Videogames 9 - fandom and active audience theory (key theory 18)

June 21, 2020

key theory 18 - Fandom - Henry Jenkins

(radio, videogames, television, online media)

• Fandom refers to a particularly organised and motivated audience of a certain media producer franchise
• Unlike the generic audience or the classic spectator, fans are active participants in the construction and circulation of textual meanings
• Fans appropriate texts and read them in ways that are not fully intended by the media producers (‘textual poaching’). Examples of this may manifest in conventions, fan fiction and so on
• Rather than just play a videogame or watch a TV show, fans construct their social and cultural identities through borrowing and utilising mass culture images, and may use this ‘subcultural capital’ to form social bonds. For example, through online forums like Reddit or 4chan.

Why did 'Vaati Vidya' make such a technically accomplished and extremely well researched video?He's a hardcore gamer who enjoys researching and understanding every aspect of the game whilst making the video informs other gamers to understand the game in full depth. It also connects him to other people who are very much interested in the game.

How does this video address its audience? The language is very developed and formal, in the video he never addresses the audience listening. He talks to us as if we understand or have played the game already and doesn't explain in depth the general gameplay or context.

Who is the target audience for this video?I feel like the target audience is people like him who are hard core gamers and fans of the game as they will want an alternative interpretation to their own and will understand the language he is using as well as the context of the game.

Take a look at the number of views and answer again: who is the target audience for this video?The views are over 6 million so clearly there are lots of people who are seriously interested in the explanation of this game, I think this is because general gamers may be confused as to why this game doesn't have a typical storyline like the rest so may turn to this video for a narrative.

A fan is different to an audience member. An audience may enjoy a media product. They might watch every new Avengers film for example. But in order to be a fan, they need to go further. Put extremely simply, a fan is somebody who actively does something with a media product. Fandom can manifest itself in lots of ways , but it can be evidenced in the following, non-exhaustive ways: