Exploring Media Fandom in the Social Lives of Young Adults

Abstract

With the rise of the internet, media has become an integral part of young adults’ lives. Young adults are actively in search of media objects they enjoy and can relate to. Fans across the world share passion and adoration towards media items, such as movies, TV shows, books and bands. This grouping of enthusiasts can be termed as media fandom (Jenkins, 1992, p.1). Media fans are members of subcultures in the sense that they adopt their own linguistic codes and specialized ways of talk, unique forms of greeting and address, and the use of codenames or titles and symbolic forms, including dressing style in some cases (Sullivan, 2019). Based on in-depth interviews of 20 young adults and an online questionnaire of 70 participants, this study seeks to examine the involvement of young adults in fandom and influences of media fandom in their social lives. The findings highlighted that fans promoted and shared their objects of fandoms frequently with their friends and family. Further, participation in fandom included both consuming and creating new media related to fandom. It was found that the participation in fandom debates and discussions was a fairly common activity amongst the fans.