Loving Labour

A blog dedicated to research on fan production and trying to make sense of the concept of free labour

[lovinglabour-blog]

Forever Multitasking

As Bertha Chin mentions in her article, “Sherlockology and Gatactica.tv: Fan sites as gifts or exploited labour”, fans become a “developer, public relations specialist, focus group, technical support, journalist and consultant all in one.”

Though we are discussing online fan production, I feel like this represents the expectations of the current job market. As a prospective employees we must have a large set of malleable skills and be able to jump around from job to job (to gain experience) to help perpetuate the notion of precarious work. 

As it is generally young people producing free content for such productions it is almost as if this is purely preparation for the work we will inevitably have to do in the future as creatives. 

[lovinglabour-blog]

Artefacts?

Although my research is mainly focused on Tumblr - hence this blog- it is important to note that fan production is not limited to this site as fan fiction and art but “essays, fan websites and wikis that serve as repositories of knowledge for the fandom” can be considered fan production (Chin, 1.2). 

[lovinglabour-blog]

You should focus on getting experience and getting known. The rest will come- think of what you'll be doing as an investment that will pay off down the road.

Jason Fry 

http://sportsjournalism.org/our-voices/dont-listen-to-rick-reilly-how-writing-for-free-can-launch-your-career/

Discussing hope labour in relation to writing which could basically apply to fan labour and any works produced out of it. 

Also, this advice sounds familiar - specifically, the justification of precarious work to new graduates or anyone new to the workforce.

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Honoring the year's best campaigns, sites, and apps on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Vine, and more.

Really interesting to see an official Tumblr page get recognized for its efforts! (Especially one which primarily promotes fan labour)

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In many of the articles I’ve been reading, authors position participants as completely unaware subjects. Supposedly they do not realize that their participation ultimately adds economic value. I feel like this position does not account for the thoughtfulness of participants and completely disregards their raison d’être. 

Have you ever thought of the potential economic value of your posts/creations?

[lovinglabour-blog]

Development Vs. Dependency

Before I get into analysis of some of the case studies, I wanted to discuss various scholars ideas of what the true nature of fan production (or labour) is. 

Spearheaded by Henry Jenkins, a big supporter of fan production and labour, some scholars focus on the potential for democracy in participatory culture online. Such trends “may empower consumers by providing them with control over media content”(Banks & Deuze, 422)

While on the other hand, other scholars push for a less optimist understanding of fan production. Though content producers are not being paid, participatory culture still links users to capitalism and service providers, as ultimately someone is making money off of such websites (i.e. YouTube, Tumblr). 

What ever way you view fan production and labour, it is important to note that such labour has been voluntarily given. 

[lovinglabour-blog]

Another show I felt the need to include as a case study is Scandal (2012- present). Along with Hannibal the show and its creators have been praised for their use of social media, online presence and fan participation. I wanted to use this show to provide a comparison in the fan production and online media presence as the immense popularity of the show may alter fan production compared to other tight knit fan communities. 

[lovinglabour-blog]

Another case study will be Community (2009-2015), a beloved comedy show which fought every step of the way to stay on air. Branching off from the horror and drama genres, I wanted to include a relevant comedic show which also showcased fan production and depended on such fans when rallying for each season renewal. #sixseasonsandamovie

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Supernatural (2005-present) is another show that will be included in the case study. If only to look at the extensive timeline of the show’s production, we have 10 years worth of fan production to discuss. This show will be an interesting case study compare to Hannibal as it has stayed on air far longer with an equally passionate fandom. Additionally, through my observations there is a definite overlap of fans for both shows. 

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“Commons based forms of peer production no longer marginal cultural or economic activities, but are moving from periphery to the core of contemporary economies” (Banks & Deuze, 420).  

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Hannibal (2013-15) will be one of the main case studies in my research on fan production and labour as its incredibly passionate fan base quickly became known as a creative fandom within the show’s short lived life on NBC. The variety of fan art and writing caught the creator’s attention and grew to be some of the strongest advertising for the show.

[lovinglabour-blog]

Breaking Down Some Forms of Labour

When researching fan production and the concept of free labour, I ran into many different terms related to labour that I thought I could simplify some of the definitions to make reading more comprehensible. Here’s the beginning of the glossary:

 Immaterial Labour: affective commodities created outside typical commodity producing activity Ex. User generated content production (Terranova, 2003)

Free Labour: unpaid work 

Hope Labour: current [minimally] or unpaid work done for future experience or exposure in hope that potential employment awaits them 

Precarious Labour: difficult to define specifically as it has been used by scholars as an umbrella turn for practically any labour that is a non standard work relationship 

[lovinglabour-blog]

Or Against?

“When work becomes sufficiently humane,we are likely to do far too much of it, and it usurps an unacceptable portion of our lives” (Ross: 2003, 225). 

[lovinglabour-blog]

For free labour...

“Convergence requires media companies to rethink old assumptions about what it means to consume media, assumptions that shape both programming and marketing decisions... media producers are responding to these newly empowered consumers in contradictory ways, sometimes encouraging change, sometimes resisting what they see as renegade behaviour. And consumers, in turn, are perplexed by what they see as mixed signals about how much and what kinds of participation they can enjoy. (Jenkins:2006, 19)” 

[lovinglabour-blog]

Hello and welcome to this website!

My name is Elizabeth and I am a fourth year Communications student at Wilfrid Laurier University. This Tumblr blog is a part of a research project surrounding the topic of fan production and free labour. As a Tumblr user of many years, I was always intrigued to investigate the relationships between users, advertising and the fan production stemming from television shows. I felt that the creation of this blog would help fill the gap between the research I will be conducting and the subjects of said research! I’ll be focusing on multiple television shows (such as Hannibal, Community, Supernatural, to name a few) as case studies. Hope you enjoy!