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Cultural Outlaws : An Examination of Audience Activity and Online

Television Fandom
Victor Costello and Barbara Moore
Television New Media 2007 8: 124
DOI: 10.1177/1527476406299112
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Cultural Outlaws
An Examination of Audience Activity
and Online Television Fandom
Victor Costello
Elon University

Barbara Moore
University of Tennessee

A web-based survey was used to collect qualitative data about online fans use of the
internet for keeping up with a favorite television program and for interacting with other
fans. The textual responses from 757 participants were coded for patterns and themes
related to theories of audience activity. The results reveal a continuum of activity from
lurkers to a thriving, interpretive community of outlaw fans involved in the consumption and production of favored cultural texts. In contrast to historical images of rabid television fans, the researchers discovered a sophisticated audience, devoted to programs
that make them think and that inspire meaningful exchanges in online discussions. Internet
technologies have empowered these fans to more effectively organize en masse as resistors and shapers of commercial television narratives.

Keywords:

active audience; fandom; audience studies; cultural production; internet uses

The Active Audience Perspective

One of the more persistent debates in mass communication research
centers on the question, Is the audience active or passive (Morley 1989;
Ailor 1988; McQuail 1997)? In other words, are viewers or listeners capable of making their own meaning out of message content or are they
merely helpless victims of media producers?
Developed by the Frankfurt School, the original concept of passive
audience rose from the view of the individual as irrational and easily
influenced (Wicks 2001, 15). The audience was perceived to be a collective
TELEVISION & NEW MEDIA
Vol. 8 No. 2, May 2007 124-143
DOI: 10.1177/1527476406299112
2007 Sage Publications

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body, but the participants did not communicate with each other about
their media experience (McQuail 1997, 67). This paradigm was modified
in the 1950s and 1960s by researchers like Klapper, Lazarsfeld, and Katz,
who argued for a model of limited effects. They said that the influence of
the media was not consistent across the audience. Instead, the impact varied according to the individual and the situation. Interpersonal relations
were considered a powerful intervening factor. Uses and gratifications
theorists further developed the concept of an active audience, whose
members were capable of making decisions about what to view based on
their own needs and desires and capable of recognizing and reporting
their experiences (Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch 1974).
Critical theorists who focus attention on how culture is produced and
consumed, especially the economic and social implications of the process,
have also raised questions about the nature of the audience. Hall (1980)
combined several theories in his examination of the questions, What messages do audiences receive, and do they all share the same reading of the
text? He chose to ask the audience about its interpretation of the text
rather than merely analyzing the content. He saw the consumer as having
three possible interpretations of media messages: dominant (accepting
the text as created by those in power), negotiated, and oppositional.
Audiences were perceived as being relatively more active, decoding the
text as a group, sharing certain frameworks of understanding and interpretation (Gray 1999, 27).
Morley (1980, 1989, 1993) suggested that audiences could interpret
material in more than three ways. But to him, these variations were not
random; rather, they were the product of shared codes among economic
classes (Morley 1993, 5483). Perceptions of the programming were individualistic but reinforced by discussions within the family and the community. Again, the image was of a more active, though not totally unrestrained,
audience.
Fiske (1987) went even further and postulated an audience that is
highly active, able to interpret messages in a wide variety of ways. But even
he admitted that the viewers power was limited. Audience members
could negotiate meanings and interpret messages, but they had no ability
to produce the material they wanted or to control content or scheduling
(Ang 1995, 8).
In literature, advocates of reception theory (also called reader-oriented,
audience studies, audience analysis, reception analysis, reader response,
audience reception) said that the audience should be considered as
important as the text and the author and should be equally examined
(Iser 1978; Holub 1984). Each is important to the analysis and understanding of a literary work. But a consensus on the exact role of the audience has not been reached. Some see meaning as being determined by the

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audience: they see a dynamic relationship between the text and the
reader, with social and cultural influences affecting the way messages are
decoded.
When used by media scholars, this general approach shares these basic
assumptions about the audience:
1. Emphasis should be on the viewer, the process of viewing, and the
responses of the audience rather than on content (Livingstone 1992, 287).
2. Meaning is determined to some extent by the audience. Text and reader
are interdependent, mutually conceived, joint constructors of meaning
(Livingstone 1993, 7). Of course, not all participants exhibit the same level
of activity.
3. To understand the process, the researcher needs to look at the context of the
viewing experience in ordinary lives and in common settings (Webster and
Phalen 1997, 123), using qualitative and ethnographic methods.
4. There is no consistency from individual to individual about how this interpretation is done, but social and cultural factors do have an influence. The
result is what some have called an interpretive community (Suleiman 1980,
11, 2025).

The members of such a community share common traits like similar

uses of media, similar practices, shared meanings, and interaction about the
texts (Fish 1980; Liebes 1988; Lindlof 1988). For interpretive researchers,
this construct is a way to understand the complexity and variability of
audience responses to media messages. It also highlights the social character of reception and, in so doing, represents an effort to place individual readers or viewers within broader social and cultural contexts
(Carragee 1990, 86). This sharing of the viewing experience heightens the
enjoyment of the text by those in the community.

The Study of Fans

The most studied interpretive community consists of fans, viewers
who act outside the common expectations for a member of the audience.
Fans can be considered a scandalous category because their activities
go beyond the norm. Fans appear to be frighteningly out of control,
undisciplined and unrepentant, rogue readers (Jenkins 1988, 86). They
do their own interpretation of the text, ignoring the opinions and desires
of producers, advertisers, network executives, and critics. And because
fans go beyond the accepted boundaries of viewing, they are sometimes
ridiculed. For example, consider the images of the Trekkie (Jenkins
1988, 86) and the soap fan (Baym 2000; Harrington and Bielby 1995, 94).
The concept of fan has generally evaded an explicit, singular, and unified meaning. At its root, the word fan originates from the Latin
fanaticus, by which we derive the word fanatic (Jenkins 1992, 12).

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This association no doubt has helped to foster the very broad and general
stereotype of individuals whose behavior, at the very least, exceeds conventional norms of audience behavior and at times can be described as
pathological (Jenson 1992). In their study of fan engagement with the
soap opera narrative, Bielby, Harrington, and Bielby (1999) provide a
fairly succinct conceptual definition of fan: To view television is a relatively private behavior. To be a fan, however, is to participate in a range
of activities that extend beyond the private act of viewing and reflects an
enhanced emotional involvement with a television narrative (p. 35).
However, scholars generally define fans by what they do in conjunction with the consumption of media texts and related products of
popular culture (Harrington and Bielby 1995, 12). For example, GwenllianJones (2002) operationalized the concept of fan by describing some of the
broader, and perhaps more mainstream, activities of those involved in fan
communities. Fans combine conspicuous, enthusiastic, consumption of
official texts and spin-offs with their own creative and interpretive practices. Fans are viewers who do not merely watch films or television programmes but also write fan fiction and cultural criticism, produce fan art,
scratch videos, websites and so on, and who seek out other fans with
whom to share their enthusiasm. . . . Fans are distanced from ordinary
consumers because their modes of consumption are considered excessive (p. 172). While this description applies to fans in general, the current
study specifically examines the phenomenon of online fandom, where
fans represent a unique subset of the television-viewing audience with
access to the internet and a motivation to seek out online resources related
to the viewing of a favorite program. Online fans express their attachment
to television narratives by creating or visiting web sites associated with a
program, and/or by interacting with other fans who share a common zest
for the same TV series.
To some researchers, fans who create fanzines and other works borrowing characters and settings from their favorite programs are motivated by hostility. These rebellious children and cultural scavengers
(Jenkins 1988, 86) use the material created by the dominant class to express
their resistance and to overcome feelings of subordination and powerlessness (Tulloch and Jenkins 1995, 168, 197). But this interpretation of
the fans rationale has not been examined thoroughly from the fans
viewpoint.
When the concrete experience of viewing, rather than the abstract concept, is studied, the difficulties in defining audience and its level of
activity/passivity become clearer. What does an active viewer do? Choose
programs? Accomplish goals through viewing? Pay attention to content?
Analyze content? Avoid being easily influenced? Feel strong emotions? It
is hard to imagine a totally passive audience. Fiske sees audience as a

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meaningless term. There is only the variety of cultural activities that take
place in front of the screen (Fiske 1989, 5657).
The question of consistency is also a consideration (Ang 1991, 165). A
person may change activity levels from show to show, day to day, or even
within the program. These fluctuations may result from the viewer, the
program, or the situation of viewing, but the fluctuations are limited to
some extent by industry controls such as scheduling.

Method
This study examines the use of the internet by TV fans to understand
what role it can play in creating and maintaining an active audience. For
a study of audience activity within online fan communities, the best
method may be hermeneutic, using a variety of research tools and critical
insights. The goal becomes to discern the contours of patterns in the
audience data, broad categories of similarities and differences of perception and practice in peoples everyday interaction with the media and
their meanings (Schroeder 1999, 48).
There are obvious dangers in a technique that relies on members of the
audience to report their own experience in an unstructured style. The
researchers cannot know if they are getting the complete truth from their
sources; nor can they be certain if their interpretation of the data is accurate. Results cannot be generalized and are not predictive. But this kind
of technique allows the researcher to look at the rough edges, special
cases, and subtle peculiarities of real experience (Lull 1990, 30). A study
of the use of the internet by fans allows us to see how meanings and
pleasures are created, negotiated, and dispersed throughout society
(Fiske 1988, 248). It also gives some indication of how a new technology
may interact with a more traditional one in ways created by the audience
for its own pleasure.
Studies of television fan communities have generally focused on fans of
particular programs or program genres such as soap operas (Baym 1997,
2000) and science fiction (Tulloch and Jenkins 1995). The current study
attempted to cast a wider net by targeting a much broader segment of
the television fan population not restricted by a specific program or genre.
Given that television fan sites, newsgroups, and other online portals
are generally associated with a specific program, a search of the internet
was conducted for newsgroups and fan pages connected with popular,
first-run programs airing on commercial television during the fall of 1998.
Selected programs consisted of prime-time television series (drama and
comedy programs) and daytime serials. News programs, game shows, talk
shows, sports programs, and other nonepisodic television programs were
not included in the collection. Programs had to be on the air for at least one

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year prior to the study to ensure adequate time for the development of an
online fan base. A total of eighty-six programs was selected, and a search of
the internet was made for newsgroups and unofficial fan sites associated
with each program. This search identified sixty internet newsgroups and
806 fan sites related to each of the eighty-six television programs.1
An online survey was posted to the internet from October 13 to
November 7, 1998. Timing of the survey administration was planned to
occur shortly after the start of the fall television season. Online communication activity was expected to be high at this time of year because of
season premieres and the heightened efforts of broadcast and cable networks to market new episodes for returning series.
Invitations to participate in the survey were e-mailed to each of the 806
fan site owners and posted to each of the sixty program newsgroups. A
follow-up posting to each of the newsgroups was made four days before
the end of the data collection in an effort to solicit participation from fans
who may have missed the initial message. In the invitation e-mail,
authors of television fan sites were asked to post a link to the survey
instrument on their home page. Forty-seven of the authors posted the
link, generating additional interest in survey participation. In addition,
UltimateTV.com, a popular television infotainment site at the time,
hosted a link to the survey for approximately one week.
The survey instrument2 was created for a largely quantitative and
exploratory study of online fan activity as a part of the primary authors
dissertation research (Costello 1999). However, the following open-ended
question was appended near the end of the survey instrument to allow
respondents to offer spontaneous qualitative insights about online fandom
in a more flexible and less structured context. Do you have any thing you
would like to share with us about how you are using the Internet to stay
connected with your favorite television program, or about how this survey
was conducted? Although completion of the qualitative item was presented as optional, nearly 25 percent of the sample population took the
time to share some often detailed and very interesting accounts of their
online activities and the nature of online fan communities.

Results
A total of 3,041 completed surveys were received during the twenty-six
days of the survey administration. Of these, 757 participants (24.9 percent)
chose to respond to the optional qualitative question. As is normal in
most studies of television fandom, the sample was predominantly female
and very closely mirrored the gendered response rate of the total sample
population. In all, there were 506 female respondents (66.8 percent) and
251 male respondents (33.2 percent). The textual data amounted to fortynine pages of single-spaced text.

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The authors analyzed the textual responses for patterns and themes
related to audience-centered theories of television-viewing activity. The
data were coded according to how fans reported using the internet in connection with watching their favorite program(s). Audience activity
ranged from minimal involvement such as simple information acquisition (spoilers and episode guides) to fully engaged viewers seeking interaction with other fans and, at times, program cast members, writers, and
producers. The analysis focused on where the respondents fell on the continuum of passive/active audiences and how activity was expressly manifested and perceived from the fans perspective. However, there were
other interesting observations about the survey participants that could be
discerned from the text.
For example, how do fans portray themselves? While it may seem counterintuitive to those less familiar with the culture of fandom, these respondents
were adamant about distinguishing themselves from the stereotypical
couch potato viewer with remote control in hand, consuming large quantities of television pabulum in an unstructured and habitual fashion. The
online fans in this study showed a preference for programs that they perceived as more intellectually stimulating than the average fare.
I am only a fan of one show, Homicide: Life on the Street. Its the only network show which does not insult our intelligence. It is thinking persons TV.
Ive cut down the number of hours spent watching TV in the last five years
or so. I now only watch shows that I consider excellent (good writing, acting, etc.) or shows that make me laugh and forget my troubles. Watching
too much TV made me feel like I wasnt living, but just watching life.
The programs I mainly watch are educational in nature or content, and the
show I watch regularly, The Practice, is one that, though intended to entertain, is also very thought-provoking/controversial/educational. . . . I prefer
programs that enhance my knowledge.
My television viewing habits are very limited. I mostly watch on purpose
rather than by accident or default.

Instead of filling their time with mindless TV shows, and being tied to the
ever-inflexible structure of commercial television, they subscribed to a
limited yet highly selective television diet. The internet was viewed as a
useful, accommodating, and enjoyable medium, appreciated for its fluidity and ease in bringing people and information together.
I actually dont watch much television at all. I dont have a lot of time and
enjoy using the Internet to relax and relieve stress. It fits into my schedule
when I need it, I dont have to conform to it.

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I only watch 2 hours of TV a week at the most, but I do like discussing the
characters with online friends.
I may be overly sensitive, but not everyone who is obsessed with a particular show is obsessed with Television. I only watch 3 shows and an occasional football game, but I really only visit sites related to those shows.

Although respondents were not asked to identify the titles of their

favorite shows, they often volunteered this information, including
descriptive analyses of program qualities perceived as important to the
fan community. These fans expressed a resounding preference for
programs that make them think. Serialized dramas were mentioned more
often than any other type of program genre. Participants spoke consistently of a penchant for stories with plotline arcs, interesting characters
played by strong leads, and challenging themes. Such programs did not
always follow the usual formulas in storyline and setting.
La Femme Nikita is about the fine line between good and evil. There is very
little that is pleasant, fun, or relaxing. There is plenty to think about before
and afterward. It is a weekly morality play in a contemporary context.
The big thing here is continuity; I like shows that have it. That is: plots spanning multiple episodes, gradual character development, a relatively consistent universe, etc.

The authors make no claim that this audience is typical. In general, the
respondents see themselves as markedly different from the average
viewer or casual fan.
Dedicated fans . . . think of watching TV like watching a movie or reading
a novel. We sit down and actually watch a show rather than just being in a
room where the TV is on.
My favorite programs challenge me intellectually. . . . Theyre more likely to
present you with puzzles and to allow the characters room to grow, as in a
novel (The X Files, Babylon 5). This is the type of programming that encourages online participation beyond the more typical fandom (represented by
ho-hum comments such as I love the show or Wow or I hated that
episode). Therere wide-ranging discussions of plot and character development similar to what I found in my college English Lit courses.

A collective defensiveness about fan image and self-portrayal revealed

itself in underlying suspicions about the researchers motives and the
perceived intentionality of the study. Respondents did not want to be
negatively branded, nor did they want to play party to perpetuating an
exaggerated fan stereotype.

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Many of the questions appear to be passing a judgment on persons who use
the Internet to keep track of television shows, that they are stupid or loony
or eccentric. 99% of the fans I have met, both online and in person, are normal, well-adjusted persons who lead fascinating, full lives. But that does
not appear to be what this survey wants to hear.
Im sorry to say that this survey was a wee bit disturbing. It was more like
you were trying to see if people used TV to replace things in their lives. Like
you were looking for wackos. . . . Creepy!
. . . seemed a wee-bit obsessive about portraying respondents as lonely little
people with very few interests away from the monitor/TV set.

This concern by respondents about their image reinforces the view of

the fan as an outsider, even an outlaw (Gwenllian-Jones 2002, 178). By
definition, their interest in a TV series was above the norm, sometimes far
above. As a result, they may have felt that they would be teased or criticized for their level of interest in a mere TV show, and their suspicions
may have been justified to some degree.
It has been suggested that our relation to commercial culture is neither monolithic or binaric but complex, fluid and contradictory
(Gwenllian-Jones 2002, 179). Online fans creatively negotiate an everchanging and ubiquitous commercial culture by employing multiple
strategies of interactivity and informed involvement (Gwenllian-Jones
2002, 179). This assertion received support in the current study where
audience activity was expressed as a continuum with variable manifestations of interactivity and involvement. At the lowest level of activity were
the seekers of information. The most common reason volunteered for
using the internet as an information appliance was to seek out episode
guides and program air times. TV Guide and the local newspaper might
provide the listings, but the internet was considered more accurate,
dependable, and complete, and it was free and always available.
Having episode guides, news items, cast info available on demand is far
better than relying on the local paper, which may choose not to print that
information.
A favorite site of mine is the Ultimate TV site . . . in which I can glance
through entertainment news headlines. I have very set, Spartan TV viewing
habits, and Ultimate TV is usually the only way I might find out if something different is on that I might like to watch.

Another attraction, particularly of newsgroups, was spoilers and other

information on future plot developments.
I belong to a mailing list where several show insiders occasionally post
information about upcoming episodes or answer questions about how

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episodes were filmed. I enjoy that most because its information you
wouldnt readily find anywhere else.
We knew that Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was going to die . . .
and that she was going to be replaced by a younger Dax . . . months before
TV Guide accidentally gave the plotline away the week before it happened.
We learn all kinds of things early . . . good and bad.

At the next level of audience activity were participants who used

online newsgroups and fan sites as practical surrogates for fan magazines
and other sources of insider knowledge and gossip. Respondents enjoyed
reading the news and gossip about their favorite shows and stars. Some
enjoyed the ease of downloading cast member photos. Others found
information about missed episodes, while newcomers to a series found a
complete history of past episodes. Also, for people who feared they had
failed to understand an important point or missed the twist of a plotline,
the internet could provide the answers. These aspects were especially
important to international viewers who might find their favorite show
cancelled in their homeland or shown on a delayed schedule.
It is very convenient to keep up with a show that you may have missed.
This particularly applies to soaps and shows shown in sequence.
How else are you going to keep up with what is going on? The news on television and in the papers is pretty much paid advertisements for the show,
and they arent objective. Even rumor is better information than a lot of
those industry reporters are giving out.
I live in Europe and therefore I can get a lot more information from the
Internet about the American shows I watch.
I live in the UK and my favorite program is broadcast first in the
US/Canada, and not in the UK until at least 9 months later, sometimes
more. I dont think Id look at net pages/the news group as much if it was
shown at the same time in the UK as it is in the US.

These information seekers can be easily seen as active viewers, especially in contrast to the audience member who makes the decision on
when to view, then after grazing with the remote control, chooses the least
objectionable program. Online fans see the internet as a valuable resource
in their efforts to know more than the average audience member. And as
with any community, some people are givers and others are there to
simply take what they can. The internet requires no quid pro quo. Lurkers
are the often stealth compatriots of online communities. They log on to
view postings and other forms of online content but rarely, if ever, offer
comments themselves.

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I dont give my opinions in discussions. . . . I like to read other peoples
opinions, hear other points of view on a character . . . in my favorite shows.
I prefer to read message boards and newsgroups about my favorite
programs as opposed to chatting with other fans or posting my own opinions. I guess I am what is known as a lurker. I used to attend fan chats but
found them repetitious and boring. There are always a few who dominate
the group and the rest follow along. I never got much out of them nor did I
feel free to say what I wanted if the group wouldnt approve.

While lurkers are active as gleaners of information, spoilers, and so

forth, a more powerful function of the internet lies in its ability to foster
interactive discourse, most often within an affirming community that
accepts fans in ways that members of real-world social networks may not.
Fans who feel frustrated by not being able to discuss their favorite
programs with friends and family can easily find kindred souls with
whom to share information and enthusiasm. Online meetings that may
first take place in a chat room or via a message board are reinforced by fan
conventions and other scheduled gatherings, where correspondents have
a chance to meet each other face to face. Such interactions frequently lead
to the formation of lasting friendships.
The Internet has changed my viewing (and feelings about viewing) a great
deal. For one thing, I was able to find others that enjoy the same shows,
especially the soap operas. People tend to sneer and look down on soap
opera viewing, but I have been able to meet others that watch my soaps
and no longer feel bad about watching them!
Rather than narrowing my experiences, my interest in certain shows has
expanded my circle of friends and opened up my social life. I now have
very close friends on several continents that I could have never met if the
Internet had not allowed us to connect, first through our interest in a show,
then through interest in each other.
A bunch of fans are a pretty diverse group and youd be hard pressed to
find them to agree on any one thing (except the shows the best :))but they
are supportive of any members ups and downs. We celebrate birthdays,
weddings, bar mitzvahs, passing exams, commiserate over taxes, divorce,
loss, failing exams. The TV show may be the spark, but its more than that!
I spent last weekend as part of a group of thirty fans of Homicide: Life
on the Street who met on the Internet . . . and decided to have a fan
convention . . . in Baltimore where Homicide is filmed. Only two of us had
ever met in person, but we had all posted on the newsgroup and many had
e-mailed each other. We ate, drank, toured Baltimore and the set, talked about
the show and a million other things, watched its filming, met its stars . . .
and we all had the time of our lives.

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This pattern sharply contrasts the image of the isolated member of the
audience watching programs without analyzing the themes or interpreting the ideas or questioning the content. On the internet, there is literally
a true interpretive community, where people discuss their delight and
disgust at plotlines, dialogue, and character developments. Of course,
this community was not created by a shared class structure or other cultural similarities; instead, the participants have in common only an interest in a program, a desire to talk about it, and access to the internet. The
information and interaction helps them to think about a program differently, and perhaps more critically, adding to their enjoyment of the actual
viewing experience. For some, watching television while simultaneously
discussing it over the internet with online friends, or analyzing the program
afterwards, also enhances the experience of viewing the program.
The Internet has helped change following a TV show from something passive into something interactive. Discussing my favorite show online has
become part of the experience of watching it.
Being in a discussion group about a show, where the plot, characters, etc.
are analyzed after each episode, is a lot like being in a book club where you
read a book each week. You get a lot more out of the show after reading
other peoples reactions and opinions.
I would watch the show when it first came on then when it came on the
second time, I would log onto a chatroom and re-watch the episode while
others in the chatroom were pointing things out others might have missed
or not thought about.

The cancellation of a favorite program creates an emotional void and

forced detachment from the program narrativesometimes in the middle
of the season, without resolving critical narrative elements involving characters and storylines. The attachment of fans to television programs,
actors, and the characters they play grows with time and is particularly
acute in the case of a long-running series that has been followed for many
years. Faithful fans have watched their favorite characters go through
legal battles, physical problems, sexual alliances, and emotional angst.
Withdrawing from that fictional world is made more bearable through the
mutual consolation of others mourning the death of a series, or more positively, reviving the memory of a past program to keep it alive.
I am on a mailing list with about 150 other people who are fans of a show
that has long been cancelled. In fact most of the actors have passed away,
but we keep the show alive through our mailing list.
The Internet allows you to . . . keep in touch with those old TV shows. In
cyberspace they never die.

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My favorite show . . . went out of production 30 years ago and until I found
the mailing lists on the web, I thought I was the only fan left. Its great to be
able to discuss various aspects of it as an adult.

The production and consumption of fan fiction is another popular

activity for keeping a program alive and fresh. Fans borrow characters
and settings from current and past TV series and create their own plotlines and story narratives. This bricolage has been seen in other cases as
a rebellion against the system. Fans who, because of their economic status,
have no power over television content, meet their needs by manufacturing their own versions of the fantasies (Jenkins 1992). Favorite characters
become homosexual, females move from the background into dominant
roles, and the histories and futures of the characters from long-dead series
are explored. Fan fiction is privately and publicly shared by its creators
but critiqued and modified collectively by the community.
Our respondents volunteered little information about their motives for
writing and reading fan fiction except to say that it brought them pleasure
and fulfilled cravings for new episodes during periods when the show was
out of production. In some cases, the reading of fan fiction occurs as an
activity to itself, without the tandem pursuit of actually watching the show.
I mostly use the web to find fanfic about the shows I like. Its especially fun
during the summer when all the reruns are on. A well-written fanfic story
is almost as good as a new episode.
I use the Internet especially to check on any new fan fiction, because once a
week of my favorite TV show just isnt enough.
I found a bunch of fan fiction stories that I liked; I didnt know anything
about the show, but I started watching it so that I could better appreciate
the fiction. I love stories, and Ive always been a reader. Joining the fan fiction
community has been a way for me to combine my interests in reading, watching TV, and having wide-ranging conversations with intelligent people.

Some highly active fans create and maintain unofficial program web sites
that serve as repositories for program information, media content, photographs, fan fiction, and so forth. Fan sites may also serve as portals for connecting fans with other fans of the same program. Fan site creators go beyond
the mere egocentric benefits of using the web for interpreting texts and
enhancing the personal gratifications of television viewing. These are the
avant-garde members of online fandom who, because of their altruistic activities, provide a sense of place and connectedness for the larger community.
I created a webpage for my favorite TV show. Because of that, people of the
show and fans began emailing me. I now run a fan club for the show.

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I write reviews of my favorite TV show (The X-Files) and post them on my
webpage. Ive had over 10,000 hits to my reviews page so far, and many
people email me to continue discussions about points Ive raised.
Fan-created web sites have a strong following and play a major part in
online fandom.
When I first made my website for my favorite TV program, I found that
people really enjoyed it, and when I dont update it for awhile, people email
me and ask why, so now I feel kind of obligated to keep up with things.

At the highest end of activity are those who use the internet as an interactive tool to participate in some sense with what they see as their
program. They get online with the hope that they will get feedback from
their favorite actor and are successful sometimes; they may eventually
even get a chance to meet the star.
I learned that our favorite actor, Kevin Sorbo of Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys was going to be in Minneapolis, so we planned our family vacation to coincide with his appearance. We got to meet him, he held my
daughter on his lap several times and he has written to us.
I correspond by letter mail every week with two of my favorite actors on the
show, and I write to the producer every week. Because of the online connection with friends, and my letter writing, Ive had the privilege of getting to
know my favorite actors, even though I live 2300 miles away from Hollywood.

Others are less interested in being a mere fan and more interested in having an influence over the program. They hope that producers and writers
will read their comments and respond. Occasionally, members of the creative team, such as the producer of Babylon 5, joined them online for a discussion. But even if their comments did not get an immediate response,
they felt their sites were being monitored, and they perceived changes in
the programs direction as a reaction to their criticism and suggestions.
While this kind of direct influence on a series was rare, fans who
believed it was possible certainly did not see themselves as powerless
victims of a Hollywood production machine. Rather, they see themselves
as an audience that at least occasionally can exert influence over the creators of their programs, and therefore, to a limited extent, they are a part
of the creative team.
I got involved with other fans on the Internet because we were all mutually
angry that our favorite character had been killed off. We used the Internet
to vent our anger and as a communication tool to protest to the producers.
The executive producer from DM [Diagnosis Murder] is on the list with us,
receiving feedback and giving us information. . . . Having the opportunity

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to influence the storyline a bit by our instant feedback is exciting. This is the
closest thing to interactive TV watching an adult can experience.
A big part of the online information and discussions about a television
program that makes it interesting is when the people involved with creating the television show are involved online, particularly the writers.

The ultimate power of internet fandom is in controlling the actual life

and death of a series. For fans of a show, that power is usually in the
hands of a network executive or, for a syndicated series, a production
company. Online fans believe they can prevent the cancellation of a
program or even resurrect it after the decision has been made to end it. In
the world before the internet, dedicated fans had organized mail campaigns and known some success, but online fans can move more quickly,
organize more people, and generally be more effective.
Usually, the effort to save a show was reported unsuccessful, but again,
the fact that members of the audience see themselves as potentially powerful enough to influence executive decisions is a direct contradiction to
the image of the passive audience, a victim of network whims and greed.
Even when efforts fail, fans can be made more knowledgeable about the
realities of the television industry.
I am part of a group of people who have brought their favorite show back
because we all talked to each other and banded together when the network
cancelled it. If we had not been talking together in the beginning we never
could have rallied so quickly nor would we have been so successful without our net access to each other.
[Because of our campaign to bring back a show,] I have also learned greatly
about the politics of television, that the advertisers, not the viewers, determine the programming, and that our opinions and viewing preferences
mean little or nothing to the networks.
[A successful campaign to save a program] was one of the most gratifying things
I have ever done, getting a network to recognize the fans and their feelings.
For the first time in history, there is a vehicle that makes it easy for thousands of fans all over the world to band together against the previous
omnipotence of television executives. It was very exciting to be part of it
and to see it work, proving that there is strength in unity.

Discussion
We asked the questions, What does an active viewer do? And what
role, if any, does the internet play in creating and fostering active viewers
or fans? Our assumption was that everyone who participated in an online
activity involving a television series was, in some sense, active; that is,
they were going above and beyond the simple act of viewing television.

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It has been suggested that audience activity occurs when fans move
from the role of consumer to that of producer (McKee 2004, 169; Hills
2002, 29). The powerless become powerful when they mimic and extend
the craft traditionally reserved for producers of the original text. In this
study, cultural production was manifested in numerous ways. Online
fans regularly meet to share, debrief, and in other ways interact with the
program narrative. These consumers have positioned themselves as the
ultimate stake holders and surreptitious owners (Bielby, Harrington,
and Bielby, 1999) of their favorite cultural objects, and as cultural outlaws, they are producing individual and collective interpretations of the
text uncompelled by the dominant modes of reception imposed on viewers by program creators. However, activity is not limited to the intangible
products of reshaping narrative interpretations. Online fans also manufacture tangible assets such as web sites, communication forums and
Listservs, fanzines, advocacy campaigns, fan fictions, reviews, and more.
We know that audience activity is mediated by a complex host of characteristics associated with program narratives and patterns of consumption. Participants who are very involved in certain online activities related
to a favorite program are willfully absent from, or disinterested in, other
fandom-related pursuits. This supports the general concept of audience
activity as a variable state as opposed to an absolute condition. To restate it
axiomatically, different members of the audience . . . display differing
types and amounts of activity in different communication settings . . . at different times in the communication sequence (Levy 1983, 114). While some
fans are content to use the internet simply as a tool for acquiring information, others thrive more on the potential for socialization and interpersonal
communication. In the same way, where certain programs tend naturally to
impel viewers to the internet for supplemental enjoyment of the program
narrative, others are less successful in cultivating online fan activity. This is
certainly an area that needs to be studied with more attention.
The online fans in this study characterized themselves as carefully
choosing the few programs to which they were loyal. Series with story
arcs over several episodes, challenging themes, and interesting characterization were preferred. Respondents were drawn to what they perceived
as intellectually stimulating content. This proclivity may be partially
explained by the typical profile of internet audiences: online fans, in particular, are not disempowered radical outsiders butlike Net users in
generala demographic that is predominantly white, middle-class, technology literate and educated (Gwenllian-Jones 2002, 178).
Most researchers have assumed that an active audience would be a
more powerful one (although how that power would be used is rarely
delineated). Online fans on the lower end of the activity continuum are
ostensibly indifferent about influencing the direction of a program or

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the entertainment industry. For the most part, they are content with the
consumption of their chosen series and the sharing of this experience on
some level with other fans. For them, activity produces a more enlightened, discerning, insightful consumer and a heightened viewing experience but yields little change in the external products of commercial
culture.
Toward the other end of the continuum, fans create and read their own
versions of their favorite program. The ultimate goal is not just maintaining and explaining characters but improving on the original in an effort
to make the series more meaningful to the producers and consumers of
fan fiction. Certainly, in this sense, online fans are exerting a form of
power, but the impact does not extend beyond the boundaries of the reading experience and the cultural byproducts of their interactivity.
Still further along the continuum, audience members attempted, with
some limited success, to influence writers and producers. Fans banded
together online to protest the cancellation of a series in an effort to change
the minds of program executives. It is interesting to speculate if this
group of fans, because of their demographic makeup and their unusual
level of loyalty, will eventually have greater influence on the entertainment industry.
How could the members of online fan communities use such influence? Would feedback from devoted fans result in a superior aesthetic
quality or more intellectually challenging content? Or would it mean the
repetition of favorite plotlines and themes or the highlighting of the most
popular characters? Would producers be even more reluctant to follow
their own creative impulses and instead bow to the desires of the internet
fans for the beloved familiar? (For example, a finger on the pulse of the
public obtained by polling does not necessarily result in political action
that is in the best interest of the people.)
This analysis supports the notion that some fans can be outlaws in the
sense that they do not use the programming offered to them as intended.
They are not satisfied with their assigned role: merely to watch the series
and its commercials. They want more information; they want to share
insights and gossip with other fans; they want to create their own venues
for sharing their views; they even want to influence the development of
the program. Where pre-internet fandom was largely decentralized and
limited in mass, inhibiting the collective bargaining power of individuals
and geographically dispersed fan consortiums, online fan communities
have the potential to produce unified centers of resistance to influence the
global industries of cultural production. And while the internet can be a
valuable tool for enabling this flouting of the expectations of the entertainment industry, the results of this activity have yet to be translated into
positive and lasting change.

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Notes
1. The complete lists of programs and program newsgroups are located in
Appendix A and Appendix D of the primary authors dissertation. The dissertation
is available online (PDF format only) at http://idserver.utk.edu/?id=200300000001534.
Given the vast number of fan sites and the impossibility of random selection, the
number of chosen sites was limited to 806 after determining that each program
was sufficiently represented in the sample.
2. A printed version of the online survey instrument can be found in Appendix
E of the primary authors dissertation (see link in note 1). The current study is limited to an analysis of the textual responses to the single qualitative item that was
included near the end of the survey.

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Victor Costello (PhD, University of Tennessee, 1999) is an associate professor in the

School of Communications at Elon University in North Carolina. His research
interests are in new media and convergence.
Barbara Moore (PhD, Ohio University, 1979) is a professor in journalism and electronic media at the University of Tennessee. She has written about the history of
broadcast programming and is working on a text on the topic.

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