Social Media in fandom
“What kinds of digital labor do kpop (korean) fandoms perform, and how do those activities benefit kpop record labels and musicians “?
Fan activism is one of the keys to the success of an artist, in this weeks blog I will be including a journal on fan activism in Kpop as well as a journal on cross border social media fan communication throughout Asia. According to Ditionary.com a fanbase is the “fans of a celebrity, team, media franchise, etc., when considered collectively”. According to Fan activism, cybervigilantism, and Othering mechanisms in K-pop fandom by Sun Jung within fandom culture exists something known as Fancom. “Fancom (fan company) in the K-pop scene refers to the way fans systematically manage their own stars” (Jung, Sun 1). The fans participate in “fundraising, donating to charity, and volunteering in emergency situations” (Jung, Sun 1) in the names of their artists. This can help bring awareness to the artists from the general public and put the artists, company, as well as fandom in good and favorable light. The evolution of fandom culture does not always have a good social impact. According to Jung the creation of Fancom has changed the fandom scene “…fans now consider their stars to be subjects whom they keenly manage and systematically guide, which is different from the pre existing notion of fandom that emphasizes the ways in which fans adore and worship their stars” (Jung, Sun 2). Fans start to see their artists as objects that they can use to achieve greater things and at some points it can stop being about liking the artist and become having a twisted pride in being able to say “I made that artis who they are”. This is a toxic mentality that could have negative consequences on artists.
Social media has become a way for fans to put their artists name out there outside of the region/ country/ continent that the artist is heavily promoting in. “Newly arisen grassroots-led bottom-up distribution through social media networks in particular has played a significant role in the rapid rise of transnational flows of information, images, sounds, symbols and ideas”(Chua Beng Huat, Sun Jung, 1). Fans from all around the world communicate with each other through social media and help each other get information on when a new album is coming out, or when a new tv show with their favorite actor is coming out. Sometimes if the company does not do heavy promotion for an artist fans can use word of mouth to help promote the artists.
In my next post I will be talking about specific examples of digital labor done by fans to help artists and companies. I have gained most of the information by having interviews with major fanbases to see their promotional projects as well as fan bases that subtitle Korean TV shows into different languages.
CITATION
Jung, Sun. “Fan Activism, Cybervigilantism, and Othering Mechanisms in K-Pop Fandom.” Transformative Works & Cultures, vol. 10, Mar. 2012, p. 6. EBSCOhost, mutex.gmu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=92954431&site=ehost-live.
Huat, Chua Beng, and Sun Jung. “Social Media and Cross-Border Cultural Transmissions in Asia: States, Industries, Audiences.” International Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 17, no. 5, 2013, pp. 417–422., doi:10.1177/1367877913505168.
