Videogames: Henry Jenkins - fandom and participatory culture

 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 short way of saying fanatic, however the word fan puts it at a more tame level compared to a fanatic, a fan is someone who indulges into a certain culture

2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?
Hardcore/True Fan

Newbie

Anti-Fan

3) What makes a ‘fandom’?
The community of people who enjoy and have a shared passion for their likenesses of the topic

4) What is Bordieu’s argument regarding the ‘cultural capital’ of fandom?
he says that it's a symbolic power and status within the fandom

5) What examples of fandom are provided on pages 2 and 3 of the factsheet?
Rituals and participation

Ironic readings

Defy critics and expectations

Imaginative creation and text creation

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

It allows them to create their own reality thus allowing them to becoming prosumers

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 shows that they aren't just consumers of media but they all have common interests and come together to form that 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!)

It is said that "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?

Inspirational consumer, connectors and influencers

4) On the third page of the chapter, what does Wired editor Chris Anderson suggest regarding the economic argument in favour of fan communities?

It is written that having a "small but 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?

He gives the example with Harry Potter fans and how they are named "potter heads" this shows how there are a large amount of people who enjoy the series and have been put into a group and named into a group.

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’.

"This bottom up energy will generate enormous creativity, but will also tear apart some of the categories that organise the lives and work of media makers" I think that there will always be some sort of community with the producers and audiences as they can cause changes into a product.

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

Talks about the fandom and spreads the word of the brand

8) Why is fandom 'the future'?

they hold power in a community and can possibly change how the producers do things.

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

It talks about how we shouldn't indulge into things made by the company that has the sole purpose of gaining money as this just encourages them to do more things like this and since they would be focused on the money more they wouldn't take the quality into consideration too much.

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 there will always be fans of things and it is something that is important to how things grow in the industry, it allows for criticism and shows how well received it is.