Henry Jenkins - fandom blog tasks

 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 fan is a person who likes and admires someone or something(such as a sports fan) in a very enthusiastic way.

3) What makes a ‘fandom’?

A fandom is the community of fans who share a common interest in a particular person, franchise, celebrity, TV show, movie, book, or any other form of entertainment.

4) What is Bordieu’s argument regarding the ‘cultural capital’ of fandom?

That fans in a fandom will basically spend their money and time to earn status as part of the fanbase ( almost to be accepted ). Fandoms like Taylor Swift etc.

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

Fandoms like Sherlock Holmes, the Liverpool fanbase.

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

It helps build depth into the community who may have built an obsession with the film/sports team/book etc

Helping create more complexity and depth into the certain thing they support.

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?

An audience only sticks with the content but a community interacts and discuss with each other about the certain thing they support there's a difference. Interaction with each other and interaction with only the product.

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!)

The article comments extensively on the way average consumers of brands and

branded entertainment are playing a more active role in shaping the flow

of media throughout our culture, are drawn together by shared passions

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

Prosumers. Audience that produces and consumes. That is the new internet age and what it regards.

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

Chris Anderson suggests that the real economic benefit would come from being able to lower production costs and then making up for this by building up a much stronger network with their targeted consumers.

5) What examples does Jenkins provide to argue that fan culture has gone mainstream?

The main example given is that fan culture is no longer automatically associated with the stereotypical 'geeky' fan, and that fan culture ultimately dominates the media now. Fior example, the tastes of fans and their ideas have a significant impact on the production of media texts, and in shaping the media content.

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 think that Blau is right in saying that audiences will "reshape the media landscape from the bottom up" and that it will have huge positive impacts such as unlocking more diverse content and also encouraging audiences to consume and develop their own content.

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

Previously, the ideal consumer "watched television, bought products and didn't talk back." They were more passive and were solely consumer. However, the new ideal consumer is a person who "talks up the program and spreads word abut the brand."

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’?

This quote means that we should not promote this process as larger media companies exploit the products that are produced by the fans basically the fans are not rewarded for their efforts.

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.