In the modern era of user-generated content, companies and individuals alike seek to benefit from the ever-growing industry of “prosumption”. The evolution of digital media allows the fans the opportunity to collaborate and engage with their community and production. This includes the emergence of the wiki database Fandom which thrives on the collection of community-based information. The collaborative platform Fandom allows the ease for beginners and experts alike to contribute to the archiving of information about a shared passion, becoming one of the biggest databases on pop culture such as games, TV, movies, comics, books and lifestyle.
As a result, the unpaid voluntary labour of the fans has sparked debates on whether the Fandom editors are exploited by the company or empowered through their sense of unity via the wiki hosting service. Prosumption, a portmanteau of production and consumption, is taking centre stage in the digital media era due to user-generated content and has made a significant impact on the community, “creating symbiotic relationships between powerful corporations and individual fans” (Pearson 2010, p. 85). Through the multiple examples of how Fandom is utilised by both the corporate industry and the fan community for their own benefit, the essay explores the benefits and drawbacks of the fan wiki hosting service, as well as the contrast between early and present-day Fandom, thus drawing attention to the complications of modern day prosumption.
Fandom changed the way in which the world of archiving and information flow worked following the age of print-era documentation and the monopoly held by professional industries. The arrival of fan sites welcomes the audience to the centre stage, rather than the once dominating professional media industry. This introduction leads Feleki (2016, p. 49) to describe fandom as a “cultural event that is determined by changing technological, economic, and generic conditions” and tearing down the once “fan-fuelled media production” and challenges the previously dominating media industry. Pop culture fans use the site Fandom to push their roles as producers and consumers—through sharing media content and editing articles, thus are “able to affect circulation process”. On the other hand, the practice of “following” a piece of media can be seen as abnormal during the printing era. De Kosnik (2016, p. 257) comments on the “remix culture”, and the differences between the non-professional archivists during the digital age and when publishing companies were dominant.
The simple task of archiving before and during the early stages of modern technology contrasts greatly with the large network of information that is provided by Fandom. For example, museums and print became the primary ways to archive an interest, and fan culture was more localised through conventions, telephone chats, face-to-face meetings and postal trades. Fanzines were curated by the community and were also sold during meetups and events. This offline practice within the community meant that the communication flowed horizontally. For example, the relationship of a novel fanbase would circulate from the author to the publisher, then the mass. This allowed corporations to shift the power balance of influence in their favour against the fanbase as there would be a slower circulation of information during the print era.
Alternatively, due to the rise of Fandom-generated platforms, Feleki (2016, p. 48) takes note on how Hayles (2005) comments on the emergence of new programming languages, expressing them as a “...”vessel” where diverse “communication pathways are established which texts cycle and dynamic intermediation with one another.” Hayle’s image of programming evolution can also be applied to the dynamic interplay of media, production and reader—where it was once a straightforward relationship from creator to production, then fanbase is now an interconnection where all elements of creative agents are connected.
As a result, the appearance of the fan site hosts such as Fandom has severely affected the symbiotic relationship between corporate and community hence, the website shines a spotlight on the stark difference between the early ages of technology and now.
The act of prosumption within the wiki-hosting site Fandom can be seen as empowering in the sense that self-governed communities allow their own sense of freedom. The instantaneous spread of information that is regulated from the moderators, members to the general fanbase is sustained through Fandom, which gives fans the opportunity to be both indirectly and directly involved in the process of media production while also fostering a sense of kinship within their shared interests. The hosting site itself serves as a way for fans to consume and produce remixed media without the control of the industry, lending its services for the fans’ freedom of creativity.
Previously only limited to textual poaching such as comments and reinterpretation of media, Fandom gives access to tools that ease the distribution of media and information for the fan community. An example of these tools resides in the fans’ contribution to articles and media. The fans use HTML and CSS to design and build up the website with the help of others, becoming producers of fan texts and content and as a result, thus creates a sense of community “through the manipulation of common consumer consciousness” (Feleki 2016, p. 50). The forums provided by Fandom also affects the fan’s experience of the work through rumours and conversation, creating a channel which further strengthens the bond between fans.
Fandom not only gives way to media distribution but also allows the fan community to self-govern itself to the point of high-quality articles, nearing the standard of professional journalism. The Star Wars Fandom page acts as a “repository of fan stories with information on characters, planets, and battles emerging from the fans’ own explorations of the landscape of this imagined universe” (Feleki 20166, p. 56), which follows the rules held by the self-governed community. This leads to many articles contributing to the fans’ passion for the series, such as Golden Age of the Republic: Hidden Truths by Aban Fioli (a wiki editor and fan) becoming the pioneer of fan-generated Star Wars novel. In fact, Fandom not only gives birth to community but also spreads the franchise’s reach to the role-playing community such as “Star Wars RP” (TheStarWarsRP.com) and acting as a hosting platform for the fans’ alternate timelines. These wikis serve as an act of empowerment for the fans by allowing them to engage with different forms of creativity, therefore keeping their shared interest alive in a variety of ways. These wikis rely solely on the fans themselves, depending on their technical skills, self-moderation and social skills, and as a result granting them a degree of freedom.
Thus, Fandom becomes a tool for self-empowerment due to the community being “knowledge producers” and consumers of their own fan productions, allowing the fan the newly acquired power by creating new content, designing the assets of the fan sites and communicating within the community, hence “...breaking the monopoly of knowledge and challenging the institutional producers” (Wang 2020, p. 47).
Fandom can lend itself as a platform to the professional industry and become the gateway for the corporate to exploit their production’s own fanbase. While user-generated content has helped form early stages of capitalism, the progression of the economic system has steered towards unpaid rather than paid labour. Corporations welcome fan activities due to the increase of engagement between the creators, products and the industry due to the promotion and expansion of the product itself. For example, the Civilization franchise turned to Fandom to hype up superfans through a project called “Civilization: Beyond Earth”, a 2014 game set in space. The corporation uses Fandom as a platform to utilise their fans to market their game by contributing to articles and media distribution, specifically targeting to wider science fiction audience and as a result, the fanbase becomes the unpaid workers in favour of the media’s promotions. This kind of promotion highlights the efforts of the community, rather than the corporate while in return, increases the longevity of the piece of media—in this case, the Civilization franchise.
While Fandom can also be a means to expand into the global market, the interactivity provided by platform helps the longevity of the production in return for the exploitation of the fanbase. This is demonstrated in Star Trek’s 50th anniversary that was initiated by the creator’s son Rod Roddenberry, where the goal of the 2-year project is to collaborate with Fandom in order to boost the show’s interest whilst spending the minimum budget. The case study by Feleki (2016, p. 54) cites online announcements: “In addition to live and online showcases that will include panel discussions and even Star Trek game shows, the Trek Initiative is collecting what may be the first-ever fan census, a sort of Vulcan mind meld with fan memories. In short videos, Star Trek fans will explain what the franchise has meant to them. The videos will be published on trekinitiative.wikia.com.” Although the company aims to promote the project as something for the fans; something to bring the community together and as a 50th anniversary milestone, the “short videos” sent in by Star Trek fans will be entirely unpaid labour, greatly benefiting the corporation.
While the act of sharing media within a community within Fandom can be seen as the inclusion of fans, the individual loses complete control and power over their information due to strict licensing terms. Therefore, Feleki (2016, p. 58) comments on how “...the fan whole-heartedly succumbs to policies of the entertainment industry, unconsciously working for the promotion of its interests and products.” The corporations can be seen as acting on the goodwill of the fans and their enthusiasm for the franchise, and the producers can collaborate with Fandom to gather and exploit the services of their fans. As a result, while fan activities operate independently of the creator and producers, they themselves operate as a mass which attracts newcomers through fan production and spreading of media within Fandom, becoming the unpaid labourers of the digital era.
The age of technology has shifted the power balance between the professional industries and their fanbases. Although the fan site-hosting platform can be empowering for the fanbase by allowing them a certain degree in creative freedom, corporations have been using the website in far more significant manners due to the fact that all Fandom editors and contributors are unpaid prosumers. As a result, it can be argued that the exploitative nature of Fandom in tandem with the professional media industry can be far more noteworthy than the empowerment of the fans. However, Wang (2020, p. 45) argues that “since the digital fandom is more complicated than before, the binary opposition between empowerment and exploitation should be revisited and revised. Within the context of the emerging digital economy, fans and media producers are continuously negotiating with each other” hence, proving that even the voluntary unpaid labour of the fans serves as an opportunity to support their interests.
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