The Ties That Bind: A blog project about the meaning of fandom

Abstract

Fandoms, or fan communities; groups of enthusiasts or ‘fans’ that have come together through their shared love of some kind of media, have been around for a long time in a number of different forms around the world, though in small numbers. When comic books became popular, those groups increased, and once again as movies became more commonplace. These communities and cultures are reliant on information technology, and the technology reliant on them, in a symbiotic relationship. It is my objective to research, analyze and observe fandoms and the culture related to the associated communities of fans within, and how they have formed, communicated and interacted, both prior to the development of modern information technology and after, as well as their continued growth on established and upcoming platforms. My actual project consists of a set of blog posts, or ‘mini-essays’, on Tumblr, around one hundred words per post, perhaps more, with ten posts in total.