Elleke

Fandom as free Labor notes.

Fan derives from fanaticus; omgiastic rites and enthusiastic frenzy

A lot of people/fans have via internet a way of communicating a platform on which they can post commentary etc. The abundance leads to a decrease of value and importance.

But the fans profuse contributions to the internet can be regarded free labor because even though it is unacknowledged it's a form of publicity. The question we have to ask ourselves is should the fan be compensated for his or her labor.

Fandom is active production. Objects are signifiers of style the normative society. Affinity a group forms a new context for an object and redefines it. Affinity groups invest time and effort into making objects represent the groups collective identity. Hereby increasing the market value because it becomes an object of worth for a certain group.

Thornton: taste culture preference for people with similar taste, they make up their own ethics and values. Cultural hierarchies.

In fandom there's a whole community that initiates and teaches the newcomers the hierarchal values, belief system and codes.

Social dimension of fandom the community endows objects value by creating associations of pleasure etc.

Fascination/frustration Fans experience a duality in emotion towards their “object” of interest. They feel fascinated and adoration but on the other hand frustration. Antagonism is the motivation to make the fan produce new versions. This is the basis of their social interaction. The fan feels the object is not complete or perfect in itself otherwise fans would not want to change it. They see the unrealized possibilities.

Fans and exchange value. Fans are essential components of the capitalist system within which official producers operate. The fans are an important part of the capital system in which official producers operate. There's an ambiguity to this system; while the fans have expressed hostility towards the commercialization of objects although they themselves play a great role in the added value of an object.

The selling of “products” is frowned upon by the society of fandom, because of their non consumerist point of view. They do not seem to acknowledge the time and work they put into the making of a “products” and thus do not seek compensation. Not only do fans create but they also update products by commenting, adding stories, videos etc.

Internet exists on an excessive amount of labor of which a great deal still is free labor. The labor is self-imposed (self exploitation even) and comes with a pleasure of communication and exchange.

Fan compensation Digital economy relies on unpaid generated labor. However there are some fans that do benefit from their labor (bloggers video makers etc.).