Pick me up for syndication!
Media fandoms are one of the most representative cases of fandom studies. When looking at television programming, the discourse does not question whether television is a social genre, but in what way it is. Perhaps media fandoms were so visible because the social aspect was so strong or media fandoms developed as the initial social aspects weakened, more and more fandom practices were developed by viewing communities?
Television was initially a set of machines, capable of receiving the broadcast signal. As a practice at the same time, television viewing is something families, communities and groups with shared interests can do in the livingroom or on the street. This first phase bring people into the same physical space where they can discuss what they are viewing.
Later, these interest groups are expanded through the practice of copying and sharing videotapes. These tapes not only provide chance for the community to initiate new members but also, rewatch potential. Television communities might lose the temporal or spatial community at this point, but the shared reference frame continues to allow for discussion. Instead of the people connected by proximity watching the same program, now people watching the same program are connected by it.
Later changes to television will also bring changes to the practices of this community. That is to say, to be continued…
Jenkins, Henry. 1992. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. New York: Routledge.
Abbott, S. (2010). The Cult TV book: From Star Trek to Dexter, New Approaches to TV Outside the Box. Soft Skull Press.
--Szabo Dorottya
