Fandom

Abstract

Despite its seemingly ubiquitous nature today, the concept of fandom still eludes a singular unified definition, partly because how fandom is studied and who studies it vary almost as much as its manifestations. Most scholars agree that fandom is an emotional attachment to a person, activity, or media object that tends to inspire creative production and participation in communities of like‐minded fans. Popular and scholarly attention to fandom have evolved over time, with a focus ranging from pathological behavior to a modern form of hyper‐consumption. From a media psychology perspective, research has examined the positive and negative effects on knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and behaviors at both the individual and group level. Such research suggests fandom's positive impact on information seeking and decision making for health, purchasing, voting, tourism, support for a variety of social causes, and the effects of basking in reflected glory. Negative effects include abnormal behavior and pathology, such as negative body image, copycat behavior, stalking, and crowd hysterics. From a critical‐interpretative perspective, fandom is studied as a product and process of modern participatory culture, where fans produce and consume meanings, mediated communication, and texts about the objects of their fandom. Fandom implies an attempt by individuals to actively—at times subversively—create meaning in an increasingly mediated world where traditional resources for identity construction have diminished.

Between Human and Virtual Idol: Fans Reception Analysis of Digital Alter Ego Concept

“…Informant NN, who has been a fan of K-pop since third-generation idols, admitted that she had faced some stereotypes regarding being a K-pop fan. In the traditional view, fans are commonly seen as pathological, which is used to marginalize the fans as irrational beings (Andini & Akhni, 2021;Lundy et al, 2020;Nugroho, 2014). This kind of stereotype is experienced by informants NN, TN, J, and E. However, the four informants' different perspective on seeing Aespa's digital alter ego shows that the cultural practice of K-pop fans has been breaking the stereotype.…”

“…Informant TN and J, for example, like Aespa's content while simultaneously perceiving the digital "ae" members as unreal images only created to entertain the fans. At this level, fans no longer seen as pathological, but rather active audiences who have their rationalization in consuming texts related to their idols (Benecchi et al, 2022;Lundy et al, 2020). Hence, they can joyfully consume the idol content without being trapped in the illusion made by the media.…”