researchingfandom

[researchingfandom]

#Resse survey results

Last year, I held a small survey among Resse shippers: people who are or were into the Rob Jetten/Jesse Klaver ship that went viral back in 2021. A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the survey and who was willing to talk to me about this!

Because the ship involves two Dutch politicians - and because I'm Dutch and a fan scholar - I got curious about the people interested in #Resse. The Netherlands is a tiny country, so how did thousands of people get involved in this ship? What motivates them? Do politics play a role?

Also curious? You can find the survey results here!

[researchingfandom]

Calling all Resse shippers!

(I promise I'm still working on the research project this blog was set up for - but I'm now doing a little side project too!)

Are or were you into Resse, the Rob Jetten/Jesse Klaver ship that went viral in 2021? 🔥

I'd love to hear from you for a study I'm doing! The survey should take no more than 10 mins to complete, and you will help me out tremendously. Please feel free to share! ❤️

[researchingfandom]

Survey results

Remember that survey I carried out last year? Yeah, me neither, it seems so long ago. Anyway, I finally got around to visualizing the results!

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to share and/or take part. A couple of things that are important to keep in mind when going over the data:

The survey is part of a bigger project, which is why I won’t be drawing any conclusions from it yet. The primary goal was to obtain some initial information on what draws fans to their favorite fictional worlds and what routines and experiences they have surrounding these worlds. The survey also served as a means to find people interested in further participation in the research.

The results are in no way representative for all human engagement in fictional worlds or for all of fandom. In total, 70 people, active in various and often multiple fandoms, completed the survey. These people all lived in either the Netherlands or the US (a former requirement of the study). Although there was quite a wide variety in terms of age, gender and sexual orientation, the vast majority of respondents described their ethnicity as Caucasian. You can find more detailed demographic info at the end of the report.

With that in mind, you can have a look at the results by clicking here. 

And as always, feel free to shoot me a message if you have questions or want to share your thoughts! I'd love to hear them!

[researchingfandom]

Since I’ve gained some new followers, I figured it might be good to post a brief update. First of all, to all new people: Hi, hello! Nice to have you checking this place out!

It’s been a while since I posted anything, mostly because I’ve been quite busy with observing the fan activities of people who agreed to participate in that way. To those participants I’d like to say: thank you so much! It’s been great to see what you’re up to and what kind of communities you’re part of, and I’m learning a lot.

The study itself is still open to new participants for observations and/or interviews - the latter probably taking place from mid-April onwards. The survey I’m referring to at other places on here has been closed for a while now, and I hope to share those results soon (I actually wanted to share them way sooner, but time has been extremely weird this past year).

So yeah, that’s just a brief update to show where I’m at right now. If there’s anyone who wants to know more or who wants to participate in some way, feel free to reach out!

[researchingfandom]

- UPDATE TIME -

In the past weeks, I’ve been going through the survey results and I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who filled it out and/or shared it with their followers! It’s been immensely helpful and I plan on publishing the results somewhere around late October.

However, before I do so, I’d love to hear from more fans of color.

As it stands now, the vast majority of respondents is caucasian/white, whereas I’d really like to take into account the experiences of fans of color as well!

Therefore, one final round of promo: 

If you’re a fan of fictional media who lives in the Netherlands or the US and who wants to take part in a 15-min survey about fictional worlds, online fandom and everyday life - especially if you’re a fan of color - I’d love to hear from you!  You enter the survey by clicking here. Also, sharing is once again much, much appreciated! ❤️

Wanted: fans who want to take part in a survey!

As part of my PhD project, I’m looking for fans of fictional media who live in the Netherlands or the US and who want to take part in a 15-min survey about fictional worlds, online fandom and everyday life.

You enter the survey by clicking here. Please take care to read the information provided first, so you know what the criteria for participating are and what to expect.

Also, it would be great if this survey reaches as many people as possible, so sharing is much, much appreciated! ❤️

[researchingfandom]

Thanks so much to everyone who’s already taken part! I’m still looking for more participants, so keep it coming! 

Wanted: fans who want to take part in a survey!

As part of my PhD project, I’m looking for fans of fictional media who live in the Netherlands or the US and who want to take part in a 15-min survey about fictional worlds, online fandom and everyday life.

You enter the survey by clicking here. Please take care to read the information provided first, so you know what the criteria for participating are and what to expect.

Also, it would be great if this survey reaches as many people as possible, so sharing is much, much appreciated! ❤️

[researchingfandom]

Wanted: fans who want to take part in a survey!

As part of my PhD project, I’m looking for fans of fictional media who live in the Netherlands or the US and who want to take part in a 15-min survey about fictional worlds, online fandom and everyday life.

You enter the survey by clicking here. Please take care to read the information provided first, so you know what the criteria for participating are and what to expect.

Also, it would be great if this survey reaches as many people as possible, so sharing is much, much appreciated! ❤️

[researchingfandom]

Upcoming: a new project

I’m excited to share that as of October 2019, I’m working on a new research project!

The aim of the project is to explore the ritualized dimensions of fans’ contemporary (often online) engagements with fictional worlds, specifically in relation to fans’ everyday lives.

In the coming weeks, I’ll update this blog with more information about the project and - most importantly - about how you can participate in it! Yep, you heard that right. Because in order for me to do this research, I need the help of fellow fans who’re willing to share their experiences with me.

Stay tuned!

[researchingfandom]

It’s here!

Believe it or no, but I’ve finally found the time to draw up this post and share the results of the research project with everyone here!

Quick remark before I delve into the content of my thesis. As always when doing qualitative research (which is what I did), you end up with a lot of data. Like - a lot. This inevitably meant that I had to make choices with regard to what to focus on and what to actually put in my thesis (which was only a master’s thesis, after all). Despite this, I tried my best to do justice to the experiences and accounts of the people who participated in this study. I hope I succeeded.

So, just to remind you all. As you can read elsewhere on this blog, this research project focussed on the ways in which fans use Tumblr to inhabit and explore the fictional worlds they encounter in different media. It may sound a bit odd, but I was particularly interested in the offline component of this interaction; in a society where we constantly engage with realities beyond our day-to-day lives (the reality of books, films, games, social media, etc.), what do these realities come to mean to us? How do we make sense of them, what messages do we take from them, and what role does this play in our daily lives? Or: how do fictional, virtual and everyday reality interrelate in the context of fandom?

I found that Tumblr’s virtual world might best be explained as a ‘liminoid sphere’, a space betwixt and between the structures of normal life, which gives fans a freedom from social expectations and everyday obligations, and a freedom to play with elements from both real life and their favourite story worlds. This becomes visible in a variety of fan practices or fan works (fics, fan art, graphics, and so on). Fictional story worlds and the virtual environment of Tumblr can therefore fulfil an important fuction that fiction has often been praised for: it offers playgrounds where we can explore what our own world is like, could be like, or should be like. Transformative (fan)work can show perspectives that the official, canon material doesn’t; it may for example transform the storyline to explore another outcome or change an ideological point of view, or it may change white, heterosexual, cisgender characters into a more diverse cast, with different ethnic backgrounds, sexualities and genders. This holds potential for actual change.

Be that as it may, I also found that it’s not quite that simple. For when we look beyond what happens online - when we pay attention to for example the devices that people use to enter Tumblr and examine the everyday contexts from which people visit Tumblr - it turns out that fans not only bring different realities together, they also deliberately keep them apart. I tried to understand this process by means of the concept of ‘dynamic framing’, arguing that fans use this technique to switch between different perspectives on what Tumblr, fandom and fiction are about. On the one hand, there are moments when fan practices are experienced as earnest, tactical performances intended to affect the real, outside world in some way, fictional worlds and characters representing real life equivalents. On the other, when the situation calls for it, it may also be that it simply works better for fans to set Tumblr and fan practice aside as something silly or distractive that is best not taken too seriously, fiction then being no more than ‘just fiction’. These perspectives can exist next to each other, people sliding from one into the other depending on the context they are in. But they are perhaps most visible when they clash, when people with opposite perspectives bump heads with each other (aka, in moments of drama or discourse).

There’s much to say about the latter, but in my thesis, I primarily emphasised that these findings mean that scholars should take everyday contexts into account when they study online culture, as they are part of what shapes how people make sense of and experience the things they encounter online. I believe this also means that our interactions with fiction through fandom are not automatically the powerful, potentially world-changing engagements that some have argued it to be.

Personally, I find the ambiguous nature of a platform like Tumblr, and the different ways in which fannish and fictional realities can be framed and thus be experienced, a fascinating phenomenon that I hope I’ll be able to further examine in future research. If you find this interesting as well, and want to know more about this study’s outcomes, please feel free to message me and ask away. :) I also really don’t mind to share the complete thesis with you, so if you want to receive it in order to read it or simply look it over, please do ask!

One last thing I’d like to say, then. I would like to once again thank everyone who participated in this research project. Thank you for letting me be your Tumblr follower for a while, for answering my questions, for welcoming me into your homes, and for sharing your thoughts and feelings so openly. I’m truly grateful - without you, this project simply would not have been possible!

[researchingfandom]

Nearing the end

Hi there!

I believe it’s been about a year since I’ve finished the data collection part of the research and interviewed the last people. It turned out to become a long an interesting ride, but now the end is finally near!

I plan to graduate this summer, which means I’m able to post the main outcomes somewhere around August. A ~bit~ later than planned, but hey, better late than never, right?

Thanks to all of you for your patience, I look forward to sharing the results!

[researchingfandom]

Another update! (finally)

Pfew, it’s been a while. I hope you’re all doing well!

November slipped by, and as you might have noticed I haven’t posted anything about the results of the research yet. Due to personal circumstances, everything takes quite a bit longer than expected. However! The thesis is still in the making and it should be finished somewhere in the coming months (yes, I deliberately keep the time frame broad). I really wish I could have finished everything sooner, but you know -

When it’s ready, I’ll of course post the main outcomes here and provide you all with a link to the the thesis (for those who are interested!).

- W.

[researchingfandom]

Holiday update

It’s been a while since I’ve last posted an update here, so I figured it might be nice to say something about how the research is progressing - especially since I’ll be travelling through Latin America during August and won’t have a laptop on me during that time.

It may seem like not much has happened over the last two months, but in reality I’ve worked my ass off to process and structure the pile of data I gathered during the course of the research + develop an argument from said pile of data. Also, I’ve written my first chapters! So yeah, we’re slowly getting somewhere, and I’m enjoying the process of making sense of your activities, descriptions and explanations through an academic lense. :) As my interviewees already know, I am planning to finish the thesis in November, so after my travels I probably quickly pick up the work again. I hope you guys managed to survive the last weeks before summer and can now enjoy a well-deserved break as well!

[researchingfandom]

Update #3

Wow, those were a couple of intense research weeks. First of all, a HUUUGE thank you to the people who participated in the interviews. It took me quite some traveling  (even though the Netherlands is small), but I loved talking to you and meeting you guys in person!

The coming two weeks I’ll be working on the transcriptions of the interviews (i.e. writing everything down, which is indeed as tedious as it sounds) and after that I can finally gather all my observations, notes and transcriptions and start coding and analysing them (now that’s the fun part, imo).

I don’t know when the next update will be, seeing that the upcoming month is going to be crazily busy, but you’ll see it pop up eventually. :) And as always, if you’re curious about anything feel free to drop me a message!

- W.

[researchingfandom]

Update #2

Hello there! 

Time sure flies, doesn’t it? Progress has been pretty slow over the last two weeks. Reason for this is partly because I didn’t feel that well, but mostly because everything simply takes more time than expected. Apparently I’ve been a bit too optimistic when planning things (somehow I always am). ;)

I sent you all a short survey last week, and almost everyone has filled it out by now. Thank you for that! I was pleasantly surprised to see that so many of you agreed to receive more information about the interview. Unfortunately, I can only interview 6 people due to time constraints (it’s only a master’s thesis, after all), but it does make me happy to see that so many of you would be interested in talking about your experiences. I’ll approach the interviewees in the coming days, so make sure to check your mailbox (particularly if your Dutch). If you don’t receive an email but still would like to talk to me about anything related to fandom and Tumblr, just drop me an ask.

One final thing, then. My period of weblog observation is slowly coming to an end, although I will still hang around on this account to post updates and the like. I’ve seen many interesting things and really enjoyed all the different kinds of clever, humorous, and beautiful posts passing by. I also want to thank those of you who already answered some of my questions; it’s been truly helpful. While I’m working on the analysis of my field notes, it might be that I’ll approach several of you again (or for the first time, if I haven’t yet) to make sure I get things right.

Yeah, that’s it for today I think. Have a nice evening!

- W.

[researchingfandom]

Update #1

(The posts are kind of weekly, aren’t they?)

To all the people who helped spread the message and gave me tips about others who might want to join: thank you so much! Thanks to you I’ve found twenty people (including several people from the Netherlands, hurray!) who’ve agreed to participate. That’s plenty for now, and I’m grateful people are enthusiastic about the project!

What else? Well, I figured it might be nice to give you an idea of what I’ve been doing the past week. Basically, I’m hanging around on Tumblr at different times throughout the day/evening to see what’s going on and what kinds of post circulate. As some of you might have noticed, I occasionally like or reblog things (to a password protected sideblog). I’ve also paid several of your actual blogs a visit and today I’m working on the collection of a so-called ‘data sample’ of blog posts to examine up closely. 

All in all, it’s feels nice to get to know you a bit more by seeing what you are posting about and what kinds of conversations and activities are going on. If you’re curious about anything or want to point out something I definitely should pay attention to, feel free to drop me a message.

Oh, and lastly: some of you can expect some questions from me in the upcoming week, mostly about things I’ve seen thus far and that I’m curious about. :) Thought that might be nice to know beforehand.

Enjoy your weekend!

- W.

[researchingfandom]

locurasarcastic reblogged your post and added: “Wanted: (Dutch) fans who’d like to participate in research project”

(Working in a thesis myself about fandom) I need...

Oh really! I’d love to hear what it’s about. :) Send me a message over chat?

[researchingfandom]

beatlesandbards replied to your post “Wanted: (Dutch) fans who’d like to participate in research project”

I am not Dutch, so I'm just hoping I get to read this thesis of yours because it sounds phenomenal :)

Aw, that’s great to hear! I hope it won’t disappoint, haha. As soon as it’s done (which will probably be around October) I’ll make sure to make it available for those who are interested and post the main outcomes here. (Well, that took ages to reply to. Sorry about that!)