Hi all I am a Mphil/PhD student doing research on the intersection of sexuality and technology. And just recently I got *very* intrigued by the kind of fun/joy/pleasure that we derive from internet use- be it random chatting, blogging, online games etc etc. I realise that this is a very broad thing to discuss, and so as a start, I have in mind a more communal kind of 'fun' that we're having together as a group: e.g., online interactions in mailing lists, message boards, or even flame wars. I plan to pose this question to find out both more about existing literatures related to this specific discussion (which obviously is beyond my knowledge) and people's points of view on issues as such. So far the ideas people and I myself have come up with are quite related to psychoanalytic approach in which joy (jouissance) and pleasure are two notions already prominent in that particular field. But what about fun? I think we need an anatomy of fun. And at the same time I reckon that it is a very American English word though it does travel to a host of other places/cultures all the time. Thanks in advance for any input/feedback on this. Terri