Henry Jenkin Fandom Blog Task
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
Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) to find Media Factsheet #107 on Fandom. Save it to USB or email it to yourself so you have access to the reading for homework. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:
1) What is the definition of a fan?A member of the audience which consumes a particular aspect of the media more often than other audiences.2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?
4) What is Bordieu’s argument regarding the ‘cultural capital’ of fandom?
Bordieu says, "Fandom's cultural capital gives the fan a synbolic power and status especially within the realm of their fandom"
5) What examples of fandom are provided on pages 2 and 3 of the factsheet?
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?
Discords for some aspects of the game-Mods, Cheats Gameplay tips Discourse forums Links to other content of fans-Fanart, Fanfiction
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.
Because the online fan community has a huge group, it suggests the fandom is well known and popular.
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?
Yes, it would be considered a fandom example as it shares fan creator details where you can find out more about the creator just by scrolling down on a website.
Now look at this Metroid fansite and answer the following:
1) What does the site offer?
Games
Social media links
Game features
2) Look at the Community Spotlight page. What does this suggest about the types of people who enjoy and participate in fan culture?
They heavily invested in a specific fan culture to appreciate the more obscure imagery and art that will be useless to those who have no game-based expertise to accompany them.
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?
They make it clear that they are genuinely interested in the game and are putting their all in to compete with each other.
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 means the group of fans are not just ordinary game consumers but have a much stronger and closer connexion to each other.
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!)
"No-one is a passive user anymore in the internet age"
3) What are the different names Jenkins discusses for these active consumers that are replacing the traditional audience?
Influencers
connectors
Loyals
Media actives
4) On the third page of the chapter, what does Wired editor Chris Anderson suggest regarding the economic argument in favour of fan communities?
He suggests that "investing in niche properties with small but committed consumer bases can make economic sense if you can lower production costs and replace marketing costs with your desired consumers by building a much stronger network"
5) What examples does Jenkins provide to argue that fan culture has gone mainstream?
Producers are going to look at what the fans want to make something successful. The producers wouldn't know what their audiences really want without he fans.
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 would agree, since it is true that producers are now increasingly looking at what consumers think about their games before they make a second or third version of the game.
7) What does Jenkins suggest the new ideal consumer is?
' The ideal consumer is talking about the programme today and spreading word about the brand. The old ideal might have been the couch potato; almost certainly, the new ideal is a fan. '
8) Why is fandom 'the future'?
Fandoms are essentially the position where media texts are most heavily promoted across various platforms, making it the future for media marketing.
9) What does it mean when Jenkins says we shouldn’t celebrate ‘a process that commodifies fan cultural production’?
The very fandom producers are trying to appeal to the use of fan culture to do anything other than appeal to the fans, such as selling fan ideas back to fandoms ' 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?
People are going to enjoy things and that can be called fan of something itself. Fandoms are now becoming the standard and have become more common in recent years, mostly because of the popularity gained. User groups are certainly popular or at least interesting because there are so many forums for people to hare about them.
3) What makes a ‘fandom’?
Fandoms can be narrowly defined and can be based on something like a specific celebrity, or more broadly defined, encompassing entire interests, styles or fashions.
Factsheet #107 - Fandom
Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) to find Media Factsheet #107 on Fandom. Save it to USB or email it to yourself so you have access to the reading for homework. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:
1) What is the definition of a fan?A member of the audience which consumes a particular aspect of the media more often than other audiences.2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?
- Hardcore fans
- Newbie fans
- Anti fans
4) What is Bordieu’s argument regarding the ‘cultural capital’ of fandom?
Bordieu says, "Fandom's cultural capital gives the fan a synbolic power and status especially within the realm of their fandom"
5) What examples of fandom are provided on pages 2 and 3 of the factsheet?
- A Liverpool fans bedroom
- The walking dead fan arts
- A range of other fanarts and fan vids
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?
Discords for some aspects of the game-Mods, Cheats Gameplay tips Discourse forums Links to other content of fans-Fanart, Fanfiction
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.
Because the online fan community has a huge group, it suggests the fandom is well known and popular.
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?
Yes, it would be considered a fandom example as it shares fan creator details where you can find out more about the creator just by scrolling down on a website.
Now look at this Metroid fansite and answer the following:
1) What does the site offer?
Games
Social media links
Game features
2) Look at the Community Spotlight page. What does this suggest about the types of people who enjoy and participate in fan culture?
They heavily invested in a specific fan culture to appreciate the more obscure imagery and art that will be useless to those who have no game-based expertise to accompany them.
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?
They make it clear that they are genuinely interested in the game and are putting their all in to compete with each other.
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 means the group of fans are not just ordinary game consumers but have a much stronger and closer connexion to each other.
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!)
"No-one is a passive user anymore in the internet age"
3) What are the different names Jenkins discusses for these active consumers that are replacing the traditional audience?
Influencers
connectors
Loyals
Media actives
4) On the third page of the chapter, what does Wired editor Chris Anderson suggest regarding the economic argument in favour of fan communities?
He suggests that "investing in niche properties with small but committed consumer bases can make economic sense if you can lower production costs and replace marketing costs with your desired consumers by building a much stronger network"
5) What examples does Jenkins provide to argue that fan culture has gone mainstream?
Producers are going to look at what the fans want to make something successful. The producers wouldn't know what their audiences really want without he fans.
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 would agree, since it is true that producers are now increasingly looking at what consumers think about their games before they make a second or third version of the game.
7) What does Jenkins suggest the new ideal consumer is?
' The ideal consumer is talking about the programme today and spreading word about the brand. The old ideal might have been the couch potato; almost certainly, the new ideal is a fan. '
8) Why is fandom 'the future'?
Fandoms are essentially the position where media texts are most heavily promoted across various platforms, making it the future for media marketing.
9) What does it mean when Jenkins says we shouldn’t celebrate ‘a process that commodifies fan cultural production’?
The very fandom producers are trying to appeal to the use of fan culture to do anything other than appeal to the fans, such as selling fan ideas back to fandoms ' 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?
People are going to enjoy things and that can be called fan of something itself. Fandoms are now becoming the standard and have become more common in recent years, mostly because of the popularity gained. User groups are certainly popular or at least interesting because there are so many forums for people to hare about them.
3) What makes a ‘fandom’?
Fandoms can be narrowly defined and can be based on something like a specific celebrity, or more broadly defined, encompassing entire interests, styles or fashions.
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