Online participatory culture

Online participatory culture

In an age where having communication between media companies and the mass audience is now as simple as a tweet or post away. Mass audiences are taking to the internet to demand answers or making sure that companies know what they want. As TV shows and movies integrated through many different Medias in order to pull in a larger audience. For shows with a fandom it is important to cultivating the fanbase and using their input to develop ideas to provide a better viewing experience for the audience.  There are different types of fandoms. Each based on a certain model Based on how involved the fans are in the fandom and how they operate.

To fully understand online participatory culture you have to look at online migration patterns of the 90’s and 00’s. Fandom’s activates online where being chopped and changes with every new development of the World Wide Web. Early fandom’s activity online was keep on private forums or open message boards where waves of new fans talk with old fans. In the days before the internet fandoms would be confined into small groups. Only making conversation trough fan letters published in fanzines and Making trips once or twice a year to convention. The only place at the time where all of the information fans wanted could be found with ease. With the internet came the free flow of information.  The rise of the internet lend to fans becoming a more active members in the fandom producing fan material and uploading online or publishing, be it fan art, fan music and fan movies. But older fans are still primarily active offline preferring to go to the conventions and debate with a panel of their peers then chat about it on a message board. In the 90’s it was stated that fans that operate only online are not real fans because they are not fully interacting with the community just picking and choosing.

Batman

Batman is consider one of the most versatile characters ever created, branching out from comics to radio, movies both live action and animated, when the Nolan batman movie with the dark portray of batman was playing in the cinema on television the cartoon series batman brave and the bold was on portraying batman as a cheerful, more light-hearted and playful character.

The batman fandom is base on a model where the more knowledge you have the deeper you get into the fandom. The better understanding of batman's social and psychology growth leads to a greater understanding of his development as a characters. But due to the long and complex history and some material being hard to get a hold of.  Meaning that the fanbase is divided through its own information. The more knowledge they required the more they can enjoy a enhance picture of the larger mythological tapestry. But there is alot of leg work involved. But there are very few fans with this mush knowledge’s in existence.

The entire premise of Batman could be read as the story of a repressed man taking out his sexual aggressions by exerting his male dominance. Or just a man who dawns a costume to fight for justice.

Batman media franchise history

Comics (1939-ongoing)

Radio show (1940)

Comic strip (1943 to 1946)

Film serial (1943 and 1949)

Animation (filmation 1968-1983)

Toys (1940-present)

Adam west TV show (1960)

Movies (1966, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2008, 2012)

Novels

Animation again (Warner brothers animation 1992-ongoing)

Animated movies (1993, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2x2008, 2009, 4x2010, 2011, 2x2012, 2x2013- going)

Video games (1986-ongoing)

My little pony friendship is magic

My little pony friendship is magic

The little pony fan base is a whole different kettle of fish.  The fanbase has slip into two as conflict arises due to change to what they believed to be the more important part of the fandom. The original fandom is mostly female with the main focus being on the toys calling themselves collectors. The new fandom calling themselves “Bronies” they are a mostly male fandom focus on the brand new animated series.

The original fandom begins in the 80’s with the toys with toy collector and the little girls who played with the toys growing up to become collector themselves or toy customizer. Buying the toys just to modify them then taking their one of a kind original to conventions to sell or show off their work. Before the internet this fandom like most fandom before the internet they rarely meet up outside conventions they rarely meet up and only social in very small groups and only shared ideas.

The new fandom not only took the internet community by surprise. But too completely took it by storm invading ever large base online community. YouTube, memebase  Plus setting up websites for themselves like ponychan and equestria daily. People argued that the brony don’t represent a real fandom because they reject the source material creating their own fandom by cutting off the older fanbase.

My little pony media franchise history

Toys (1980’s-ongoing)

Animated movie (1984, 1985, 1986, 2005, 2x2006, 2007, 2009)

Cartoons (G1, 1986-1987 G2, 1992 G3, 2005-2009 G4, 2010-ongoing)

Comics (2012-ongoing)