Fans and Fan Activism

Abstract Fan communities have been actively celebrating popular culture like the Harry Potter books and films, the music and fashion of Beyoncé, Korean pop sensation BTS, and the Star Wars media empire, as well as nearly every professional sports team for decades; and research on fans and fan communities has grown alongside them. The proliferation of internet and social media access has made fandom even more prominent. This chapter summarizes and synthesizes existing fandom research while highlighting how digital media have influenced fandom. First, it argues that fandom is best conceptualized as an ideal type organized around consumption, knowledge, engagement, community, identity, and emotional connection and that the internet has made each element more accessible. It then describes how fandom research has demonstrated that—as subcultures—fan communities can replicate and enact many of the same class, gender, and race inequities seen in broader society, although not identically. These inequities are evident in how society responds to different fandoms as well as fans’ experiences within their communities. Finally, it summarizes the growing literature on how fan communities have been mobilized for pro-social and activist behavior. These fan activists are adept at such behavior because they have tapped into the skills and knowledge they developed through their fandom, their proximity to mass cultural events like book and movie releases, and their communities’ potential as a source of bloc recruitment. In sum, fan communities are an important site of community and identity and an important subject of analysis in an increasingly digitized world.