SKZ SIGHTS INFO

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What is a fansite?

Fansites are accounts that post high quality photos of idols. Most sites focus on a single idol, while others post several or all members of a group. They commonly sell merchandise such as calendars or slogans (banners) as well. In Korean these fans are known as 홈마 ('homma'), short for "homepage master" or simply "master."

What are previews?

Many fansite masters will post low quality smartphone captures of their camera preview screen before posting the original full quality photo. They typically share several of these previews first and then choose just a few to post in full.

Why do this?

It's easy to lose track of fansites when they stop being active, and if they ever decide to delete or lock their account all of their photos are deleted or become inaccessible as well. It's common for people to repost fansite photos, so they may still be floating around online somewhere, but once the original account is gone the full archive and original quality photos disappear along with it. My goal is simply to preserve these memories so fans can look back on them in the future.

When was the archive started?

I started using TumblThree to track and back up sites automatically in mid 2022.

How do you decide which accounts to save?

Some accounts in the archive are technically not fansites, but I consider any account with high quality photos worth saving. I skip most non-fansites that just have smartphone-quality concert photos for example, but otherwise I try so save as many accounts as possible, even if they only have a small number of photos or only post previews.

Are you saving photos of Woojin too?

In short, he is not currently a member of Stray Kids so he is not included in the archive. Most of his sites that were active when he was a member have since been locked or deleted anyway. There are a few of his sites in the archive, but I have only kept their photos of the current members. I also remove any solo photos of Woojin (such as those posted for birthdays, etc.) from the folders of other sites, but I do keep some photos featuring him if the current members are also present in them.

Are you archiving official photos as well?

Official photos aren't a priority since they're less likely to be deleted from the original source and are often mirrored across multiple sites, but I would like to get around to them eventually.

Can I use the photos for my own project?

You can do whatever you like with the archive, no need to ask for permission from me. You should however avoid editing or cropping fansite photos because the original owners typically don't like that.

How can I help?

I could use help with anything listed in the Known Issues section below (ie. incorrect or missing dates, mislabeled photos, identifying unknown sites, etc.) as well as locating new sites to add to the archive. If you have questions or would like to report any mistakes you can email me at common0325 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Known Issues

  • Missing sites. Either the site was deleted or locked before I could archive it, or it's a new or obscure site I wasn't aware of.
  • Unknown sites. I have some photos from sites that I don't know the original URL of. Signatures aren't always sufficient to identify them.
  • Missing photos. Software may occasionally miss things, or I may have accidentally deleted something while organizing files.
  • Incorrect dates. The date should be from the day the photo was taken, not the day it was posted. Fansite masters occasionally make mistakes and add the wrong dates to their photos and I don't always catch them.
  • Missing dates. If the fansite master didn't add a date I'm not always able to figure it out myself. Typically the hardest photos to date are from tours (Unlock, MANIAC, etc.) because the costumes are nearly identical from day to day.
  • Mislabeled photos. Either HQ or Preview tags are wrong.
  • General cruft that should be deleted. I remove massive amounts of screenshots, edits, selfies, photos of non-SKZ idols, and so forth from every folder before I upload them, but I may occasionally miss things.
Edit
Pub: 25 Apr 2024 01:21 UTC
Edit: 01 Jun 2024 02:41 UTC
Views: 31