Poaching Politics

Booth, Paul; Davisson, Amber; Hess, Aaron T.; Hinck, Ashley

doi:10.3726/b13547

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…First, at the broadest level, our study provides additional evidence that citizens interacting in the public sphere are not only rational; they are affective too. Booth et al, 2018 point out that both Habermas' model of the public sphere and the informed citizen model of citizenship center rationality (Habermas, 1991(Habermas, /1962Schudson, 1998). Yet, scholars like Lauren Berlant (2011), Brian Massumi (2015), and Zizi Papacharissi (2015 argue that the public sphere is affective as well.…”

Section: Conclusion: "I'd Vote For Misha"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Civic culture in the Supernatural fandom: Misha Collins, Destiel, and the 2020 US presidential election

Hinck

Hardin

2023

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Med

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In the 2020 US presidential election, Misha Collins, star of the show Supernatural, endorsed Joe Biden for president and worked to support Biden’s campaign through interviews with campaign surrogates on Instagram Live and by phone banking on Zoom. In this study, we examine how fans made sense of Misha’s political action. While the political science and advertising literature on celebrity endorsements evaluates endorsements by the number of votes earned, we found that fans’ experience of Misha’s political advocacy was far more complicated than that. Our interviews with fans suggest that fans were ambivalent about Misha’s endorsements but enthusiastic about how Misha went about doing politics. Fans described a civic culture they co-constituted with Misha, defined by accepting and caring for other people, being authentic and genuine, and respecting disagreements. Fans described how these values were enacted both inside the fandom (in discussions of LGBTQ representation) and outside the fandom (in the 2020 US presidential election). Ultimately, fandom should be read as an important site of civic culture building—with implications for how fan cultures influence contemporary notions of citizenship, civic values, and political outcomes.

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Section: Conclusion: "I'd Vote For Misha"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Civic culture in the Supernatural fandom: Misha Collins, Destiel, and the 2020 US presidential election

Hinck

Hardin

2023

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Med

Self Cite

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“…Thus, the examination of the practices that demonstrates the actions or performances around these hashtags grants the ability to analyse the co-opting of online discourse and begins to conceive the potential significance of these practices and/or actions in this context. Booth et al (2019) underline this by writing that 'the internet has played an important role in the emergence of new kinds of vernacular discourse. Remix cultures and the ease of replication has enabled everyday noninstitutional individuals to manipulate existing public discourse in new ways' (2019: 4).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

The new normal: Online political fandom and the co-opting of morals

Clue

2023

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Med

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This paper focuses on the under-studied and complex aspect of toxic fan practices by analysing the discourse surrounding the Twitter hashtags #CrookedHillary and #LockHerUp as used throughout the 2016 Presidential Election in the United States. Based on the analysis of these hashtags, the previously ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ type of discourse has been co-opted into what can, arguably, be termed as toxic rhetoric and fan behaviour on Twitter. The results of this paper point to an acceptance by fans of being immersed in toxic practices despite a paradigmatic relocation of what is ‘normal’ towards more unchecked, unethical, and toxic behaviour.

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“…Their shared interpretation allows and invites QAnon adherents to make sense of the ambiguity in a way that supports people’s beliefs about what they see as the corrupt world around them. Per Amber Davisson (Booth et al, 2018), the object of affection hails the fan who was always-already going to be a fan based on their pre-existing feelings and even beliefs. Pre-existing attitudes may incline a person toward a specific object and thus fandom.…”

Section: Qanon Communal Fan Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fans of Q: The Stakes of QAnon’s Functioning as Political Fandom

Reinhard

Stanley

Howell

2021

American Behavioral Scientist

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Affective activation, and the community engagement it fosters, is the driving mechanism of all fandoms, irrespective of the specific “objects of affection” around which they coalesce. These centralized objects of affection may hail from popular culture, such as in the form of sports teams, television shows, cartoon characters, or musicians. As fan scholars have increasingly recognized, fandoms can also emerge around profit-driven brands, specific politicians, and social movements. Much has been said regarding the dangers of the online conspiracy theory QAnon. However, these warnings have tended to overemphasize the rapidly evolving, amorphous beliefs of its adherents, rather than recognize the affective activation propelling the movement. Through its analysis of affect-driven communities, the field of fan studies can be productively applied to investigate the online discursive activities of QAnon community members. Framing QAnon as a fandom elucidates the functions through which the conspiracy theory radicalizes “normies” by exploiting the types of fan activities already well-established in mainstream fan communities. Underscoring the transferability of fan studies concepts to political movements and communities, this exploration outlines the societal stakes of QAnon’s manipulation and normalization of the toxic emotions cohering its adherents into a fanatic community.

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Poaching Politics

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Civic culture in the Supernatural fandom: Misha Collins, Destiel, and the 2020 US presidential election

Civic culture in the Supernatural fandom: Misha Collins, Destiel, and the 2020 US presidential election

The new normal: Online political fandom and the co-opting of morals

Fans of Q: The Stakes of QAnon’s Functioning as Political Fandom

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