Fandom: A Look at Fan Participation in the Current Media

Rachel EisterholdMarch 25, 2010

Edited in Gimp

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HypothesesH1: Fans found to have extreme (fanatic) lifestyles and daily

routines will have a higher education, obtain more information about the subject of which they are a fan and, express their interest over many different mediums of the media.

H2: Fans will try to prove their “fanship” of a particular media through their daily interactions with others.

This may be seen as a competition for who is “the best fan” within a group or community.

H3: Fans will find ways to incorporate their idea of fandom into their everyday life, including interaction with others that share the same feelings.

Research Questions

R1: How do fans show their support/participation of a fan society?

R2: What is the point at which an average fan becomes an extreme fan in today’s society?

R3: In being an extreme fan of something, what other qualities will that person possess, in terms of specific relationships and interactions with the media?

R4: What trends exist between the level of participation in a fandom and age, gender and education

Method

“Fandom in Today’s Media”253 participants

Mean age: 21.98 years Range: 18-64 years

Adolescent and mature participants to find:Differences in media expression andDifferent attitudes and practices of fandom

R1: How do fans show their support/participation of a fan society?

16.2%

2.7%

27.0%

24.8%

8.1%

8.1%

13.5%

27.7%

24.9%

19.7%

4.7%

6.2%

6.5%

4.8%

5.2%

H1: Fans found to have extreme (fanatic) lifestyles and daily routines will express their interest over many different mediums of the media

Supported

Creative Commons photo

R2: What is the point at which an average fan becomes an “extreme” fan in today’s society?

H2: Fans will try to prove their “fanship” of a particular media through their daily interactions with others. This may be seen as a competition for who is “the best fan” within a group or community.

Not supported

R3: In being an extreme fan of something, what other qualities will that person possess, in terms of specific relationships and interactions with the media?

Feels more comfortable around the same fans(positive correlation)

Does not seeks out fans in the same fandom(no correlation)

H3: Fans will find ways to incorporate their idea of fandom into their everyday life, including interaction with others that share the same feelings.

Supported

Creative Commons photo

R4: What trends exist between the level of participation in a fandom and age, gender, and education?

R4: What trends exist between the level of participation in a fandom and age, gender, and education?

R4: What trends exist between the level of participation in a fandom and age, gender, and education?

There is no definite trend between education and fandom although there are “transition” years in which fandom varies

(i.e. high school to college and college to post-grad)

Edited in Gimp

Not determined

H1: Fans found to have extreme (fanatic) lifestyles and daily routines will have a higher education.

Creative Commons photo

ChallengesThe sample was difficult to work with because

the difference between adolescent and mature and female and male

Fandom is such a vague area and society contributes a lot of influence into this area

Image Creditshttp://languageisavirus.com/harry-potter/layouts/harry-potter/harry-potter-

chamber-of-secrets.jpg

http://www.giftsforthegeek.com.au/images/catalog/category50.jpg

http://nerdgirltalking.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/twilight-movie-poster.jpg

http://search.creativecommons.org/#

http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/question_mark3.jpg

http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/hr/training/gtu/images/survey.jpg

http://www.msichicago.org/fileadmin/press/harry_potter/MSI_HarryPotter_0039.jpg

http://www.negotiationlawblog.com/uploads/image/question-mark-dice.jpg

http://www.mindwurx.net/images/NoSymbol.gif