The internet has evolved since the late 1990s from text-based technology to the multimedia and visually communication technology of today. During the 1990s, television fans adopted social media such as Usenet newsgroups to communicate with like-minded people, thus participating in the construction of audience community of practice (Baym, 2000). In the 2000s the reach of the extended to a much broader public and social media such as web forums, blogs and social network sites became popular among young people. Adopting and adapting social media, young people are now participating in the construction of networked publics (Ito, 2008; boyd, 2008) that are both digital social spaces and imagined communities. These technological and social changes are affecting the way television fans consume media products, communicate with like-minded people and participate in the construction of collective identities. In fact, fan cultures are evolving from site-based communities to a networked collectivism (Baym, 2007). To investigate how Italian television audience participate in networked publics I conducted ethnographic research on the networked collectivism that emerged around US TV series, using the case of the community of Italian Subs Addicted (ItaSA). ItaSA is a fan organization that produces amateur subtitles (fansubs) for US TV series. ItaSA developed a Web 2.0 portal with a web forum and chat channels where Italian fans can interact. Staff members are young adults who work in teams to produce subs without expecting monetary reward. Their products are consumed by a young audience that is not satisfied by Italian national television which broadcasts a dubbed version of the US TV series long after the US distribution. The aim of this paper is to describe how members of the generation Post (Cohort 1979-1991), by adopting and adapting technologies and media content to fulfil spectatorship needs that are no longer satisfied by national broadcasters, participate in the construction of a generational imagined community in the networked publics.
“Lost” (and Found) in Transculturation. The Italian Networked Collectivism of US TV Series and Fansubbing Performances
VELLAR, Agnese
2011-01-01
Abstract
The internet has evolved since the late 1990s from text-based technology to the multimedia and visually communication technology of today. During the 1990s, television fans adopted social media such as Usenet newsgroups to communicate with like-minded people, thus participating in the construction of audience community of practice (Baym, 2000). In the 2000s the reach of the extended to a much broader public and social media such as web forums, blogs and social network sites became popular among young people. Adopting and adapting social media, young people are now participating in the construction of networked publics (Ito, 2008; boyd, 2008) that are both digital social spaces and imagined communities. These technological and social changes are affecting the way television fans consume media products, communicate with like-minded people and participate in the construction of collective identities. In fact, fan cultures are evolving from site-based communities to a networked collectivism (Baym, 2007). To investigate how Italian television audience participate in networked publics I conducted ethnographic research on the networked collectivism that emerged around US TV series, using the case of the community of Italian Subs Addicted (ItaSA). ItaSA is a fan organization that produces amateur subtitles (fansubs) for US TV series. ItaSA developed a Web 2.0 portal with a web forum and chat channels where Italian fans can interact. Staff members are young adults who work in teams to produce subs without expecting monetary reward. Their products are consumed by a young audience that is not satisfied by Italian national television which broadcasts a dubbed version of the US TV series long after the US distribution. The aim of this paper is to describe how members of the generation Post (Cohort 1979-1991), by adopting and adapting technologies and media content to fulfil spectatorship needs that are no longer satisfied by national broadcasters, participate in the construction of a generational imagined community in the networked publics.
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