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Sometimes there's an element of social shaming that comes with fandom--that kid in your elementary school who got beaten up for carrying his Battlestar Gallactica lunchbox, for instance. But, particularly since the rise of Geek Chic, being a TV/film (let’s just call it “franchise”) fan can not only be cool, but sometimes it even seems like we are ostracized if we DON’T watch the latest thing.
How many times have you had a conversation with friends that began, “Have you seen…” (insert current killer franchise here such as “Game of Thrones,” “Scandal,” “Firefly,” and yes, definitely Battlestar Gallactica (or BSG if you're a fan). This is usually followed by "You have to watch it!"
Most of us can relate to this because when you fall in love with a story world, you want everyone to come and see what you love about it. And seriously, you HAVE to listen to Welcome to Night Vale. (commonplacebooks.com). Really. Go there right after you read this.
What all of this brings to mind is how fandom is social at so many levels and in many different ways. In fact, the argument that sitting on the sofa watching TV means you are not being sociable seems to be a real misunderstanding of the social nature underlying fandom in particular and media consumption in general.
According to Matthew Lieberman's book Social - when we're not actively thinking about anything else, our brains default to thinking social thoughts. Why? Because we need each other to survive, so we need to be social experts. Being a fan involves a deep connection to a rich social world. Part of that is internal - what goes on inside the fan mind - and part of it is external - what we do to connect with other fans.
The Social Layers of Fandom
The work my colleagues and I have undertaken to better understand the social aspects of fandom reveals the many social experiences that are a part of fandom. We call these fan styles. See which one of these styles seems like a “you thing.”
The contemplative fan – this fan of digital video likes to use complicated drama as a springboard to ponder the bigger questions of life. How is this social, then, you might ask? The contemplative fan is social at her core because she is using her experience of a story world and its characters to understand and ponder human social life.
The contemplative social fan - It would be enough for this contemplative fan to turn within, but she often also takes this analysis out into the world to exchange ideas with friends. Inherently social creatures, people need others to use as sounding boards. This type of fan wants to profit from what the people she cares about think about her favorite story worlds.
The Playa – This type of fan seems different from the contemplative fan. This fan likes to play with others. Maybe he will go to Comic Con just to see the celebs and maybe even do some cosplay. But he may spend more time reaching out than trying to tease apart the nuances and meanings of a show. And – gasp – maybe he has never really watched the show, or has watched it while talking with his buddies.
The Super Fan – This fan is dead serious about his franchise. He is a die hard who knows all the answers to the trivia questions. He may spurn the playas of the world, thinking that they haven’t earned their street cred just by suiting up in the costume and showing up at the con. He has written fan fic and created fan art and knows all the big names in these genres. This fan is the purist.
Now, as you probably will have guessed on your own, we each can be a bit of all of these types of fans at once. And we can embrace different styles of fandom for different franchises. Maybe you’d love to dress like Slave Leia just for the fun of the cosplay, though you do not sit at home watching Empire for the 200th time. And then maybe when it comes to Doctor Who, you have been a fan forever, know all the doctors, have a favorite and could beat anyone at Doctor Who trivia.
In my book, the takeaway message is that it’s okay to play. I’m not much for fans who look down on other fans as a kind of downward social comparison experiment. As they say, haters gonna hate, but I like to think that there’s room for all of us in the dealers’ room of life.
If you want to find out more about what kind of fan you are, click on the link below to complete the latest Fan Styles survey. And thanks for playing.
Are you a fan of a TV show or film? We want to hear about it! Take our short & enter to win a $50 Amazon.com gift card.
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