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Cinéma & Cie. Film and Media Studies Journal
Ph.D. Thesis Abstract - Transformations of fan productivity in a social network environment: fan culture ad a key component of the creative industries
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Projects & Abstracts
2010-10-01
2022-12-09
2010-10-01
2024-02-14
Cinéma & Cie
Sophie G. Einwächter
2010/10/01
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
2036-461X
14-15
en
Ph.D. Thesis Abstract - Transformations of fan productivity in a social network environment: fan culture ad a key component of the creative industries
https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/cinemaetcie/article/download/19351/17224
10
TRANSFORMATIONS OF FAN PRODUCTIVITY IN A SOCIAL NETWORK
ENVIRONMENT: FAN CULTURE AS A KEY COMPONENT
OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Sophie G. Einwächter / Ph.D. Thesis Abstract 1
Ruhr-Universität Bochum




   Within the field of Cultural Studies fan productivity has mostly been defined in aesthetic or
counter-aesthetic terms and located within the sphere of subculture. In the age of digital commu-
nication media and global online networks, fan culture undergoes fundamental changes. Fans
have ceased to be marginal actors in subcultural and hermetic niche communities. Rather they
have become drivers of innovation through the production of media content that they distribute
to mass audiences via online platforms such as YouTube. Although still pursued mainly on a vol-
untary, non-paid basis, the often-discussed “productivity” of fandom has now acquired a signifi-
cant economic dimension.
   This project aims to highlight the economic and cultural significance of fandom and fans within
the context of the Cultural and Creative Industries. If we assume, with Potts and Cunningham 2,
that – largely thanks to the emergence of digital communication networks – the creative indus-
tries have become a meta-system of the economy analogous to the educational system rather than
a specific branch of industrial production, and if we further assume, with Potts et alii. 3 that cre-
ative industries operate and evolve through social network markets, i.e. through consumer net-
works where information about the preferences of individual consumers inspires the choices of
others, then fandom – which we may define as the ostentatious display of consumer preferences
– is indeed a key site of cultural production in the age of digital network communication. Any
study of fandom online, then, is likely to make a valuable contribution to our understanding of
not only the peripheral areas, but the very logic of the contemporary cultural and creative indus-
tries.
   Aiming to study how the recent emergence of digital network communication affects the fan as
a creatively participating individual 4, this Ph.D.-project focuses on the activities of fans of pop-
ular media content such as films and TV-series. Which, if any, new forms of fan production do
digital platforms and networks encourage, which fan aesthetics does the digital environment
enable and which problems arise from it? These are the questions this project addresses within a
framework that combines economic theory with ethnography and textual analysis.
   The field of digitally-enabled fan practises include “remix creativity” 5, “fansubs” 6 and “fan-
dubs” 7 which combine entertainment value with the potential to innovate. These developments
have also fuelled the debate on copyright issues and fair use practices 8. In the study of these phe-
nomena, an economic perspective significantly complements the Cultural Studies’ understanding
of fan culture. The advertising industry has long recognized fans as a voluntary workforce and
outsourced many campaigns to these willing and knowledgeable volunteers who – by spreading
the word 9 and giving feedback 10 – contribute to the success of otherwise risk-taking ventures.


CINÉMA & CIE, vol. X, no. 14-15, Spring-Fall 2010                                                181
SOPHIE G. EINWÄCHTER

Fans may also gain importance as early adopters of new technologies, as well as playful and com-
municative opinion leaders in a networked environment 11. Looking at the semantics of facebook
up to March 2010, one could even conclude that fandom was the preferred relationship between
consumer and product. But are fans merely a voluntary workforce, a free creative and innovative
input as they have been considered in the context of brand communities 12, co-creative product
development, feedback platforms and marketing campaigns? 13
  Identifying the Creative Industries’ key characteristic as a social network market structure 14,
this project addresses fans in their role as social network connoisseurs and key agents in the mar-
kets of cultural goods.
  The following hypotheses guide the research undertaken:

  a. From an economic perspective fans can be regarded as agents and fan communities as mar-
     kets of cultural goods 15.
  b. In the digitally networked environment, fans represent media literate consumers 16 and con-
     noisseurs of popular culture as well as producers and distributors of innovative media con-
     tent.
  c. It can be argued that productive fans provide important intellectual input and human capi-
     tal which makes them key actors of the Creative Industries. Herein their contributions have
     to be discussed in the context of a “gift economy” 17 as well as an online “attention econo-
     my” 18.
  d. The interconnectedness of online communities provides a distribution infrastructure for fan-
     generated media which transcends the sphere of formerly hermetic fan communities.
  e. This structural premise encourages a meta-phenomenon of fandom: the “fan who has fans.”
     By means of expressing their admiration in an original and/or entertaining way some fan
     personalities gain celebrity status, which makes them independent actors of the scene.


Methodology
  The methodology of this project combines economic theory, Social and Media Studies – an
ethnographic and descriptive approach with qualitative and quantitative techniques.
  Quantitative research deals with subscribers of fans’ channels on YouTube as they can be con-
sidered regular consumers of fan-generated content. How do they react to fan productivity? Has
their attitude towards the original product (series, film, etc.) changed due to the consumed fan-
nish media? Did it do so in favour of the product? Did they only get to know the product due to
the respective fan activities?
  Over the last few years a German student and Harry Potter fan has dubbed Warner brothers’
successful Harry Potter films in a satirical manner aimed at young adult audiences (many quirky
jokes and strong sexual references). Her work has proved highly popular with the YouTube com-
munity. In early 2010 the young woman’s channel counts over 110.000 subscribers, clearly sig-
naling that she has a fan base of her own and that her initial fandom has resulted in a meta-phe-
nomenon 19. Many of her subscribers, she claims, have mentioned they had not been too keen on
the Potter-books when they came across her fandubs. It was her satirical sense of humour that
attracted them. Redubs, however, are only half as funny if you do not know the original text they
refer to. Accordingly, a considerable number of subscribers have turned to the original films in
order to understand the impact of the fan-made versions. The young woman’s work has thus acti-
vated an audience outside the original target group. This project’s intent in quantitative terms is

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to locate such phenomena and to quantify the impact of fan-made objects on the circulation of
cultural goods in general.
  In addition to the quantitative survey amongst fan-fans, this project qualitatively inquires about
the working conditions of fan personae who are more active than others, regularly producing
media content. Interviews with actors of this kind (fans who have often gained web celebrity sta-
tus) ought to provide an insight into the organizational, ethical and creative conditions of the fan
turned producer.
  The data and information thus acquired is to be complemented and backed up by an ethnogra-
phy of a recently very active fan community, the “Twilight” fans. Observing and analyzing
actions and transactions happening on 5 major fan platforms shall provide a macro-perspective of
how a digitally networked fan community both feeds back into the distribution of the original
work and creates network markets of their own.




1    Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Vinzenz Hediger.
2    Jason Potts, Stuart Cunningham, “Four Models of the Creative Industries,” in International Journal of
     Cultural Policy, vol. 14, no. 3, 2008, pp. 233-247.
3    Jason Potts, John Hartley, Jean Burgess, Stuart Cunningham, Paul Ormerod, “Social Network Markets:
     A New Definition of the Creative Industries,” in Journal of Cultural Economics, vol. 32, no. 3, 2008,
     pp. 167-185.
4    Henry Jenkins, Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture, New York University
     Press, NewYork-London 2006.
5    Lawrence Lessig, Remix. Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, The Penguin Press,
     NewYork 2008.
6    Jordan S. Hatcher, “Of Otakus and Fansubs: A Critical Look at Anime Online in Light of Current Issues
     in Copyright Law,” in SCRIPT-ed, vol. 2, no. 4, December 2005, pp. 514-542.
7    Nicolle Lamerichs, “It’s a Small World After All. Metafictional Fan Videos on YouTube,” in Cultures
     of Arts, Science and Technology, vol. 1, no. 1, May 2008, pp. 52-70.
8    Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks. How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom,
     Yale University Press, New Haven-London 2006; Lawrence Lessig, Remix, cit.
9    Charles C. Moul, “Measuring Word Of Mouth’s Impact On Theatrical Movie Admissions,” in Journal
     of Economics and Management Strategy, no. 16, 2007, pp. 859-892.
10   Mark Andrejevic, “Watching Television Without Pity: The Productivity of Online Fans,” in Television
     & New Media, vol. 9, no. 1, 2008, pp. 24-46.
11   Henry Jenkins, Afterword: The Future Of Fandom, in Jonathan Gray, Cornel Sandvoss, C. Lee
     Harrington (eds.), Fandom. Identities and Communities in a Mediated World, New York University
     Press, New York-London, 2007, pp. 358ff.
12   David M. Kalman, “Brand Communities, Marketing, and Media,” in Terella Media, http://www.terrel-
     la. com/bcmarketingwp2.pdf, 2009 [2005].
13   Mark Andrejevic, “Watching Television Without Pity: The Productivity of Online Fans,” cit.
14   See: Jason Potts, John Hartley, Jean Burgess, Stuart Cunningham, Paul Ormerod, “Social Network
     Markets: A New Definition of the Creative Industries,” cit.
15   Idem.
16   Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture. Where Old and New Media Collide, New York University Press,
     New York-London, 2006, pp. 175ff.
17   Andrew Currah, “Managing Creativity: The Tensions between Commodities and Gifts in a Digital
     Networked Environment,” in Economy and Society, vol. 36, no. 3, 2007, pp. 467-494.

                                                                                                      183
SOPHIE G. EINWÄCHTER

18 Michael Goldhaber, “The Attention Economy and the Net”, in First Monday, vol. 2, no. 4, 7 April 1997, avail-
   able at the address http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/519/440.
19 Later, in October 2010, “Coldmirror” gets her own monthly TV show on the German digital channel
   Einsfestival. Consequently, the number of her YouTube channel’s subscribers has risen close to 280.000
   in May 2011.




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