Notes
Henry Jenkins is an expert in fandom and participatory culture. Key to this idea is the concept of the ‘prosumer’ – audiences that create as well as consume media. This culture has revolutionised fan communities with the opportunity to create and share content. It also links to Clay Shirky’s work on ‘mass amateurisation’.
Fandom is now big business – with Comic-Con events making millions. More importantly, the internet has demonstrated the size of fan communities so it is no longer a minority of ‘geek’ stereotypes but mainstream popular culture (such as Marvel, Harry Potter or Doctor Who).
Jenkins defends fan cultures and argues that fans are often stereotyped negatively in the media because they value popular culture (e.g. films or games) over traditional cultural capital (high brow culture or knowledge). The irony is fan culture is often dominated by middle class, educated audiences.
Jenkins discusses ‘textual poaching’ – when fans take texts and re-edit or develop their meanings, a process called semiotic productivity. Fan communities are also quick to criticise if they feel a text or character is developing in a way they don’t support.
Factsheet #107 - Fandom
1) What is the definition of a fan?
2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?
- Hardcore/True Fan:lot of time and often money in becoming hard core fans. They take pride in how long they have been a fan and also the quantity and quality of the knowledge they have amassed whilst being a fan.
- Newbie:fans of any given text and do not have the longevity of devotion or depth of knowledge that hard core fans have and are initially viewed as the ‘out-group’ within fandoms.
- Anti-fan: ‘Anti-fans’ are those which identify themselves with media texts but negatively so;they loathe or hate the text but unlike ‘true’ fans they do not form their relationship with a text through close readings, they develop their emotional attachment ‘at a distance’ (Gray) through marketing publicity such as trailers.
3) What makes a ‘fandom’?
Fandom can be narrowly defined and can focus on something like an individual celebrity, or be more widely defined, encompassing entire hobbies, genres or fashions. In recent times media critics have suggested that fandoms can even be applied to the love of consumer goods or brand such as Apple.
4) What is Bordieu’s argument regarding the ‘cultural capital’ of fandom?
Bordieu argues a kind of ‘cultural capital’ which confers a symbolic power and status for the fan, especially within the realm of their fandom.
5) What examples of fandom are provided on pages 2 and 3 of the factsheet?
- The Lord of the Rings has intensified following the release of Peter Jackson’s film versions, leading many to conclude that the Hobbits and in particular Frodo Baggins and his servant and companion, Samwise Gamgee are homosexual. Such readings have also intensified through fan-fiction, and in particular the sub-genre of ‘slash fiction’, which focuses on depicting same-sex relationships between characters such as Frodo and Sam or Star Trek’s Kirk and Spock.
- Midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) helped secure its cult status with students and gay and lesbian fans who would cross-dress like the characters, use props and re-enact the actions in particular scenes.
6) Why is imaginative extension and text creation a vital part of digital fandom?
Digital fandoms use technology in multiple ways and Fiske sees this as the ‘cultural economy’ of fandoms, one that is focused not on making money but on expressing the complex ideas and value systems behind fandoms. Fans use the original media texts and get creative and innovative with the material.
Tomb Raider and Metroid fandom research
Look at this Tomb Raider fansite and answer the following questions:
1) What types of content are on offer in this fansite?
The website has 6 drop down options on the menu: Home, Games, Resources, Community, News, Contact. Content includes: message boards and chat rooms, Tomb Raider fan art and fiction, Lara Croft game and movie image galleries, Tomb Raider Level Editor help and downloads, Lara Croft models and costumes/cosplay, screenshots, wallpapers, comics and collectables.
2) What does the number of links and content suggest about the size of the online fan community for Tomb Raider and Lara Croft? Pick out some examples from this page.
The website provides a lot of links and has a lot of content which suggests that the game has a large community who engage with each other and have further interest in the game off screen. It also suggests that there is a very wide and broad audience for the game as there are forums in different languages including French, Italian, and Spanish.
3) Scroll to the bottom of the page and look at the short ‘About me’ bio and social media updates. Is this a typical example of ‘fandom’ in the digital age? Why?
It appears to be a typical example of fandom in the digital age because social media and hashtags are used, representing the influence of the digital age on video game users. The internet is used as a space for a community to come together and form a "fandom". The description does describe a typical gamer as it says, 'caffeine junkie' and 'optimist' which would be considered as stereotpyical elements from the media.
Now look at this Metroid fansite and answer the following:
1) What does the site offer?
This site offers updates on various things such as gameplay, design, announcements from game producers, new projects, help on games, debates on the games, and more.
2) Look at the Community Spotlight page. What does this suggest about the types of people who enjoy and participate in fan culture?
The links on the page suggests that the type of people who participate in fan culture are active creators - most of the community 'spotlighters' are musicians, cosplayers, artists, or Youtubers.
3) There is a specific feature on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. What do the questions from fans tell you about the level of engagement and interest in the game and franchise from the fan community?
The questions are very detailed and are directly addressing Metroid gameplay which shows the high level of engagement that fans have in the game.
Henry Jenkins: degree-level reading
Read the final chapter of ‘Fandom’ – written by Henry Jenkins. This will give you an excellent introduction to the level of reading required for seminars and essays at university as well as degree-level insight into our current work on fandom and participatory culture. Answer the following questions:
1) There is an important quote on the first page: “It’s not an audience, it’s a community”. What does this mean?
This quote is bringing gamers together, showing that they are all a part of something more than just playing a game as an audience. The word 'community' suggests that gamers are more connected rather than individuals who play the games with little or no interaction with other players regarding the game. It also suggests that gamers have more involvement than just being a 'targeted audience'.
2) Jenkins quotes Clay Shirky in the second page of the chapter. Pick out a single sentence of the extended quote that you think is particularly relevant to our work on participatory culture and the ‘end of audience’ (clue – look towards the end!)
"In the age of the internet, no one is a passive consumer anymore because everyone is a media outlet."
This links to the emergence and rise of "prosumers" proposed by Jenkins, suggesting In the breaking down of the producer/consumer binary and blurring lines, as new technology and media has given consumers a space to take an active part and produce as well as use and enjoy the product. This also links to the end of audience culture as everyone has free will and media has become more diverse.
3) What are the different names Jenkins discusses for these active consumers that are replacing the traditional audience?
- “loyals,” stressing the value of consumer commitment in an era of channel zapping; some are calling them “media-actives,” suggesting that they are much more likely to demand the right to participate within the media franchise than previous generations;
- “prosumers,” suggesting that as consumers produce and circulate media, they are blurring the line between amateur and professional; some are calling them
- “inspirational consumers” or “connectors” or “influencers,” suggesting that some people play a more active role than others in shaping media flows and creating new values.
4) On the third page of the chapter, what does Wired editor Chris Anderson suggest regarding the economic argument in favour of fan communities?
Anderson argues that investing in niche properties with small but committed consumer bases may make economic sense if you can lower costs of production and replace marketing costs by building a much stronger network with your desired consumers. None of these commentators on the new economy are using the terms “fan,” “fandom,” or “fan culture,” yet their models rest on the same social behaviors and emotional commitments that fan scholars have been researching over the past several decades. The new multipliers are simply a less geeky version of the fan—fans who don’t wear rubber Spock ears, fans who didn’t live in their parents’ basement, fans who have got a life. In other words, they are fans that don’t fit the stereotypes. These writers are predicting, and documenting, a world where what we are calling “fan cul- ture” has a real economic and cultural impact; where fan tastes are ruling at the box office; where fan tastes are dominating television; where fan practices are shaping the games industry.
5) What examples does Jenkins provide to argue that fan culture has gone mainstream?
In an American study, a media creator was defined as someone who “created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations.” Most have done two or more of these activities. Thirty-three percent of teens share what they create online with others. Nineteen percent remix content they found online (i.e. what we used to call poaching).
6) Look at the quote from Andrew Blau in which he discusses the importance of grassroots creativity. Pick out a sentence from the longer quote and decide whether you agree that audiences will ‘reshape the media landscape from the bottom up’.
"A new generation of media makers and viewers are emerging which could lead to a sea change in how media is made and consumed." this quote is relevant in today's society in how the mainstream media works and audiences may reshape the media from bottom up because now producers rely on consumers whenever something is created.
7) What does Jenkins suggest the new ideal consumer is?
He suggests that Today, the ideal consumer talks up the program and spreads word about the brand. This differs from older consumers which are said to be "couch potatoes".
8) Why is fandom 'the future'?
Fandom is the future because fans are ultimately the ones who spread words about the media text and help it to develop a wider/stronger audience. Without fans, media texts would not thrive as well. I think that fandom is also the future because of the impact that participatory culture has had on media companies as a whole; it has generated a lot of content which has helped the media industry to grow.
9) What does it mean when Jenkins says we shouldn’t celebrate ‘a process that commodifies fan cultural production’?
We shouldn't glorify and celebrate when fans make or contribute to a media product (in this case video games), turning their production into a material which can be sold.
10) Read through to the end of the chapter. What do you think the future of fandom is? Are we all fans now? Is fandom mainstream or are real fan communities still an example of a niche media audience?
I think that, as mentioned in the article, fandom and the concept of being a fan has become a lot more mainstream. In many respects, it's almost a trend to be a fan of something - for example, if a media text becomes popular or more recognised then more people will come forward as a fan. While fandom has become more mainstream, I think that this is just another element amidst the 3 different types of fan.
However, as suggested in this chapter, if everyone is a fan of something, then maybe fandom has no future.
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