Videogames: Henry Jenkins - fandom and participatory culture

Henry Jenkins - fandom blog tasks

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?

Someone who is 'fanatic' about something/someone.

2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?

Anti fans who relate negatively with texts
Newbie fans
Hardcore Fan who spend a lot of time and often money in becoming hard core fans. 

3) What makes a ‘fandom’?

A community of people who are fanatic and enjoy the same thing, e.g Nicki minaj fans are called Barbz.

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

Big media businesses are exploiting their fans for profit, as fans will do all they can to support the show and talk about it.

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

The Lord of the Rings has intensified following the release of Peter Jackson’s film versions, leading many to conclude that the Hobbits and in particular Frodo Baggins and his servant and companion, Samwise Gamgee are homosexual. Such readings have also intensified through fan-fiction, and in particular the sub-genre of ‘slash fiction’, which focuses on depicting same-sex relationships between characters such as Frodo and Sam or Star Trek’s Kirk and Spock.

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?

There is game news, save files, cheats, support, screenshots, levels, collectibkes and wallpapers.

2) What does the number of links and content suggest the size of the online fan community for Tomb Raider and Lara Croft? Pick out some examples from this page.

Different sits available for the Lara Croft community shows how diverse the community is for the Lara Croft franchise.

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?

I think that the fandom community is shown in the tomb raider site very well as it shows the old sense of the community but also the different outlets the community has to share its views and beliefs.

Now look at this Metroid fansite and answer the following: 

1) What does the site offer?

Game info, Interviews, Community, Playlist, About, Twitter, Facebook

2) Look at the Community Spotlight page. What does this suggest about the types of people who enjoy and participate in fan culture?

People can socialise with eachother by sending fan art and follow specific topics of what they may like in the Metroid series. 

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?

The game is often compared to plenty other games which implies that it is not so popular.

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?

The audience are a group of people united as they are all doing the same thing, taking interest in the same thing, and they are all able to share similarities and raise questions.

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 historic role of the consumer has been nothing more than a giant maw at the end of the mass media’s long conveyer belt, the all-absorbing Yin to mass media’s all-producing Yang". Before the idea of a fandom was for consumers to take anything that is thrown at them and not necessarily become fanatic about it.

3) What are the different names Jenkins discusses for these active consumers that are replacing the traditional audience?
He discusses the connectors and the 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?
Economically it may be a good idea to invest in niche properties as it can lower the cost of production.

5) What examples does Jenkins provide to argue that fan culture has gone mainstream?
The fact that there are more niche things in media, fandom is delving into mainstream.

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 believe that the audience will reshape the media landscape as nowadays the audience have become more and more in control.

7) What does Jenkins suggest the new ideal consumer is?
Spreads word about the specific media

8) Why is fandom 'the future'?
Media as fandom is able to create more and motivate more.

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

Something made by the fan can be treated higher than the actual thing

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 feel as if everyone is a fan of something no matter if it has to do with social media, it can be a sport, a film or even a game.