Videogames: Henry Jenkins - fandom and participatory culture

 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?
Even if you are not interested in these texts it could be argued that that we are all ‘fans’ of a media text in the sense that we like them and consume them regularly, but is not the same as being a Fan (capitalisation intended) of a media text. Fans do more than just like or even love a particular media text, ‘true fans’ have a devotion that goes beyond simply consuming media texts, and is, as Matt Hills argues, part of a person’s identity in much the same way as gender, class and age define who we are.
2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?
Hardcore fans, Newbies, Anti fans.
3) What makes a ‘fandom’?
Fandoms exhibit a ‘passion that binds enthusiasts in the manner of people who share a secret — this secret just happens to be shared with millions of others.’ 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. 
4) What is Bordieu’s argument regarding the ‘cultural capital’ of fandom?
That its a symbolic power and status for a fan.
5) What examples of fandom are provided on pages 2 and 3 of the factsheet?

Sherlock Holmes fans, Liverpool, Rocky Horror show, Lord of the Rings, Family Guy, Harry Potter, The walking dead

6) Why is imaginative extension and text creation a vital part of digital fandom?

Fans use the original media texts and get creative and innovative with the material. Crawford suggests that it is this which distinguishes fans from ordinary consumers. They engage in diverse activities such as‘the production of websites, mods and hacks, private servers, gameguides, walkthroughs and FAQs, fan fiction and forms of fan art, fanvids’ all of which have been aided by digital technology.

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?

That people want to be given a sense of acknowledgement when it comes to their comments as they feel like a part of a community instead of just a consumer.

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!)

Shirky, in effect, seems to be traversing the same terrain fan studies traveled several decades ago, reasserting the emergence of the active audience in response to the perceived passivity of mass media consumers. 

3) What are the different names Jenkins discusses for these active consumers that are replacing the traditional audience?

Loyals, prosumers, inspirational consumers, connectors.

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?

Fan culture now has a real world economic and cultural impact on society.

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’.

I do think audiences will reshape the media landscape due to how much of an impact a fan can have on the a products development.

7) What does Jenkins suggest the new ideal consumer is?

Today, the ideal consumer talks up the program and spreads word about the brand.

8) Why is fandom 'the future'?

Fandom is the future. I use the word “fandom” and not “fans” here for good reason. To me, it seems a little paradoxical that the rest of the people involved in this conversation are more and more focused on consumption as a social, networked, collaborative process (“harnessing collective intelligence,” “the wisdom of crowds,” and all of that), whereas so much of the recent work in fan studies has returned to a focus on the individual fan.

9) What does it mean when Jenkins says we shouldn’t celebrate ‘a process that commodifies fan cultural production’?

Extending the influence that fans exert over the media they love, and fans as creating a context in which more people create and circulate media that more perfectly reflects their own world views.

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 fandom will continue to develop as more and more pieces of media are distributed that we have a certain liking for, regular fandom wont be as heavy as a hardcore fandom but it will still be strong.