74 Introduction-Overview
Maybe you’re a fan of musicals. If so, you can check out such readings as:
Rush, Adam, and Stephanie Lim (2022) “From Stage Door to Cyberspace. The Digital Evolution of Musical Theatre Fandom” in The Routledge Companion to Musical Theatre, edited by Laura MacDonald and Ryan Donovan.
Coppa, Francesca (2018) “Slash/Drag: Appropriation and Visibility in the Age of Hamilton” in A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies, edited by Paul Booth
In fact, there are seven (7 – !!) chapters in the section Beyond Broadway: New Media and Fan Studies, of The Routledge Companion to the Contemporary Musical (2020): 32. Worshipping Lin-Manuel Miranda: Fans and Totems in the Digital Age (Jessica Hillman-McCord) / 33. “Trash Talk and Virtual Protests: The Musical Genre’s Personal and Political Interactivity in the Age of Social Media” (Kelly Kessler) / 34. The Great Generational Divide: Stage-to-Screen Hollywood Musical Adaptations and the Enactment of Fandom (Holley Replogle-Wong) / 35. Play It Again (and Again, and Again): The Superfan and Musical Theater (James Deaville) / 36. Joss Whedon and the Geek Musical (Renée Camus) / 37. “YouTube! Musicals! YouTubesicals!” Cultivating Theater Fandom Through New Media (Aya Esther Hayashi) / 38. Dual-Focus Strategy in a Serial Narrative: SMASH, Nashville, and the Television Musical Series (Robynn Stilwell)
But fandoms exist around everything. You might want to examine industry practices and the participatory culture dedicated to the fans of comics, anime, or video games, just to name a few well-known media-based audiences.
On the other hand, there are fans of phenomena that are not traditionally media-focused, but that use media to share information, help fellow fans, and generally fashion personal identities and communal ties. Take, for instance, the practice of “cash stuffing” https://financialpost.com/personal-finance/cash-stuffing-savings-budgeting-trick — fuelled by influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Or, there are communities of practice with strong fan bases (carpentry, jewellery-making, scrapbooking, journalling, decluttering).
Even …