Portfolio Assignment #8
From Floegel’s (2020) lecture, I learned that there can be “cliques” in online fandoms. They also mentioned how people of color typically “don’t feel like they have a fandom community” (Floegel, 2020). This experience is different for white people as they feel that they do (Floegel, 2020). I always assumed that online fandoms were a solid community and that there were no “cliques.” This relates to my own experience because when I was younger, I was kind of a member of an online fandom, but I did not participate in it. I used the online platforms to be informed about what I was a fan of. I would often see the fandom interacting, but I was not really a part of it. Therefore, it never really crossed my mind how fandoms can be a space for people to seek being a part of a community. Also, from Hanmer’s (2014) article, I learned how lesbian fan fiction is “a valuable resource for lesbians in the construction of proactive sexual identities and knowledge” (p. 620). Both the lecture from Floegel (2020) and Hanmer’s (2014) article have made it clear to me that online communities that I do not really think about (e.g. fandoms) are more impactful than I thought. As with the example from Hamner’s (2014) article, online communities allow people to have a voice. However, at the same time, communities like fandoms can lead to people feeling ostracized.
In Sobieraj’s (2014) reading, I found it interesting when she mentioned the following idea from Filipovic: “Internet misogyny parallels gendered harassment in physical spaces, suggesting that the heart of men’s aggression toward women is a ‘generalized offense at women’s public presence in ‘men’s’ spaces — in politics, at law schools, online’ (2007, p. 298)” (p. 1,709). This relates to my own experience because I remember one time I saw a really sexist comment on YouTube. This was definitely not the first time I had seen one, but that made me want to look up why there is so much sexism on the Internet. I actually read an article that had a similar argument as Filipovic, which was that misogynists see the Internet as a “men’s space” and that the purpose of those comments is to try to keep women off of it. Furthermore, after reading The Guardian article, I was surprised that the person who used the author’s father to troll her apologized. He did so after reading the article that West (2015) had written about it on Jezebel. This changes how I think about digital media and society because I always thought that trolls are set in their ways. However, as the troll used digital media to hurt West, the piece of digital media that she wrote for Jezebel worked to change the troll.
Relating to my case study on deepfakes, I believe that privilege exists in the use of deepfakes as it does within fandoms. However, the privilege may not be shown in the same way. Meaning, privilege exists in the use of deepfakes because not everyone has the technology or knowledge to make them. Therefore, if there is a community or fandom about deepfakes, there are certain members of that group that would have privilege. Furthermore, deepfakes could definitely be used as a way of trolling. Though people might know how to differentiate between real videos and deepfakes, that does not take away the impacts that deepfakes can have. If used to make fun of someone, deepfakes are trolling in a more advanced way.
