Marketing Via Fandom use  of  taste  hierarchies  in  

participatory  culture  Prepared By Bessie Chu

Fandom, Participatory Culture, and Web 2.0

Agenda

-­‐What  I’m  doing  and  Why  -­‐Theoretical  Framework  to  Approach  -­‐Recent  Scholarship  -­‐Initial  Observations  -­‐Initial  Conclusions  -­‐Would  love  feedback!  

Intentional Activations

Normalization of “Commercial Fan Practices”

Awareness  of  using  fan  practices  vis  a  vis  Web  2.0  capabilities    

Deliberate  use  of  taste  hierarchies  in  marketing  shows  and  fan  interactions  

Mad Men versus Scandal

Why Does it Matter

Further  fan  studies  awareness  of  marketing  mimicry  of  fan  practices  and  its  impact  in  Web  

2.0  and  larger  societal  rhetoric  

But First a Theoretical Framework…

Hierarchy of Legitimate Tastes

Bourgeois  distance    “legitimate  consumption  

 of  legitimate  works”  

Taste  cultures  relating  to  demarcations  of  identity  classifying  people  and  things    

“Discriminating  taste  above  fandom”  

Bourdieu (1980)

Third Phase of Fandom

Conceptualizing  three  distinct  “waves”  of  fandom  since  1980s  •  “Guerilla  style  tactics  “  in  first  

phase  •  1990s  proliferation  of  new  

media  and  fan  communities  •  Third  phase  of  examining  the  

role  of  fan  objects  and  fans  as  active  producers  because  of  digital  media  

Gray (2007)

Web Practices as a Culture

Looking  at  the  Web  Commons  as  a  “mind-­‐set,  not  a  specific  

form  of  technology.”    “Just  as  there  is  a  change  in  the  

interconnected  nature  of  contemporary  media,  so  too  is  there  are  revolution  in  the  way  media  technologies  are  used.    We  can  see  it  in  the  collective  communal  nature  of  the  web,  in  the  self-­‐conscious  nature  of  the  use  of  the  web,  and  in  the  assertiveness  of  fans”  (p.  23).        

Booth (2010)

Power Struggles in Web 2.0

Themes  of  how  does  fandom  cope  with  new  power  in  the  Web  2.0  age.    

“The  blurring  of  the  borders  between  consumers  and  producers,  as  well  as  growing  awareness  of  the  added  value  of  fan  labor  (Ross,  2008;  Baym  &  

BurneD,  2009),  have  led  to  a  percepGon  of  unprecedented  power  held  by  audiences  over  

producGon  companies.”    

Hadas & Shifman (2013)

Race and Ethnicity in Fandom Gatson (2011)

Over  time,  we  have  come  to  focus  particularly  on  the  racialized  flow  of  cultures,  historical  marginalizations  of  specific  populations  based  on  race/ethnicity,  class,  and  gender/sexuality  in  media,  education,  and  scholarship,  and  the  implications  of  how  particular  forms  of  culture  flow  more  easily  than  others.    

Cultural  forms  originated  and  produced  by  minority  groups  are  co-­‐opted,  whitewashed  (and,  conversely,  hyperracialized),  and  historically  monetized  for  the  benefit  of  white  producers  and  consumers.  Simultaneously,  cultural  forms  produced  in  racial/ethnic  spaces  and  communities  for  local  racial/ethnic  audiences  exist  in  and  of  themselves,  for  their  respective  communities.  

Television and Fandom Framework

“No Network is an Island”

•  Idea  of  a  show  enabling  fans  to  participate  in  “immersive  environment”  (p.211)      

•  “One  of  the  more  intriguing  relationships  I  found  across  the  earlier  and  later  years  of  my  audience  research  revolved  around  viewers’  sense  of  whether  or  not  they  were  watching  “acceptable”  or  mainstream  television,  and  whether  or  not  they  perceived  their  TV-­‐related  activities  to  be  “typical”  (p  12)  

•  “In  other  words,  many  of  the  activities  fans  of  this  show  engaged  in  resembled  those  of  cult  fans  -­‐  but  these  activities  were  not  likely  to  have  occurred  if  not  for  the  strategies  evident  within  the  text  and/or  on  the  website”  (p.15)    

Ross (2008)

Mainstreaming of Fan Practices Gillian (2011)

•  Dawson’s  Desktop  created  as  an  extension  of  the  storyworld  because  producers  engaged  in  “viewing  practices  that  mirrored  those  of  dedicated  fans  of  the  series,  which,  in  term,  impacted  the  kind  of  content  she  provided”  (p.43)    

•  Grey’s  Anatomy  in  2000  public  broad  adoption  of  fan  practices  (p  .233)  •  Grey’s  Anatomy    flogs  (p.  224)  

Mainstreaming of Fan Practices

Producers  and  stars  embedded  in  fan  conversations  as  “one  

of  us”  “Shonda,  you  have  taken  care  

of  us  for  so  long  that  now  it  is  time  for  us  to  take  care  of  you.    Trust  me,  we  all  got  your  back  and  will  be  

planted  in  front  of  the  TV  watching”  (9/19/06)  p.  226    

Gillian (2011)

Mainstreaming of Fan Practices

Historical  note  on  Twitter  initially  a  contested  medium  (p.  244,  p  

p.234)  

“Some  pointed  out  how  ill-­‐suited  a  TwiDer  feed  was  for  

a  television  series  as  it  made  it  impossible  to  concentrate  on  the  acGon  and  took  up  far  too  much  screen  space”  (p.  234)  

Gillian (2011)

Media  dependency  on  Participatory  Culture?    

"Fans  are  the  most  active  segment  of  the  media  audience,  one  that  refuses  to  simply  accept  what  they  are  given,  but  rather  insists  on  the  right  to  

become  full  participants"  (p.  131)  

“The  media  industry  is  increasingly  dependent  on  active  and  committed  consumers  to  spread  the  world  about  valued  properties  in  the  

overcrowded  media  marketplace,  in  some  cases  they  are  seeking  ways  to  channel  the  creative  output  of  media  fans  to  lower  their  production  costs”  at  the  same  time  "terrified  of  what  happens  if  this  consumer  power  gets  

ouf  ot  control"  a  la  Napster  (p  .  134)  

Media Dependency on Fans Jenkins (2006)

Producer Relations Web 2.0

Producers  were/are  not  sure  what  to  do  with  fan  activity  and  it  became  a  haphazard  and  contested  

space.  

“If  AMC  evaluated  the  success  of  promoting  Mad  Men  only  by  easily  measurable  traffic  through  its  officials  channels,  

then  discouraging  anything  that  might  distract  people  from  these  destinations  makes  sense.    From  that  mindset,  fan-­‐

created  material  off  official  Mad  Men  channels  is  in  competition  with  the  show,  and  any  traffic  from  those  outlets  receive  dilutes  the  reach  of  the  show’s  official  

presence”  (p.  33)      

Jenkins (2013)

Engagement Tactics via Fandom

Mad Men Official

Deliberate  distance  from  conversation  

Elevating  the  show  to  artful  medium  

Mad Men Fan Reactions

Mad Men Advertising Ties

Scandal Official

Mass  participation  from  cast  and  crew  

Experiencing  the  drama  with  the  audience  

Scandal Fan Participation

Scandal Tie-Ins

External Perceptions of Show and Fans

Mad Men

Scandal

Conclusions

Policing  and  order  surrounding  fan  tastes  

Shifts  in  producer  relations  both  on  part  of  technology  &  culture  surrounding  that  

technology  

Movement  toward  mainstreaming  of  practices  and  participatory  culture  as  modus  operandi?    

Does any of this matter?

Thank You

Questions?