Jenkins

 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

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?

Someone showing strong enthusiasm and devotion to a media text.

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

hardcore , newbie, anti fan

3) What makes a ‘fandom’?

Fandoms exhibit a ‘passion that binds enthusiasts in the manner of people who share a secret — this secret just happens to be shared with millions of others.’

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

Dominant social forms are used to reinforce existing hierarchies

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

harry potter and family guy.

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

Crawford suggests that it is this which distinguishes fans from ordinary consumers

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?

Fans don’t just watch, they connect, share, and create together as a social group.

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 audience is no longer passive, they’re becoming producers

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

Participants,” “prosumers,” “textual poachers,” and “co-creators

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

Fan communities support the “long tail” — niche markets that make money through loyal audiences.

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

Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, Game of Thrones, fandom is part of everyday media now.

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’.

Grassroots creativity lets audiences “reshape the media landscape from the bottom up.” so yes, audiences now influence and even create media.

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

Active, connected, and creative, someone who participates and shares, not just buys.

8) Why is fandom 'the future'?

Because media now relies on engagement, participation, and online fan creativity.

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

He warns against companies exploiting fan creativity just to make profit

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?

Fandom is mainstream, we’re all fans now, but true fan communities still exist as passionate, niche groups.