he "always wanted to either join one or run one [himself]."
After its creation, the blog quickly gained attention from the fan community. Though Scotellaro ran it solely himself to start with, more and more fans began sending news and updates to him, and the workload increased. By the end of June 2011, the site's staff had been expanded to include two more blog editors, an 'interviewer/YouTube organiser', and a corps of pre-readers for fan fiction submissions, all drawn from the user base of dedicated blog followers. By this point, the website was garnering around 300,000 additional page views per day, and with the supplementary editors was managing to post a greater number of updates with increased frequency, though still primarily of fan fiction. Equestria Daily has also partially branched into other forms of media dissemination, currently possessing a Facebook page, YouTube account and Twitter account, though all updates are still hosted on the originally-established Blogger
Blogger (service)
Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish...
site. As of the beginning of November 2011, the site has boasted over 70 million hits
Hit (internet)
A hit is a request to a web server for a file . When a web page is uploaded from a server the number of "hits" or "page hits" is equal to the number of files requested. Therefore, one page load does not always equal one hit because often pages are made up of other images and other files which stack...
since its creation in January.
Official response
The My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic production team at DHX Media VancouverStudio B Productions
DHX Media Vancouver is a Canadian animation studio based in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.-Studio B Productions original shows:*The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers...
, as well as the network which broadcasts the show, The Hub, have both acknowledged the existence of the fan community, and have individually sent official material specifically to Equestria Daily. The Hub had a summer advertising campaign for the show based around a parody of Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
's "California Gurls
California Gurls
"California Gurls" is an electropop song by American singer-songwriter Katy Perry and is the lead single of her third studio album, Teenage Dream. The song features rapper Snoop Dogg, and was produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Benny Blanco. According to Perry, the song is an answer song to...
" called "Equestria Girls", and an extended promotional version of the song was sent to Scotellaro's blog for "our favorite Pony fans." Hasbro themselves sent a review copy of their interactive iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
storybook "Twilight Sparkle: Teacher for a Day
My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day
My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day is a puzzle/storybook application developed by Ruckus Media Group and published by Hasbro, inspired by the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic...
" to Equestria Daily, and several key figures in the production team have done exclusive interviews for the website, including supervising director and current showrunner Jayson Thiessen and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic developer and creative director Lauren Faust
Lauren Faust
Lauren Faust is an American born animator of Polish and German descent. She grew up in Severna Park, a suburb of Annapolis, Maryland. She studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts....
.
Scotellaro was also briefly featured on an episode of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly radio news panel game show produced by Chicago Public Radio and National Public Radio. It is distributed by NPR in the United States, internationally on NPR Worldwide and on the Internet via podcast, and typically broadcast on weekends by member...