 Websites such as Equestria Daily and Ponychan were created for fans to share artwork , stories , music , and news about the show . Founded in January 2011 , Equestria Daily had over 36 million pageviews in its first 9 months , and has since surpassed 500 million views in June 2014 ; the blog , that receives more than 175 @,@ 000 visits a day and is fully funded by advertising revenue , was established by 23 @-@ year @-@ old college student Shaun Scotellaro for the purpose of collecting fan fiction and news specific to Friendship Is Magic . Shaun eventually cut back on his community college classes in order to continue running the site out of his parents ' house in Glendale , Arizona , when it grew in popularity . He believed the show needed a unified fan base at the time , as there existed an overarching concern that Hasbro would not be authorizing a second season . 
