500 Words - Jenkins theory of Fandom

Henry Jenkins, an influential media theorist , develops the theory of fandom in his book ; Textual Poachers : Television Fans and participatory culture , published in 1992. This book is regarded as the foundational work on fan culture. In his book Jenkins talks about how media fans construct their own culture by remixing, ‘poaching’ content from mass culture. Jenkins describes how fandom, passionately engaged consumers of media creating poached media content to fill in gaps in the media world , create participatory culture. Fans collaborate to solve problems creating a ‘collective intelligence’. This means that fans are not just active consumers of media but also active creators and producers. They share a degree of social connection with one another and feel that their contribution matters in the media worlds. Media fans create their own content in the form of videos, art, songs , characters. In order to satisfy the rest of the fan community they try to fill in these gaps through ‘poaching’, and this creates what Jenkins calls ‘participatory culture’.

Participatory culture and fandom are very important to theorist like Jenkins, who are highly optimistic about the media. They oppose theorist like Shirkey as they believe that the audience is powerful and interactive, capable of questioning and changing media, rather than just passively consuming it. Jenkins particularly believes that web 2.0 , commonly known as the in internet is the key to empowering the fans and breaking down the traditional restrictions they may face. Web 2.0 is significant to fandom as one its main characteristic is the high level of user interaction, therefore it allows individuals to be active fans of media.. Fans can create and share their fan pages on Facebook, Instagram or even make videos on YouTube playing their favourite game and offering opinions throughout this process e.g. youtubers may record themselves playing Minecraft and later upload the video on YouTube to engage with other Mine craft fans.

Jenkins believes that audiences can be textual poachers through personalizing and modifying a game to their taste. Gamers, for example can create their own characters, storylines and modify the game to their taste. For example, in Minecraft gamers are capable of creating their own versions of the game , even creating their own world inside the game. The audiences carry out their own creative activities and through this they become active consumers as well as textual poachers.

Cross Platform gaming is a new way in which gamers can become textual poachers. Cross platforming allows users to access one game on all platforms , therefore all users become exposed to the same version of the game. Games that would have been available on different platforms are combined together to create a master version. Microsoft’s ‘better together’ update takes this a step further and allows users to join with a friend , possibly playing on a different platform. Players are capable of cross playing between platforms and Mine craft is the first games to offer this experience. Converging platforms can help Mine craft fans become textual poachers , as they can now spot weaknesses of this new version , and work together to make it even better than it already is.