Fans and Media: Exploring Digital Media's Influence on Fan Culture

This essay comprehensively examines the evolving relationship between fans and media, particularly in the context of the digital era. It explores the impact of digital platforms and social media on fan engagement, media consumption, and the creation of fan-made content. The essay delves into the concept of fandom as a subculture, highlighting how fans interact with media, brands, and celebrities. It analyzes the shift from traditional media to digital innovations, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each, including issues like piracy and its impact on the music industry. Furthermore, the essay touches upon the role of media messages in shaping cultural diversity and influencing audience perceptions, particularly in the context of minority populations. Finally, it addresses the distinction between fans and critics, examining how media interactions can lead to both positive and negative feedback. The essay concludes by emphasizing the significance of media as a tool for reaching out to the population and interpreting messages that contribute to cultural understanding.

Running head: FANS AND MEDIA
Fans and media
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

1FANS AND MEDIA
Media is termed as a communication tool which is mainly used for communication
among various aspects. In addition, the storage and delivery of the information can also be done
by proper use of media applications. In general, there are two types of media applications
services, the one is communication media which is used to share information, and the other is the
print media, which is used in press, film industry or even publishing industry. Moreover, the
media services can range from the electronic media like the televisions or web series, or the
social media like facebook or twitter.
The use of media can be thought from the early history where cave drawings were meant
to depict information about a civilization. Later in 550 BC, the Persian Empire was responsible
for developing a communication system which made the first mailing system to be accepted
(Jenkins, Ford & Green, 2013). Now-a-days, the use of the communication media is mainly done
to reach the audiences out in the world. This has been also accepted by companies across the
world to reach out to the media advertisers and get awareness. Furthermore, the term fans come
from this connection between the emotional status of an individual and a brand.
A category known as the fandom is a subculture which consists of fans with a same
emotional feeling towards a common interest. These fans are always engaging on every minute
detail about the object they follow. This can also include the engagements made in the social
media websites or any other platforms (Duffett, 2013). The interests can range from various
objects or fashion items to celebrities. Fandom can thus be addressed as an interconnection
among various individual fans with a common liking towards a certain item.
The digital era has given rise to a new point in fandom leading to the development of a
new type of relationship among the fans and their engaging contents. While some fans like the

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digital innovations of the media, some still does not approve of this innovation and still considers
the traditional ways of media innovation (Levine, 2015). This is the reason for the development
of a new trend in the cultural productions across the globe. In the year 2004, the channel of UK,
Sky One, showed a premier episode of the Battlestar Galactica. After the release of this episode,
the fans quickly uploaded a streamed quality in BitTorrent resulting in a lot of pirated versions
being released. Although, this resulted in a great crime of violation of producer rights, the
advantages it created far exceeded the impacts. As a result, those people who watched the pirated
versions made an awareness which led to a lot of people watching their first series. This is a clear
example of piracy being treated as fan-made innovations.
This has been the result for the music industry where piracy has been used multiple times
for reaching out to audiences (Fuchs, 2017). This is mainly due to the reduction of sales of CD
which have not been able to make the necessary promotions till date. Thus, many companies
have used the peer sites like Napster to give pirated contents for successful media promotions.
The music industry has different implications in their business model, the first and the second
level. In the first model, the main business involves selling the products directly to the customers
while the second level model involves advertising the same television shows in those pages. In
cases of piracy, the first level solutions will be faced with business reductions while the second
level model will not get reductions in business.
Meaning is made when people are in groups. Audience is termed as a view which is
based on the ambiguous and disempowering views as considered by the individual readers.
However, it can be said that a demographic solution do not comprehend he need of a community.
Rather, the views of the common interest make up a community (Curwood, Magnifico &
Lammers, 2013). This communication is done in the form of a relationship among the producers

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and the consumers in fan media. This do not necessarily imply that the consumers will blindly
take whatever the producer has to sell but means that feedback is a driving force that have been
taken into considerations. In addition, it can be stated that media consists of value related
messages. This is also dependent on the concept of ideology where they are associated in striking
a deep relation in the minds of the fans. Although the justification based on the CML model of
media analysis states that the basic use of media is to get profit or power from businesses, their
use can now-a-days be used to get emotional attention (Hills, 2013). It can be said that media
messages allow the audience to get an understanding of the various beliefs and values which is
responsible for the very creation of the media. Furthermore, it can also be stated that the
television or social media platforms are not only a place to get information or relax, but can also
be included as a place where power, belief and economics creates a very existence in the minds
of the population involved.
Sometimes, the messages depicted from the use of media are made from the
reconstruction of other media that are in the same niches as the first media. For example, a
message from a social community in the media may be reconstructed from another media from
news reports. Thus, it can be said that media messages are being used to emulate reality ( Sisask
& Värnik, 2012). But in order for media to reach their intended reach, the messages must set
some emotions in the minds of them. So, this is the reason for the individuals and the audiences
make a meaning out of the media messages. For example, the sombunall media are mainly used
for commercial purposes which are also associated for striking pleasure in the audiences
concerned. Thus, it can be stated that the media are termed as a map.
Meaning from media messages have long been used to symbolize cultural diversity.
According to the amount of perception received, they are made viable to the intended audiences

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so that their impacts can strike deep meanings. In addition, it can be said that the symbols used in
media messages depicts an image which is used to enable the perception of these messages.
According to this, brands, texts and logos are made to convey a message regarding their
involvements in the people. According to their educations and individual beliefs, the perception
of these messages is analyzed in their minds (Meyers, 2012). Similarly, the media is also used to
transform the complex meanings of the legal objects pertaining to any corporation or association
to simple words with symbolic references. This can be also said that celebrities associated side
by side with another media message, can be termed as a symbolic media realities. For example,
the celebrities like Shakira or Beyonce are sometimes the characters in a media.
In the year 2007, producers of the Battlestar Galactica wanted to achieve greater
promotions for their upcoming activities. This made them to invite the fans of the show to
become a part of a tribute film which was supposed to air in television for four minutes. Their
website also included a menu with various tabs which allowed the fans to download and watch or
listen to audios or videos (CUBN (Colonial United Broadcasting Network), 2017, pp 3).
However, the producer of the marketing materials, Julie Russo, argued regarding the difference
in contents among the applied promotions and the traditional fan practices. She also claims that
those fans that always make a trend of applying songs in the video for mashes are too much
engaged in non-hierarchical messages. Additionally, it can also be included that there are some
percentages of the fans that have no interest in making their own mashed creations or engaging
in fan-made contents.
Fans are always engaging in the contents of their favorite entities. They also create their
own works by changing the audio tracks of a video and then promoting them in their own sites
(Stavros et al., 2014). However, those fans that neither make these contents nor do engage in

5FANS AND MEDIA
their fellow fan made contents are also said to get annoyed by the extra contents made by the
producers. The show Battlestar Galactica included various podcasts with their shows to give
something else in their platforms for their viewers. Although, some percentages of the fan
audiences enjoy these extensions but some of them are also said to be annoyed by them (Clavio
& Walsh, 2014). Although something extra can be good for a show to get more engagement, it
can also be a different way to get criticized.
These messages from the media have long been associated with making a difference
between the minds of a fan and a critic. In the year 2012, when the batman film “The Dark
Knight Rises” came in the industry, it made a great impact among the batman fans despite of the
opposing comments made by the critics. In addition, those critics who were associated with
giving negative comments received death threats from the fans.
In addition, the media is also said to involve the fan interactions in cultural diversions.
There have been associations of the media interests with the cultural diversities. This is also
another reason for the minorities getting an idea from these messages. For example, the
minorities are getting ideas about the English culture from the television shows and films
(Hilton-Morrow and Battles, 2015). This is also giving an idea about the needed customary attire
and the needed way of speaking. This has also been the way of making these minority population
adapted to their intended cultures.
Thus, it can be concluded from this essay that the use of media is considered to be a great
and effective tool for reaching out to the population and making them aware about the needed
diversity. The messages that are analyzed from these media are mainly used to strike a deep
understanding among the minds of the audience. This has also been the driving force of

6FANS AND MEDIA
distinction among the fans and the critics. In addition, the media is also responsible for the
interpretation of various messages by the minority population making them more accustomed to
the cultural diversities that exists around the globe.

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