Publikationsserver der UB Marburg
Not a member yet
601 research outputs found
Sort by
Tumblr Repair Work: Broken World Confessions, Elections, and Meltdowns
No full textThis paper analyzes the actions and attitudes of Tumblr users as a form of repair (cf. Jackson 2014) integral to the continued inhabitation of the platform in the wake of multiple waves of population and de-population. Qualita-tive interviews conducted in 2021-2022 are paired with multimodal discourse analysis of selected Tumblr metafandom trends (Tumblr posts about Tumblr) referencing significant moments in recent Tumblr history. First, on -November 5, 2020, users fervently discussed the United States Presidential Election and Castiel confessing his love for Dean Winchester on Supernatural (2005-2020). This moment has lived on, especially through the ‘breaking news‘ meme format generated from still images from the episode. Second, in February 2024, Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and by extension Tumblr, publicly engaged with allegations of transphobic moderation occurring on the platform in a way that was characterized as ‘having a meltdown,‘ leading to fan art production depicting various ‘scenes‘ from the incident. Third, on April 1, 2024, Tumblr’s yearly April Fool’s feature allowed users to ‘boop‘ one another by hitting a button on other users’ posts. The booping feature was generally well-regarded, and users both lamented the loss of the button and reminded others that the ‘like‘ and ‘reblog‘ features should be utilized more often going forward. The metafandom content under discussion, originating both before and after the interview period, echoes participants’ responses that continuing to create and share content on Tumblr some fifteen-plus years after its initial launch requires labor and repair, not innovation. The platform is in a state of disrepair and depends on user intervention to continue to function. However, this is repair work that users found worth the effort, as Tumblr continued to be their preferred social media experience when assessing alternatives
Moods, Meanings and Mediation: Internet Aesthetics as Postdigital Fan Practice
No full textThis article explores internet aesthetics (visual and narrative systems like cottagecore or dark academia) as dynamic sites of participatory fan culture and affective identity work in the postdigital condition. Originating in platform cultures, internet aesthetics function as symbolic infrastructures through which users imagine, perform, and negotiate alternative selves and possible worlds. Drawing from affect theory, fan, and media aesthetics, the article develops a conceptual framework that repositions internet aesthetics as a form of productive fandom: one that centers on mood, atmosphere, and shared sensibility rather than linear narrative or character-based identification. The article examines how meaning is generated through curatorial, contemplative, and performative engagement and argues that internet aesthetics facilitate collaborative world-building practices in which users co-create aesthet-ic environments that traverse platform boundaries and blur the lines between digital, analog, and imaginary spaces. Central to this analysis is the notion that fandom operates not only through textual consumption but through embodied affect and cultural participation. The article’s main goal is to establish internet aesthetics as a significant object of inquiry within fan and media studies. Far from being superficial or transient trends, they are affective, social, and symbolic practices that enable users to articulate belonging, envision alternative futures, and navigate contemporary formations of subjectivity. In doing so, they reveal the cultural labor fandom performs in a digitally saturated, algorithmically shaped, and increasingly post-individual world
Wissensverhandlungen von Anime-Fans: Die genre-deconstruction-Diskussion auf YouTube
No full textIn der Anime-Fancommunity außerhalb Japans nimmt spezifisches Wissen zu Japan und Anime eine wichtige Stellung ein. An digitalen Knotenpunkten der Community finden dabei Wissensverhandlungen statt, die unter anderem der Abgrenzung von Anime als distinkte kulturelle Kategorie und der Identitätsbildung der Community dienen. Ein Beispiel für solch einen Prozess der Wissensverhandlung ist der Fan-Diskurs zum Begriff genre deconstruction, der bei der Besprechung der Anime-Serie Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011) aufkam. Unerfüllte Zuschauer:innenerwartungen, geleitet durch die Verortung der Serie innerhalb des medienspezifischen magical-girl-Genres, brachten Anime-Fans dazu, den Begriff zu nutzen, um den besonderen Umgang des Werks mit seinem Genre zu benennen. Er avancierte zum Fachjargon der Anime-Fancommunity und bestimmte zahlreiche Diskussionen auf Plattformen wie YouTube.
Mittels einer qualitativen Analyse relevanter Videobeiträge soll gezeigt werden, welche Rolle der wissenschaftliche Ursprung des Begriffs spielte, wie seine Definition und Anwendung verhandelt wurden sowie welche Wertungen und Hierarchien mit ihm verknüpft wurden. Es lässt sich zeigen, dass der Begriff (genre) deconstruction, angelehnt an eine strukturalistische Auslegung von Genre, zunächst verbreitete Anwendung auf verschiedene Werke fand. Eine darauffolgende Übersättigung aber resultierte bei unkritischer Anwendung in negativer Sanktionierung durch andere Fans. Der Begriffsgebrauch war daraufhin nur mit konkreter Argumentation möglich, wobei vielfach auf den Begriffsursprung bei Jacques Derrida rekurriert wurde. Genre deconstruction wurde meist als Wertindikator genutzt, zum Beispiel in der Einteilung von Werken in high und low culture. Eine Anwendung des Begriffs auf Puella Magi Madoka Magica geschah in Abgrenzung zur Konzeption des magical-girl-Genres – beispielsweise durch Charakterisierung des Werks als ‚realistisch‘ – und wurde vor allem von männlichen Zuschauern als Legitimationsstrategie des eigenen Fandoms genutzt. Der Gebrauch des deconstruction-Begriffs in der englischsprachigen Online-Anime-Fancommunity eignet sich gut als Fallstudie zur Darstellung der Formen und Prozesse von Wissensverhandlung in dieser knowledge community, die vorherrschende Dynamiken innerhalb derselben illustriert
Critical Role Learning: Watching Livestreams as Socio-Cultural Learning
No full textDungeons & Dragons (D&D), as a tabletop pen-and-paper game, requires new players to learn the detailed and long rules in order to engage according to expectations. But it is not only the mechanical rules of the game that players need to learn, but also the social way to act at a D&D table: how to call out rolls, what is appropriate to ask, how a typical game runs, how to play a character, and what D&D broadly is. This paper researches the cultural and social mechanisms through which new players learn these rules with a focus on D&D-focused livestreams. Using symbolic interactionism, Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), and the third season of the popular D&D web series Critical Role (2015-), this research argues that these livestreams are a core way for new players to easily and -effectively learn the mechanical and social rules of the game in an entertaining environment
Book Review: Kyle A. Hammonds: Interpreting and Transmitting Kynicism in Joker: The Dark Side of Film Fandom
No full text
