• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.47-58
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• 2018

MMORPG started from text-based MUD in the early '80s and had developed a lot of technology to the present. As these technologies evolve, so far, the game has changed in the game centred on male enthusiasts, and the use of players with various tendencies is increasing. As a result, a new phenomenon in the MMORPG virtual space has created. In this paper, MMORPG users are divided into five factors by using Q methodology and studied play about fandom phenomenon. Through this, the player showed the self-expression phenomenon according to the level, and the characteristic that develops from the enjoyment of the gameplay itself to the fandom phenomenon further developed.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.296-305
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• 2019

With the growth of the Korean Wave and the importance of the fandom economy, it is necessary to consider the competitiveness of the Korean Wave with its fandom viewpoint. Particularly, the fandom phenomenon shows the characteristics of identifying the favorite star and actively acquiring and sharing related information in the fan community. Therefore, in this study, we examined the influence of Korean national image on consumers' intention to use Korean contents, and examined the mediating effects of fandom identification among Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese consumers. As a result of the empirical analysis, cultural image, corporate image, and product image were found to have statistically significant influence on the intention to use Korean Wave contents. In addition, star identification and pan community identification showed partial mediation in the effect of cultural images on the intention to use Korean contents. The results of this study suggest that the Korean Wave is a leading factor for the continuous development of Korean Wave, not the halo effect point for improving the national image, and the mediating effect of the fandom phenomenon is tested empirically.

• American Studies
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.133-159
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• 2019

On the website r/NYYankees, a sub-forum ("subreddit") of Reddit is devoted to the Major League Baseball team New York Yankees, with its predominantly male users showing their appreciation for baseball heroes by expressing erotic desires towards the players. When a player performs well, the subreddit is filled with admiration of desires to become the player's intimate lover-explicitly expressed by "male" fans. This paper explains the phenomenon of young male fans' desire for the now-lost model of traditional masculinity of domination and control, displayed in the context of baseball players' dominant performances. The discrepancy between a fan's non-homosexual real-world self and his homoerotic language on the subreddit is explained using the "performative fandom" theory, developed by Osborne and Coombs borrowing Butler's notion of performativity. This paper suggests how this desire for traditional masculinity serves as recognition to the collapse of masculinity in the modern American society.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Child Welfare
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• no.56
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• pp.101-132
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• 2016

Fandom is a meaningful social phenomenon that represents a significant dimension of contemporary Korean youth culture. Previous research, however, has considered fandom as a deviant activity that is negative in nature, and there is scant research on the positive effects of fandom activity. This study examined the effects of off-line and on-line fandom activity participation on adolescents' academic time management capability. Data were collected from three waves (2010, 2012, and 2014) of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (middle school cohort; N=2,206 at baseline). Results from the multi-level growth curve analysis were as follows. First, more than half of the adolescents reported participating in fandom activities, and the majority of them participated in both online and offline activities. Second, adolescents' academic time management capability improved over time. Third, both off-line and on-line fandom activity participation was positively associated with adolescents' academic time management capability at the baseline (first year of middle school). The size of this relationship, however, decreased over time (from middle school to high school). This study presented the importance of appropriate guidance by adults to develop and promote the positive aspects of fandom activity, and highlighted the need for further research that focuses on the positive aspects of fandom activities.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.51-64
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• 2021

Among global K-pop fandoms Chinese fandom is a longtime and very strong consumer power in the K-pop industry due to its adjacent geographical location and low cultural barriers. Yet, there is a significant lack of research on Chinese K-pop fandom; most of what is available is from the producers' points of view. Research that explores the position and experience of Chinese fans, who are both mass audience and consumers, is slow to emerge. Thus, there is a need for systematic and careful study of Chinese K-pop fandom. In this research, we conducted a phenomenological study of the experience of Chinese fans of K-pop culture. We conducted participatory observation and in-depth interviews (including a FGI) with Chinese superintendents and active participants in Chinese K-pop fan clubs and fan pages. We then coded the data, following the theory of fandom developed by scholars such as Fiske (1992), and analyzed the phenomenon of Chinese K-pop fandom from the frame of the overall societal environment. We considered the psychological and behavioral characteristics of Chinese fans and the influences they receive from their turbulent social environments. We also considered the expectations of and opinions on the development of K-pop culture from their perspective. Based on our findings, the significant role and influence of independent fans and interdependent fandom in the development of K-pop culture and industry are identified. Finally, we emphasize that the role as facilitators of K-pop agencies is critical in the establishment of communication and trust between fans, K-pop artists, and the agencies.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.87-94
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• 2019

In this paper, the method of analyzing the unformatted data of consumers accumulated on social networks in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by utilizing data from the service design and social psychology aspects was proposed. First, the fandom phenomenon, which shows subjective and collective behavior in a space on a social network rather than physical space, was defined from a data service perspective. The fandom model has been transformed into a collective level of customer Persona that has been analyzed at a personal level in traditional service design, and social network analysis that analyzes consumers' big data has been presented as an efficient way to pattern and visually analyze it. Consumer data collected through social leasing were pre-processed by column based on correlation, stability, missing, and ID-ness. Based on the above data, the company's brand strategy was divided into active and passive interventions and the effect of this strategic attitude on the growth direction of the consumer's fandom community was analyzed. To this end, the fandom model of consumers was proposed by dividing it into four strategies that the brand strategy had: stand-alone, decentralized, integrated and centralized, and the fandom shape of consumers was proposed as a growth model analysis technique that analyzes changes over time.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.289-304
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• 2018

The fandom phenomenon of political emotion originated from ideological conflicts between the conservative and the progressive amplifies social conflicts in South Korea in interpreting and accepting films as culture media. The purpose of this paper is to examine why the structure of political consciousness in South Korea is fandomized, what is the acceptance of cinema at the center of the controversy of political ideology, and what is the desirable attitude of film reception. I conducted a discourse analysis that closely examined the debates and articles on the internet regarding ,(2013) and ,(2014) which were controversial in terms of conservatism and progressivism. As a result, First, while Korean society has not constituted a consensus on modern and contemporary history, it has easily led the acceptance of cinema to the controversy surrounding the political ideology. Second, the failure of constructing consensual memories of modern and contemporary history has made the conservative and the progressive not acknowledge the other's achievements. Third, film interpretation and meaning production are ultimately the roles of the audience, and on interpretation, diversity should be respected but conformity would be rejected. Film acceptance and interpretation should focus on rational awareness of social reality and would reflect on the social ideal objectively.

• Trans-
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• v.12
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• pp.173-222
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• 2022

This thesis examines the 'universe' acceptance phenomenon, currently used as a content strategy in the K-pop field, from the perspective of K-pop audiences, and then attempts to identify their experience of acceptance and the meaning of the universe. For this, tweets related to the universe acceptance experience of Aespa, the group utilizing the universe as a content strategy the most actively, were collected, and this data was analyzed according to a phenomenological approach, an approach to explore the structure of personal experience and the essence of a phenomenon. As a result of analyzing using Moustakas' method, the semantic structure of the universe acceptance phenomenon of K-pop audiences was derived based on 21 thematic units. It was found that current K-pop audiences are experiencing active cultural consumption rather than unilateral or passive through acceptance of the universe. This means that K-pop audiences have the characteristics of active audiences that produce meaning, interact with other fans, and exert influence on outside of community. At the same time, these characteristics affect acceptance of the universe. Simultaneously, through active acceptance experience, it is found that K-pop audiences give a new meaning in the K-pop universe, as "marketing assets", "fandom community assets", and "K-pop industry expansion assets." Among them, the recognition of 'marketing assets' was reaffirmed as a basis for supporting related previous studies. In addition, it derived the new values of the universe in the K-pop field by discovering the meaning of "fandom's specific assets" and "assets of the K-pop industry for expansion". These meanings had not been found that previous studies from the producers' point of view. And then, for the purpose of expanding the value of the universe in the future, it was discussed the direction of the new meaning of the universe. Finally, this study is meaningful in that it revealed the semantic structure of the universe acceptance phenomenon and discovered a new meaning of the universe in the K-pop field. Additionally, it was intended to contribute to expanding the field of research by suggesting various follow-up studies from various perspectives.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.80
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• pp.115-142
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• 2016

This study aims to reveal the content of and logic behind a recent negative public sentiment toward female idols with the example of a debate over songstress IU's fourth album that was released late last year. While previous studies on fandom have focused on the identification process towards entertainers and making community, a recent phenomenon of "anti-fandom" or "malicious comments" implies that more research is needed on negative emotions such as hostility or schadenfreude (feelings of pleasure from others' misfortunes). Schadenfreude is a social sentiment that originated in modern liberalism, which features contradictions between public equality and private ownership, and that has been intensified in neoliberalism, which features a maximization of this contradiction centering on a meritocracy. Celebrities in Korea often become the targets of schadenfreude, which is associated with the suspicion that they gain popularity not from their abilities but from "just being popular." It should also be noted that this kind of schadenfreude operates differently between male and female entertainers. Specifically, the acquisition of money and fame by modern women whose presence used to be located in the private possessions of males is considered to be due to their unjustified use of sexuality. This is also the background of the recent online misogyny culture in Korea. In this context, IU, who had been successful at building a differentiated image of "sister-like idol artist," became a valid target. Although accusing IU of utilizing pedophilia reflects a stalemate that a current politics of sexual violence faces, it rather damages the name of an individual than attracts public attention to the structural causes of childsexualabuse. This is why I see the way that pedophilia was used in the debate over IU as a schadenfreude. Consequently, the term pedophilia here contributes to an expansion of the entertainment economy that is sustained by rises and falls of the celebrities' stock prices.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.42
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• pp.213-240
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• 2016

The character is not dependent on an original story world any more. It is not limited to it's own story, but gets out and expands the other story with new character, background story, and event regardless of genre and media. The purpose of this study is to analyze why should this phenomenon happen from the media perspective and to build a character storytelling model through the specific examples. With the advent of the digital paradigm the storytelling model is emphasized character storytelling. Character is no longer limited to just one narrative and extended beyond the boundary narrative, media and genre. There are four background. First, disappearance of the big story with the advent of postmodernism and the emergnece of small story. Second, the emergence of fandom culture and charater's liberalization. Third, character as public goods with database. Fourth, changes in author's position. In fact, in the traditional narrative theory there has been discussion about the character all the time. But character storytelling meets transmedia storytelling, discussions were accelerated. The character was preceded by a narrative independent existence. Even if that character has occurred even while leading cause narrative. In this paper, we suggest two model as specific methodology to expand the story world fixed character. One is phychology transition, another is roll transition. This study get the value to build the new storytelling model with digital paradigm.