Internet fan studies foregrounds the immersion of activities such as shipping and community building into a spaceless and timeless virtual life, as well as the importance of social media in closing the gulf between fan and creator. My work here
As Pivot targeted a socially conscious millennial audience, Please Like Me fit into the channel’s brand. Please Like Me had already found its way to an American audience before it aired on Pivot, however: fans distributed it on Tumblr. (…) Episode
The next stage of social TV is here. Drawing on promotional discourses, I argue that Facebook and Twitter’s shift from distributors of television network programming to their own original content is a natural extension of industry practice, but not a
As television outlets have proliferated through cable and streaming services, programming, both for adults and teens, has increasingly explored controversial and sensitive issues. Simultaneously, online fandom and social media engagement surrounding television has also proliferated, thus raising questions as to
This all raises the question: are there right and wrong ways to watch a television series? I am reminded of Immanuel Kant’s belief, outlined in his Critique of Judgment (1790), that when we consume art, we do so under the
This hugeness of the companies—the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing—is the thing that fans still and most radically misunderstand. This is even more the case with movies than with television shows. Movies, as projects, are
New issue of Transformative Works and Cultures!
Volume 26 of Transformative Works and Cultures is out. This is a special issue on social TV fandom and the media industries that was edited by Myles McNutt. On the article pages, click through on the “HTML” link next to
New fan studies research – September 12th, 2017
A weekly list of new/recent fan studies research that’s just been added to the Fan Studies Bibliography. Works are divided into things that are open access (=immediately readable for anyone) and not open access (=behind a paywall or not yet
During the 2006–7 television season, the production team and cast for Grey’s Anatomy (2005–) dealt with a series of unfortunate industry events that significantly affected the writers’ room, cast, and ongoing story lines of the show. An actor uttered a
New fan studies research – June 20th, 2017
A weekly list of new/recent fan studies research that’s just been added to the Fan Studies Bibliography. Works are divided into things that are open access (=immediately readable for anyone) and not open access (=behind a paywall or not yet