"Being in a Knowledge Space": information behaviour of cult media fan communities

This article describes the first two parts of a three-stage study investigating the information behaviour of fans and fan communities, focusing on fans of cult media. A literature analysis shows that information practices are an inherent and major part of fan activities, and that fans are practitioners of new forms of information consumption and production, showing sophisticated activities of information organisation and dissemination. A subsequent Delphi study, taking the novel form of a 'serious leisure' Delphi, in which the participants are not experts in the usual sense, identifies three aspects of fan information behaviour of particular interest beyond the fan context: information gatekeeping; classifying and tagging; and entrepreneurship and economic activity

Selca Day Sebagai Aktivitas Komunitas Online Penggemar K-Pop Perempuan Di Twitter

The Korean Wave phenomenon that is currently trending is a cultural product from South Korea that emerged due to the diversity of cultures in the world. This culture can bring changes to society regarding tastes in music, drama, film, fashion, and lifestyle. Globalization has shaped K-Pop and its rise abroad. The development of an increasingly advanced era has brought those who love the Korean Wave to get together and communicate using social media to interact with their idols or fellow fans. The purpose of this research is to find out what motivation drives K-Pop fans on Twitter to participate in the selca day event. Selca day is an event that is held every month by K-Pop fans on Twitter and each fandom has a different date to celebrate it. The theory used in this research is the CMC theory, which is a process of communicating between humans via a computer that is carried out with a specific context and purpose, CMC used to see how fans interact with each other and establish themselves on Twitter, and fan motivation theory, which is the things that motivate individuals to become fans. The research method used a qualitative descriptive method with a constructivist paradigm. The subjects K-Pop fans who used Twitter and the object the enthusiasts motivation to participate in the selca day. Sampling data using purposive sampling technique, and for data collection will be done by interview, observation and literature study. The data analysis will be carried out using an interactive analysis model with an inductive approach and the validity of the research using triangulation. The result of this research is that the enthusiasm of fans comes from the emotions of pride and love, the hopes of fans in the form of mutual progress, the increased self-esteem of fans due to this event, and the friendship between them that is getting more solid and the selca day is a response to fans parasocial behavior

Digital Shoeboxes: the history and future of personal performance archiving

Personal performance archiving describes a practice in which individuals who regularly attend live performances document their experiences, usually through the collection of documents such as programmes, playbills, cast sheets, ticket stubs, posters and leaflets. This is a form of documenting performance which intersects with the related field of serious leisure. Personal performance archiving relies on the collection and storage of physical documents, yet in this age of rapidly advancing digital technologies and social media, born-digital documents are beginning to take precedence in event management. This will undoubtedly affect these kinds of hobbyist archivists. This project strives to understand three main topics; what information can be taken from archived performance documents, how audience members are currently documenting and archiving their experience, and how the increase of digitisation and born-digital documents will affect this practice. This project used a survey to determine the current collecting and archiving preferences of modern theatregoers, several collections of physical and digitised programmes to compare style and content over different eras, and contains a literature review concerning current and future digital modes of performance documentation

“There’s A Tag for That”: An Exploratory Study of Tag Functions in the Archive of Our Own

Although there have been many studies on the effectiveness of tagging systems for information organization and retrieval, there have been far fewer studies to address other tag functions and their impact on user experience and the evaluation of information. There was a particular lack of research into how tags function for users who did not add them to a resource. This study used a diary protocol followed by interviews to investigate the functions tags played for users of the Archive of Our Own and their impact on the user experience of the site. Results suggested that tags frequently influenced a users’ decision to consume a fanwork and could also affect their perception of the fanwork or its creator. Participants generally had a positive user experience of the AO3 and found it easier to retrieve fanworks on it than other repositories. Some suggestions for future research are made in the conclusion.Master of Science in Information Scienc

A study of information behaviour in the Fantasy Premier League community

Introduction Using Stebbins’ concept of ‘serious leisure’ and Savolainen’s concept of everyday life information seeking’, this study investigates the information behaviour of Fantasy Premier League players and explores the role the online fan community plays in this behaviour. Method A mixed method approach was taken which included a questionnaire and semi structured interviews. 115 questionnaire responses were collected, and 8 interviews were conducted by videocall. Participants were asked to describe their information practices and the sources they used each week. Analysis Qualitative analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts and triangulation occurred with the results of the questionnaire. Results Results show a preference for distinctive information behaviours, a preference for informal sources and differences between casual players and those active in the online community. The role of Twitter in the information behaviour of players was notable. Conclusions The study shows that players use exhibit distinctive and sophisticated information behaviours and that online communities are increasingly important sites of information in serious leisure contexts

Mushroom for improvement: a model for the circulation of fanfiction sub-genres

This thesis explores the circulation of fanfiction sub-genres across fan communities as starting point for further inquiries into fan object movement among fans. Fan studies has long been interested in the circulation of fan objects, but lacks a broad understanding of how these objects move through space and time (Hills 2014). In applying Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of heteroglossia to describe fan communities, objects and circulatory behaviours, I analyze two case studies to propose a new model. The first tracks the circulation of a trope on Tumblr, while the second explores the movement of a fanfiction sub-genre across platforms, post types and fandoms. My proposed model is based on the radiating structure of mycelium (the vegetative part of a fungus). Mycelium’s branching and agile nature provides a more accurate framework for ever-evolving fannish circulatory practice

”Mäkin teen tätä hommaa sillee harrastajalta harrastajille” : Elokuvafanien tiedontuotanto ja -jakaminen – Hikisten Leffanörttien tapaustutkimus

Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on tutkia, millaista tiedontuotantoa suomalaiset elokuvafanit harrastavat. Tutkimuskysymyksien kautta tarkoitus oli saada selville elokuvafanien yleisimmät tiedontuotannon tyypit, käytetyt julkaisualustat ja formaatit. Näiden lisäksi tutkittiin elokuvafanien tiedontuotannon ja -jakamisen motiiveja sekä tuottamista ja jakamista estäviä tekijöitä. Tutkimusmenetelminä toimivat verkkokysely ja puolistrukturoidut haastattelut, joiden tarkoitus oli tukea ja syventää kyselyssä saatuja tuloksia. Tutkielman kohderyhmäksi valikoitui Facebook-ryhmä Hikiset Leffanörtit. Verkkokyselyyn toteuttamiseen pyydettiin lupa, ja kysely julkaistiin ryhmään joulukuussa 2021. Kysely oli auki kaksi viikkoa, jonka aikana huomattiin, että vastausten vähäisen lukumäärän takia olisi paras toteuttaa jatkohaastatteluja. Haastattelut järjestettiin viidelle kyselyyn vastanneelle tammikuussa 2022. Haastattelut toteutettiin etänä Zoom- ja Microsoft Teams - palveluiden kautta ja tallennettiin videomuotoon, minkä jälkeen aineisto litteroitiin sanasta sanaan. Tutkimuksen aineiston analyysi on yhdistelmä kvantitatiivista ja kvalitatiivista lähestymistapaa: kyselyn tuloksia analysoitiin pintapuolisesti tilastollisin huomioin, ja haastatteluissa päästiin kvalitatiivisesti syventämään kyselyssä esiin nousseita tuloksia ja ajatuksia. Aineistoa käsiteltiin kyselyn rakennetta seuraten ja tutkimuskysymyksiä mukaillen. Tutkimuksessa selvisi, että lähes kaikki kyselyyn vastanneista hikisistä leffanörteistä tuottivat tiedontuotannon lajityypeistä ’omia elokuvakokemuksia’ sekä keskusteluita, joiden lisäksi arvosteluita tuotti noin puolet. Lähes kaikki tuottivat tietoa kirjallisesti ja hieman alle puolet tuotti videomuodossa. Julkaisualustoista Facebook oli suosituin vastaajien keskuudessa ja seuraavaksi suosituimpia YouTube ja Instagram. Hikisillä leffanörteillä oli monia syitä tuottaa ja jakaa tietoa yhteisöönsä. Halu näyttää omia tunteita sekä halu jakaa kokemuksia ja tarinoita koettiin kaikkein tärkeimpinä motivaatiotekijöinä. Muita tärkeitä syitä olivat muun muassa henkilökohtaisen elokuvatiedon lisääminen sekä niiden elokuvien tai näkökulmien esilletuonti, jotka eivät heidän mielestään ole saaneet tarpeeksi huomiota. Motiiveista vähiten kannatusta keräsivät rahan ansaitseminen ja hyväksynnän etsiminen omille mielipiteille. Tiedontuotantoa ja -jakamista estäviksi tekijöiksi nousivat muun muassa ajallisten resurssien puute, muut elämän prioriteetit sekä ryhmän ilmapiiri

Tag analysis as a tool for investigating information behaviour: comparing fan-tagging on Tumblr, Archive of Our Own and Etsy

Purpose This article describes the third part of a three-stage study investigating the information behaviour of fans and fan communities, the first stage of which is described in the study by Price and Robinson (2017). Design/methodology/approach Using tag analysis as a method, a comparative case study was undertaken to explore three aspects of fan information behaviour: information gatekeeping; classifying and tagging and entrepreneurship and economic activity. The case studies took place on three sites used by fans–Tumblr, Archive of Our Own (AO3) and Etsy. Supplementary semi-structured interviews with site users were used to augment the findings with qualitative data. Findings These showed that fans used tags in a variety of ways quite apart from classification purposes. These included tags being used on Tumblr as meta-commentary and a means of dialogue between users, as well as expressors of emotion and affect towards posts. On AO3 in particular, fans had developed a practice called “tag wrangling” to mitigate the inherent “messiness” of tagging. Evidence was also found of a “hybrid market economy” on Etsy fan stores. From the study findings, a taxonomy of fan-related tags was developed. Research limitations/implications Findings are limited to the tagging practices on only three sites used by fans during Spring 2016, and further research on other similar sites are recommended. Longitudinal studies of these sites would be beneficial in understanding how or whether tagging practices change over time. Testing of the fan-tag taxonomy developed in this paper is also recommended. Originality/value This research develops a method for using tag analysis to describe information behaviour. It also develops a fan-tag taxonomy, which may be used in future research on the tagging practices of fans, which heretofore have been a little-studied section of serious leisure information users

“You\u27re In a Cult, Call Your Dad.” An Investigation into the True Crime Podcast \u3ci\u3eMy Favorite Murder\u3c/i\u3e and Its Online Fan Communities

The interest many women have in true crime has recently received widespread attention in popular media. For instance, a Saturday Night Live sketch that aired in late February of 2021 featured women singing about how their favorite way to unwind is to tune into the latest murder documentary or podcast. A leader in this true crime revolution, My Favorite Murder (MFM) is a true crime comedy podcast whose fan base—known as Murderinos—is massive in size and in passion. Despite the enormous popularity of true crime podcasts like MFM or Serial, research on true crime podcasts and their online fan communities is limited. This thesis seeks to add to the current popular dialogue on true crime podcasts and the many women who love them, as well as add to the growing body of literature dedicated to the exploration of true crime podcast fan communities. This research uses focus groups to qualitatively explore how fans of MFM, who identify as women, connect to the genre of true crime, connect to the hosts of MFM Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, and how they connect to other Murderinos virtually or otherwise. The original direction of this research pointed towards possible findings that would align with previous fan studies work on participatory culture (Jenkins, 2013) and fan behaviors like gift economy (Hellekson, 2009). Instead, the findings tell a story fundamentally centered on journeying from feeling alone to no longer feeling alone. The eighteen women, in conversation with each other during small focus groups, tell how they felt alone in their life-long love of true crime, and how their identities as women play a role in their liking of the genre. The findings also show that these women fans have developed a strong parasocial bond (Horton & Wohl, 1956) with Karen and Georgia because of factors related to host responsiveness, the show’s tone and message, and the hosts’ openness and mental health advocacy. Finally, findings show that these women fans find support and an end to their feeling of being alone when they engage in a wide variety of MFM online fan communities

“Don’t forget to be awesome”. the role of social learning as a component of belonging in virtual communities: a case study of the Youtube fan community “Nerdfighteria”

The growth of the Internet has allowed fans who consume various media products, to interact and convene with other who share similar interests in online fan communities. Historically the study of fans has focused on pleasure and enjoyment as the main motivating factors why individual fans join, stay and participate in fan communities. This study, however, suggests that learning as a component of belonging has been underestimated within contemporary fan studies. Close examination of the literature of fan studies and the social practices of online fan communities reveal that these spaces may serve as fertile spaces for learning and the sharing of knowledge. Daily learning occurs within multiple spheres, including personal interests, peer culture, and academic content; all elements which can be found within fan communities. This study used the social learning theory “communities of practice” (CoP) model developed by Wenger (1998) to understand of this element of learning and knowledge sharing that seems to take places within fan communities. This study explores learning as a component of belonging to online fan communities by using the fan community of the YouTube personalities Vlogbrothers, which has named itself Nerdfighteria, as a case study. Through a qualitative research approach, which includes participation observation methods and qualitative interviews, this thesis has analysed the fan community Nerdfighteria, and used two Nerdfighter fan Facebook groups, the global NERDFIGHTEIRIA and local Nerdfighters South Africa, as case studies to evaluate whether the elements of learning taking place within these spaces serves as a motivating factor for belonging and participation. The results of this research support the idea that learning plays a role within the fan community Nerdfighteria and thus that it functions as a CoP. Fans within the global NERDFIGHTERIA Facebook group use this fan space to discuss and debate content related to their media of choice; thereby learning and acquiring knowledge as a CoP. The Nerdfighters South Africa Facebook group, despite the learning potential, fails to function as a CoP because it is no longer functionally allows for shared learning. Online fan communities, this research found, have the potential to serve as functioning communities of practice (CoP) only if they embody the characteristics and practicalities consistent with a learning space. Overall these fan groups may be categorised as communities of interests but sub-sections within these communities fit the criteria of a community of practice due to the kind of learning that is taking place. This research supports an alternative, yet promising, approach to the study of fan online communities which prioritises learning