Editing Egoboo

{{Short description|Pleasure received from public recognition of voluntary work}}
{{About|the colloquial expression|the computer game|Egoboo (video game)}}
{{wiktionary|egoboo}}

'''Egoboo''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|g|oʊ|b|uː}} is a [[slang|colloquial expression]] for the [[pleasure]] received from [[reputation|public recognition]] of voluntary work.

The term was in use in [[science fiction fandom]] as early as 1947, when it was used (spelled "ego boo") in a letter from [[Rick Sneary]] published in the [[letter column]] of ''[[Thrilling Wonder Stories]]''.<ref>Sneary, Rick. "Letter" ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'' June 1947]</ref> It was originally simply used to describe the "ego boost" someone feels on seeing their name in print. As a reliable way for someone to get their name in print was to do something worth mentioning, it became caught up with the idea of voluntary community participation. As a result of this, in later years, the term grew to mean something akin to an ephemeral [[currency]], e.g., "I got a lot of egoboo for editing that newsletter."

The term later spread into the [[open source programming]] [[Social movement |movement]], where the concept of non-monetary reward from community response is a key [[motivational|motivator]] for many of the participants.<ref name=esr>{{cite web|last=Raymond|first=Eric S.|title=The Social Context of Open-Source Software|url= http://catb.org/~esr/writings/homesteading/cathedral-bazaar/ar01s11.html|work=The Cathedral and the Bazaar|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref>

As a result of its prevalence in this context, it is often attributed to [[Eric S. Raymond]]. However, it has been in use in science fiction fandom since 1947 or earlier, being referenced in the 1959 collection of fandom-related jargon ''Fancyclopedia II''.<ref>[http://www.sff.net/people/diccon/CYINDEX.HTM Fancyclopedia II] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011006033408/http://www.sff.net/people/diccon/cyindex.htm |date=2001-10-06 }} – index page</ref> It did not, however, occur in the 1944 predecessor to that work, ''Fancyclopedia I'',<ref>[http://fanac.org/Fannish_Reference_Works/Fancyclopedia/Fancyclopedia_I/#E Fancyclopedia I] – #E</ref> suggesting the term came into common use sometime in the intervening years. The first print citation available electronically is in a 1950 issue of [[Lee Hoffman]]'s ''Quandry'', where it is spelled "ego-boo";<ref>[http://fanac.org/fanzines/Quandry/Quandry5-12.jpeg Hoffman, Lee. "Presenting QUANDRY's neo-fan of the month" ''Quandry'' #5, p. 12]</ref> later usage dropped the hyphen and blended the two words, a common feature of fannish jargon.

The earliest online citation recorded is a reference to it being used in 1982, describing [[InConJunction]], a [[science fiction convention]] in [[Indiana]];<ref>[https://groups.google.com/group/net.sf-lovers/msg/988b7faf00af1308 net.sf-lovers] INCONJUNCTION II: AN SF CONVENTION</ref> the high proportion of science fiction fans on [[Usenet]], and the [[Internet]] generally, in early years helped spread it into the wider computing community.

==See also==
* [[Amateur professionalism]]
* [[Datafication]]
* [[Gamification]]
* [[Gratification]]

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Internet slang]]
[[Category:Fanspeak]]
[[Category:Gamification]]