Fandom refers to the intense emotional involvement and consumption of particular media texts and artists. There are varying levels of fandom, from casually following an artist online to making significant physical and emotional investments like getting tattoos or traveling to concerts. Fans help build an artist's reputation by defending them online, explaining their work to others, and spreading content through social media to recruit new fans. Extreme fandom demonstrates how media representations have become intertwined with viewers' senses of reality.

1. FANDOM
By Saskia Calliste

2. W is a Fan?
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●Member of their social networking sites and fan
pages
●Someone who travels around the world or
country to see them
●Knowing them, real or reel?
●Someone who defends their reputation
●Buying artist paraphernalia
●Someone who has a physical/emotional
investment in an artist
●A supporter of their music, merchandise and
other talents

3. What is Fandom?
Fandom is a term that is widely debated, so the term tends to
vary.
Cornel Sandvoss says;
'I define the term Fandom as the regular, emotionally involved
consumption of a given popular narrative or text'.
What's been generally dubbed as 'media Fandom is;
'the detailed appreciation of particular media texts- is, for some
people, just as much an aspect of who they are as, say, their class,
age or gender'.

4. 'Hyperreality'
Media theorist Jean Baudrillard says that our 'media is saturated
and the representations that surrounds us become more real to
us than the 'facts' or 'reality' behind the images the media
represents. So the distinctions between reality and
representation is no longer sustainable'.
This explains how a change in a fans media text can cause real
upset and frustration or joy and excitement; for example, when
Harry from OneDirection got in a relationship with Taylor Swift,
fans publically criticised Taylor in Twitter and Facebook. This is
an extreme case of emotional investment to an artist as it can
cause real problems for those who are actually involved.

5. Levels of Fandom
There are different levels of Fandom. Some fans take their
admiration for an artist further than others and can develop
personal connections with an artist whether that can be
physically or emotionally.
An example of physical investment is following bands around the
country to experience their music in the realist way possible, for
these fans music channels and YouTube are simply not enough.
An example of emotional investment is tattooing the artist etc.
on your body as the aftermath of that is permanent. There are
many famous cases of fans getting tattoos of the ones they
admire on them and the one who its of having a very negative
reaction to this.

6. There are fans who are less drastic in their devotion or
admiration to an artist. These fans may see an occasional concert
but show their appreciation of the artist through buying artist
paraphernalia such as T-shirts and posters and buying/paying to
download their music.
Social networking sites also play a big part in the fans admiration
for the artist as it allows them to feel closer to them and 'get to
know them' on a personal level. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube are the most popular for following artists and their
work.

7. Defending And Building an Artists
Reputation
Fans do this through following their work and giving their
feedback on what the artist has produced. Especially on sites
such as YouTube, conflict between fans occurs regularly,
especially when it comes to defending an artist against an
outsider. Fans also take it upon themselves to try and explain the
work of an artist on behalf of them. Many fans leave comments
explaining the works of the media texts for others to respond,
criticise or correct.
Fans with a strong devotion to an artist will further this devotion
by posting their videos of the artist on the fans own social
networking pages. This helps build the artists reputation by
recruiting new fans for them.

8. This is a print screen of
YouTube comments from one
of Professor Green's music
VD. Fans not only comment
on the song but on the looks
and talent of the artist.

9. Images of artists
merchandise and screen
shots of their twitter
pages which includes
what fans have to say
about them.

10. Images of artists
merchandise and screen
shots of their twitter
pages which includes
what fans have to say
about them.