Henry Jenkins - fandom
The following tasks will give you an excellent introduction to fandom and also allow you to start exploring degree-level insight into audience studies. Work through the following:
Factsheet #107 - Fandom
Read Media Factsheet #107 on Fandom. Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) or log into your Greenford Google account to access the link. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:
1) What is the definition of a fan?
A person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal.
2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?
Hardcore/True Fan: They take pride in how long they have been a fan
Newbie: New fans of any given text and do not have the longevity of devotion or depth of knowledge
Anti-fan: 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
3) What makes a ‘fandom’?
Fandoms are subcultures within which fans experience and share a sense of camaraderie with each other and engage in particular practices of their given fandom. Fandoms can be narrowly defined and can focus on something like an individual celebrity, or be more widely defined, encompassing entire hobbies, genres or fashions.
5) What examples of fandom are provided on pages 2 and 3 of the factsheet?
-Rituals and participation: Fans who watch the text over and over again and go into cosplays.
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. For example, shipping is the belief of, and interest in a virtual relationship between two fictional characters. They take their interests into other forms and platforms such as creating fan-art and videos to satisfy their craving for the relationships they desire.
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.
5) What examples does Jenkins provide to argue that fan culture has gone mainstream?
Superhero and fantasy blockbusters of recent years.
Serialization has come to be the norm across all media properties.
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’.
7) What does Jenkins suggest the new ideal consumer is?
In the old days, the ideal consumer watched television, bought products, and didn’t talk back. Today, the ideal consumer talks up the program and spreads word about the brand. The old ideal might have been the couch potato; the new ideal is almost certainly a fan.
8) Why is fandom 'the future'?
Represents the experimental prototype, the testing ground for the way media and culture industries are going to operate in the future. In the old days, the ideal consumer watched television, bought products, and didn’t talk back. Today, the ideal consumer talks up the program and spreads word about the brand. The old ideal might have been the couch potato; the new ideal is almost certainly a fan.
9) What does it mean when Jenkins says we shouldn’t celebrate ‘a process that commodifies fan cultural production’?
He says we should 'avoid celebrating a process that commodifies fan cultural production and sells it back to us with a considerable markup.'
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?
Factsheet #107 - Fandom
Read Media Factsheet #107 on Fandom. Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) or log into your Greenford Google account to access the link. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:
1) What is the definition of a fan?
A person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal.
2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?
Hardcore/True Fan: They take pride in how long they have been a fan
Newbie: New fans of any given text and do not have the longevity of devotion or depth of knowledge
Anti-fan: 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
3) What makes a ‘fandom’?
Fandoms are subcultures within which fans experience and share a sense of camaraderie with each other and engage in particular practices of their given fandom. Fandoms can be narrowly defined and can focus on something like an individual celebrity, or be more widely defined, encompassing entire hobbies, genres or fashions.
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.
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?
-Rituals and participation: Fans who watch the text over and over again and go into cosplays.
-Ironic readings: Fans engage in philosophical debates and see what other meanings could be imposed in the text.
-Defy critics and institutions: Fans drive the popularity of the show and can go against production companies.
-Imaginative Extension and Text Creation: Fans use the original media texts and get creative and innovative with the material.
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. For example, shipping is the belief of, and interest in a virtual relationship between two fictional characters. They take their interests into other forms and platforms such as creating fan-art and videos to satisfy their craving for the relationships they desire.
Henry Jenkins - degree-level reading
Read the final chapter of ‘Fandom’ – written by Henry Jenkins (note: link may be blocked in school - try this Google Drive link if you need it.) 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?
It means that people who engage with media today are not just an audience. Instead, they are actively interacting and building relationships with others hence the “community”.
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!)
''Some are calling them “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.''
3) What are the different names Jenkins discusses for these active consumers that are replacing the traditional audience?
-Loyals
-Media-actives
-Prosumers
-Inspirational consumers
-Connectors
-Influencers
-Multipliers
Read the final chapter of ‘Fandom’ – written by Henry Jenkins (note: link may be blocked in school - try this Google Drive link if you need it.) 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?
It means that people who engage with media today are not just an audience. Instead, they are actively interacting and building relationships with others hence the “community”.
''Some are calling them “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.''
3) What are the different names Jenkins discusses for these active consumers that are replacing the traditional audience?
-Loyals
-Media-actives
-Prosumers
-Inspirational consumers
-Connectors
-Influencers
-Multipliers
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.
5) What examples does Jenkins provide to argue that fan culture has gone mainstream?
Superhero and fantasy blockbusters of recent years.
Serialization has come to be the norm across all media properties.
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.'
7) What does Jenkins suggest the new ideal consumer is?
In the old days, the ideal consumer watched television, bought products, and didn’t talk back. Today, the ideal consumer talks up the program and spreads word about the brand. The old ideal might have been the couch potato; the new ideal is almost certainly a fan.
8) Why is fandom 'the future'?
Represents the experimental prototype, the testing ground for the way media and culture industries are going to operate in the future. In the old days, the ideal consumer watched television, bought products, and didn’t talk back. Today, the ideal consumer talks up the program and spreads word about the brand. The old ideal might have been the couch potato; the new ideal is almost certainly a fan.
9) What does it mean when Jenkins says we shouldn’t celebrate ‘a process that commodifies fan cultural production’?
He says we should 'avoid celebrating a process that commodifies fan cultural production and sells it back to us with a considerable markup.'
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?
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