Iris, the (Not Quite) Librarian

Blog 8 – Reflection

Previous to this assignment, I don’t believe I ever reflected on how information communities help libraries service their populations. It never dawned on me that there was such a thing as “information communities” to begin with! Fandom is something I’ve been part of since my pre-teen years, and I’ve always managed to write about how fandom can affect one’s growth and introduce them to new people. For instance, the reason as to why I took up creative writing and television criticism, is due to the fact that I loved reading fan fiction so much, I had to learn how to write about it.

I also learned to meet new people through online communities, which is what led me to library school. So, this experience gave me a new perspective to the technology fans use to participate in fandom, and how researchers are developing better practices in the LIS field to demonstrate how this perspective is important. I believe my writing has continued to adapt and my academic voice became stronger, which was something I struggled with for a bit. One of the things I would like to further look into, is how women of color are able to adapt in spaces that are still majority White and in which not everyone claims to be intersectional off the bat. That intrigues me, because I found so many articles in how racism can divide a community, but not enough about how those additional differences bring together a different sphere of fandom that is able to pull through and accept even more. That is something I would continue like to research.

For my infographic, I decided to refer back to the Hektor’s Model, as it’s one of my favorite models to describe how fandom can create information behaviors.

There was plenty more that I learned, such as participatory culture and more, but I referred back to the original theory I fell upon, so it’s easier to understand, with steps that we place precise steps to how it matches the Hektor’s Model.

First Step: Seeking

Congratulations – you have found a fandom that interests you. Before you decide to enact more energy as a fan, you decide to research what it is exactly, how the world is created, and how others are participating in it. You realize that you only caught an episode in the middle of a season, or listened to the main single of the album, so the thirst for knowledge is now enacted.

Second Step: Gathering

Now you have done it. You have fully stepped into the beginning of your adventures in this fandom. You are continually browsing to gain more knowledge, and are joining some message boards, looking through and saving the Tumblr tags, and creating your own on Twitter and beginning to enjoy this passage. There is still more to learn, and you cannot wait to do so. Is there fan fiction? Well – that’s another step in the right direction.

Third Step: Communicating

You’re heavily part of this fandom for quite some time and have developed some expertise to maneuver your way into the areas you prefer. Of course, you have noticed the negative, toxic parts of fandom, so you learn to find the people that you prefer to interact with. You may have joined a convention or two with these great people, or you have decided to analyze all the new attention to your idol of choice. You’re now in the thick of it!

Final Step: Giving

It’s been some time, and you are now considered an expert. You have brought in your own friends into this fandom, or you have met new individuals who are learning things. You pass along the knowledge you have, and you’re finally ready for the next step: giving back. Whether it’s art that you’re creating, or writing fan fiction, you are now heavily in the mix. And all is quite all right!

In my research, I happened upon two big fandoms that are gaining speed in the United States, however, are tremendously huge in other countries: soccer and the K-Pop fandom community. I always knew that soccer was a huge, global event, but the K-Pop fandom took me as a surprise.

K-Pop is not new to the majority of the world, but it’s only within a few years that it’s extremely big in the United States. The fan devotion is to the extreme, in which the K-pop fans have even used their voice in activism. As reported to Time Magazine, they are more than just a monolith. For instance, Tamar Herman from Billboard Magazine stated: “It’s not just K-pop fans who are doing this. It’s Black people who are K-pop fans who are doing this, it’s allies who want to support Black Lives Matter who are K-pop fans who are doing this.” They have used their power to help the Black Lives Matter movement, when a Dallas, TX police department asked their citizens to provide videos of protests, back in 2020. Instead of protesting activity, they were able to flood the police scanner with fan videos instead.

However, the fandom does have an issue with fan negativity within the community, using toxic practices against one another. In an article written by Faye Mercier, she writes that toxic fan practices are often discourse and harassment attacks, to instill racist, sexist, and homophobic attacks. When they find someone that is considered a threat to their object their fanning over, there is much discussion about cancelling an individual that is perceived to reflect harm on them. (Mercier, 2022)

As for soccer, it is only recently that research is focusing on the female fan of soccer through social media, and how they are dealing with the nature of their fandom. According to the following article, Segregated femininities? Creating female fandom through social media in Sweden, male fans continue to sexualize female fans as well as the women’s soccer teams, which used to challenge how women would participate in this sport. Once more, just like other fandoms that heavily include women, the question of authenticity is always raised: Who is the “right fan?”

Bruner, R. (2020, July). How K-Pop Fans Actually Work as a Force for Political Activism in 2020. Time Magazine 2020, July 25, https://time.com/5866955/k-pop-political/

Mercier, F. (2022). ‘Maybe if she stanned…’: Reinforcing fan identities and affirming positive fan-object relations through toxic practices in K-Pop fandom. Journal of Fandom Studies, 10(2/3), 199-222. https://doi.org/10.1386/jfs_00063_1

Radmann, A., White, M.H., Hedenborg, S. (2022).  Segregated femininities? Creating female fandom through social media in Sweden. Soccer & Society 23(3), 298-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2022.2037213

Fandoms, libraries and information centers all have one thing in common: we work hard to forge relationships with other like-minded individuals to create a community we can all enjoy. In order to build this bridge, library programming has grown in ideas to feature some of these fandoms. What are some of these fandoms that can easily be featured? Well, most likely, one will think about how mainstream graphic novels and comic books are and can easily see book clubs featuring fan favorites.

However, fandom reaches far deeper than that. You may be part of a fandom for an orchestra and have not missed a performance. Or, you have followed a sports team since a grandparent may have introduced you to it, and it’s now a family tradition to follow this team. If you have found yourself extracting, creating, and disseminating what you have learned from a hobby – then you are in a fandom.

According to Google, just looking through the past year with the search terms of “fandoms in libraries,” you will see how libraries and information centers realize the importance of adding hobbies to their programming. For instance, as recently as of May 2023, Fairfax County Public Library and the Neighborhood and Community Services in Virginia co-hosted an event titled “Library Fandomania.” It invited all fans of comic books, toys, superheroes and more. What was intriguing about this event is that not only did the library work with a community center, but the event managed to provide shuttle buses at the local metro station to help patrons find parking and arrive there.

Within my own personal experience, in August 2022, I was introduced to a new comic book store in a local town, and they alerted me that there was an expo the following weekend. The Mount Vernon Library in New York, hosted the MVPL Comic Expo.

Fandoms are leading the way to programming, and if a library is unsure, they can look through this article Fandoms: Subcultures on the Rise! Or the ALA fandom list to find more information. If there is interest in a writing tutoring session in the libraries, why not add more to  it by introducing a “How to write a graphic novel” portion. You can also converge two or more ideas to one: for instance, the knitting club can create a special assignment to create specific items for a cosplayer. If there’s a big sporting event that is happening after school, providing teens a room to watch this sport and eat snacks can showcase how their neighboring library truly cares about what they would like.

It’s only onwards and beyond, for fandoms in libraries.

The beauty of fandoms is that they can happen anywhere, any time, and perhaps even all at once. A person finding access to their new fandom could just have decided to venture out to a friend’s birthday gathering at a local sports arena. Or a person can decide that they want to know more about what happens at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center during a particular time in October in New York City, when they see multiple people wearing costumes from television shows and comic books lore. The important part is that you have found your new brand of fandom, something that can bring you joy outside of the mundane hours of school, work, and other adult responsibilities. Now that you are here at this point of acceptance and interest, what to do next?

When Women in Fandom Unite:

For women in fandom, finding their community can happen in-person or in a virtual environment. Once you’re in a space that allows you to foster connections between like-minded individuals, your participation as a viewer can intrinsically change to be more involved, even to help with the creation of new parts of the fandom. I am choosing the following information behavior to show the nuances of this: Serious Leisure Perspective, a framework created by Robert A. Stebbins that helps “bring the distinct nature of leisure activities into focus.” (Hartel, Cox, & Griffin, 2016.) Stebbins further describes the three main types of leisure: serious pursuits (focused on learning), casual leisure (requires no training), and project-based leisure, which can take time, work, and creativity to ensure. Hartel also resurfaces the human information behavior model by Anders Hektor. Originally meant to show how useful the Internet can be in everyday life as an information behavior, combined with the Serious Leisure Perspective, it shows the “resulting in a conception of everyday life information behavior that is more holistic than the title implies.” (Hartel, Cox, & Griffin, 2016.)

First and foremost, what constitutes a fan and how do we understand them? A fan is a person who admires a person or a thing: for example, an actor, writer, or a sport. “This interest or admiration…is often the driving force behind the production, consumption, and sharing of information.” (Price and Robinson, 2017.) Once you become a fan, you can be welcome to the fandom of your choice, to discuss, critique and celebrate the community that connects you with many others. While fandoms can occur anywhere, many women have found their way to communities in virtual spaces, especially since there is a heightened risk of misogyny regarding “fan girls” being gatekept away from their choice. ((Price and Robinson, 2017) Thankfully, the rise of social and digital media has helped women find a community that’s right for them, no matter how large or small. As I previously mentioned before, live-tweeting was one way a group of fans can be together in a space to talk about their favorite show in real time. If Twitter wasn’t enough, there are more online spaces by way of blogging (Tumblr, LiveJournal), digital media (Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, SnapChat) and participation can range from just being a viewer to the creation of fan art (fiction, graphics and cosplay) and websites dedicated to the hobby of your choice to spread information (Wikis or community hubs) and goodwill, and more

Using Hektor’s Information Activities:

There are four general modes Hektor’s model: in an inner circle, there are four parts dedicated to information behavior. I will bold these modes and explain how fandom connects with the model:

• Seeking – Once interest is piqued in a fandom, the need to find information begins.
• Gathering – As a fan, you will gather the information you need to keep your interest moving forward.
• Giving – fans are constantly providing content to keep their community ongoing.
• Communicating – the creation of micro social media accounts, blogs, and even wikis or websites, shows how the newfound hobby helps find other interested fans.

These are further expanded by eight information activities, which create an outside ring to the four modes:

• Search and Retrieve – Fandoms include people adept at searching for primary resources to continue their learning of their hobby. I would also include tagging and organizing their finds in fandom as part of this, too.
• Browse – The community will have individuals to find resources of value.
• Monitor – Fans can join mailing lists, check websites, for their fandom.
• Unfold – Fans will spend considerable amounts of time in a day to continue learning their fandom.
• Exchange – Fans will engage and discuss their subject in question.
• Dress – While this can be just keeping an expression of their fandom, I also attribute this to dressing as part of their fandom, aka cosplay.
• Instruct – In most recent times, we have seen fans create incredible materials and theses to help bring a connection to a body of work. For instance, Candice Benbow created a thesis to celebrate Beyoncé’s album, “Lemonade” to “center around the albums themes of Black female empowerment and feminism.” The Seattle Public Library holds the syllabus, too, in a lib guide.
• Publish – the creation of fan work is continuous. Whether it’s by fan fiction, or inspired works, fans continuously use their creativity to help the world-building of their fandom.

References:

Benbow, C. (May 7, 2016). Lemonade Syllabus: A Collection of Worls Celebrating Black Womanhood. The Seattle Public Library Guide. https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/list/share/86922331/744298307

Hartel, J. (2003). The serious leisure frontier in library and information science: hobby domains. Links to an external site. Knowledge Organization, 30(3/4), 228–238.

Hartel, J., Cox, A. M., & Griffin, B. L. (2016). Information activity in serious leisure. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 21(4), Retrieved October 21, 2023 from http://informationr.net/ir/21-4/paper728.html

Hektor, A. (2001). What’s the use: Internet and information behavior in everyday life (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A254863&dswid=-9051

Negrete, Guadalupe, and Tara G. McManus. (2018).”‘Okay Twitter … trend this, sucka! #Supernatural’: A Content Analysis of the Supernatural Fandom’s Use of Live-tweeting.” The Journal of Social Media in Society, 10(1), 162. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A682249897/AONE?u=nysl_oweb&sid=summon&xid=7892210b

Price, L. & Robinson, L. (2017). ‘Being in a knowledge space’:
Information behaviour of cult media fan communities. Journal of Information Science 43(5), 649-664

Stebbins, R.A. (2009). Leisure and its relationship to library and information science: bridging the gap. Library Trends, 57(4), 618–631.

Blog Post #2 – My Information Community: Women* in Fandom

Note: Please note that when I state women, I am including cis and trans women. We are very, very inclusive around here!

Every September, I would recall that usually the first week of school, a pop culture event would occur that you had to watch. The chances of you attending the show were slim, but you knew that you had to watch your favorite celebrities, musicians, and other stars gather at the MTV Video Music Awards. Fascinating enough, the 2023 edition of the awards aired last week. Fandoms on social media were creating posts about gifs, and sending capitalized statements at the speed of light, to support their favorite artists on the show. There was also one of the biggest rumors making its waves, in which older fans like myself, were keeping tabs on: Was this the *NSYNC reunion that would finally promise a new song, album, and/or tour?

The thrill of last week’s event brings back memories of how I would find community with fellow fans in any given fandom from a teen to now. Specifically, women in general. Since the age of 9, the moment I was allowed to be on a computer, I would visit AOL chatrooms that would talk about my favorite artists. These fan chatrooms would include discussions about the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, and more. Eventually, if you are in a chatroom purposely connecting with other users, you would find more fans with similar hobbies, including books, comic books, TV shows, movies, other music genres and more. Some fans would communicate works of art that they have created, including fan fiction or graphics created on DeviantArt. From there you could be introduced to other platforms such as LiveJournal or Xanga, or fan-created Angelfire, Geocities, and Yahoo websites. The Internet may have changed drastically from my preteen – teen years (circa 1997-2005), but fandoms have found more creative ways to connect with each other, from new platforms, podcasts, and conventions (or aptly shortened to cons), and they will continue to evolve.

Number 1: Emphasis on collaboration among diverse information providers.

For instance, imagine your favorite television show and social media before the Covid-19 pandemic. If you were on Twitter (that is crawling to a slow death, thanks E.M.!) and logged in to the time that show aired, you may have found out about live-tweeting. The definition of live-tweeting is as follows: followers are discussing what they are watching, usually including hashtags and retweeting similar opinions or varying ideas, which drastically increases the engagement. (Negete & McManus, 2021) This means free PR to the network airing the event, but it also means connecting with other fans in a more collective way than ever before. You don’t have to go to a friend’s house to watch your favorite shows together to find community; it’s right there at the tip of your fingers.

Number 2: Capacity to form around people’s needs to access and use information
Number 3: Capacity to exploit the information-sharing qualities of emerging technologies.

Of course, there are negative aspects to fandom, but the majority of people joined want to make sure that it is inclusive and we can more accessible to marginalized persons. This is why I’m choosing to focus on Women* in Fandom, to showcase how we are attempting to create a world that can be so. As I mentioned in my previous semester’s blog, there are also websites dedicated to the inclusive, feminist viewpoints of fans, such as The Mary Sue.

Number 4: Ability to transcend barriers to information sharing
Number 5: Capacity to foster social connectedness

Fisher, K. E., & Fulton, C. (2022). Information communities. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services Today: An Introduction (3rd ed., pp. 41-52). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Negrete, Guadalupe, and Tara G. McManus. (2018).”‘Okay Twitter … trend this, sucka! #Supernatural’: A Content Analysis of the Supernatural Fandom’s Use of Live-tweeting.” The Journal of Social Media in Society, 10(1), 162. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A682249897/AONE?u=nysl_oweb&sid=summon&xid=7892210b