The everyday life of media fans
A deep dive into the inner life of Darth Vader? An 'enemies to lovers' story about Legolas and Gimli? Another ending to Avengers: Endgame? Anything is possible in fanfiction: fan-written stories based on existing story worlds. One of the most popular fanfiction websites, AO3, receives over 500 million visits per month, hosting roughly 16 million works and 10 million users. Most of these users visit the site throughout the day, from a mobile device, following common trends in smartphone use and the pervasiveness of online platforms in contemporary daily life.
Why do people spend so much time and energy on fan practices such as fanfiction? How is the engagement in fictional worlds through fandom entangled with ordinary routines, relationships, and moods? How do fans navigate between fictional worlds, online fan practices, and everyday life?
This dissertation answers these questions based on interviews, diaries, and participant observation among fans. Using an innovative theoretical lens, the study shows how media practices such as writing and reading fanfiction, scrolling through social media timelines, and chatting with online friends contribute to playful moods and experiences that are significant to people. For fans, their engagement in media is a way to bring joy and excitement to everyday grind, to manage emotions, and to develop their identity and relationships. Whereas many cultural commentaries emphasize the dangers of online platforms, social media, and smartphones, this research paints a richly detailed picture of what it means to live fannishly and of how digital media and imagination are entangled and embedded in our daily lives.