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SuperWhoLock: An Analysis of Subculture in a Microblogging Setting

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Date Issued:
2016
Abstract/Description:
While subcultural research has always been a common focus of sociological research, most such studies focus on deviant subcultures. This has led to a glut of information on countercultures and criminal subcultures, but relatively little study of less visible subcultures. While there is a great deal of research on the sociology of sport, including sport fandom, there is very little on other fandom subcultures. While this makes sense, as they are niche subcultures, the popularity of formerly niche entertainment is expanding rapidly. Much of this fandom renaissance owes its existence to the Internet, and its ability to bring geographically separate individuals together into communities of interest. This exploratory study examines a particularly niche fandom, the crossover fandom of Sherlock, Doctor Who, and Supernatural on Tumblr, a popular microblogging site. Though the site lacks tools for formal organization of such groups, it nonetheless gave rise to a unique fan subculture. Through a content analysis of posts sampled from the (")SuperWhoLock(") tag on Tumblr, this study attempts to understand both how subculture manifests in a social blogging setting, and what the reason is for the creation of this particular crossover subculture. Results show that subcultural markers such as image, argot, and shared values can be found online, though in necessarily different forms. The results also suggest that shared values strongly contributed to the creation of this crossover fandom, and may be stronger contributors to fandom community creation in general than expected.
Title: SuperWhoLock: An Analysis of Subculture in a Microblogging Setting.
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Name(s): Short, Dean, Author
Grauerholz, Liz, Committee Chair
Carter, Shannon, Committee Member
Anthony, Amanda, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2016
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: While subcultural research has always been a common focus of sociological research, most such studies focus on deviant subcultures. This has led to a glut of information on countercultures and criminal subcultures, but relatively little study of less visible subcultures. While there is a great deal of research on the sociology of sport, including sport fandom, there is very little on other fandom subcultures. While this makes sense, as they are niche subcultures, the popularity of formerly niche entertainment is expanding rapidly. Much of this fandom renaissance owes its existence to the Internet, and its ability to bring geographically separate individuals together into communities of interest. This exploratory study examines a particularly niche fandom, the crossover fandom of Sherlock, Doctor Who, and Supernatural on Tumblr, a popular microblogging site. Though the site lacks tools for formal organization of such groups, it nonetheless gave rise to a unique fan subculture. Through a content analysis of posts sampled from the (")SuperWhoLock(") tag on Tumblr, this study attempts to understand both how subculture manifests in a social blogging setting, and what the reason is for the creation of this particular crossover subculture. Results show that subcultural markers such as image, argot, and shared values can be found online, though in necessarily different forms. The results also suggest that shared values strongly contributed to the creation of this crossover fandom, and may be stronger contributors to fandom community creation in general than expected.
Identifier: CFE0006395 (IID), ucf:51510 (fedora)
Note(s): 2016-08-01
M.A.
Sciences, Sociology
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Subculture -- Fandom -- Media -- Online
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006395
Restrictions on Access: public 2016-08-15
Host Institution: UCF

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