inspired by "convergence culture" (henry jenkins)

The second book on the course syllabus was Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins. At the beginning of the term, when I flipped through it at the bookstore, I was pleased to see familiar names right in the table of contents: Survivor, American Idol, The Matrix, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. In each chapter, Jenkins discusses the consumers' shift towards an active, participatory culture while referencing examples of successful media franchises.


(I think maybe the cover should be an iPhone... or at least a newer iPod).

Anyways, I'm a devoted Harry Potter fan, so I quickly flipped to Chapter 5: Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars. This was an interesting chapter to read; as I said, I'm moderately fanatical about Harry Potter, but also, I worked as the Children's Program Coordinator at a library a few summers ago where I saw some of these issues first hand (and I have an interest in these media-related things... I guess I'm in the right program).

Jenkins discusses two main Potter conflicts, which both limit children's ability to fully engage and participate in the imaginary world created by JK Rowling. First, there was the struggle of (mostly religiously affiliated) people to have the books banned from libraries and bookstores. Second, even though JKR herself has always been a supporter, Warner Bros. claimed that fanfiction and other content (art, podcasts etc.) was unauthorized and infringing on the studio's intellectual property. These conflicts are both driven by the tension between corporations and consumers, or the top-down corporate force attempting to control consumer participation and the bottom-up force of creative consumers.

"Corporations imagine participation as something they can start and stop,
channel and reroute, commodify and market. The prohibitionists are trying to
shut down unauthorized participation; the collaborationists are trying to win
grassroots creators over to their side. Consumers, on the other side, are
asserting a right to participate in the culture, on their own terms, when and
where they wish." p 169

Jenkins shares the story of 13-year-old Heather Lawver, creator of The Daily Prophet (http://www.dprophet.com/), a web-based fictional newspaper about Hogwarts. I checked out the site and it's seems to be inactive now, but to be honest, I'm not that surprised by the accomplishments of this girl and the success of her idea.

Throughout my teens, I frequented Harry Potter forums and was active in the online community. Because of the anonymity the internet provides, it was always hard to tell how old people were by only their writing. You could guess by the quality of their writing or the content they wrote about, but really, Heather is proof that young people can write well.

A girl at this age "leading a worldwide staff of student writers with no supervision to publish a school newspaper that only existed in their imaginations" is an amazing example of the benefits of actively engaging in the world of Harry Potter or anything people are passionate about. With internet access and some free time, she was able to create an clear contribution to HP fandom and share some excellent ideas for ways other fans can actively participate. Also, she was able to expand her knowledge and build on her writing and other related skills.

On this particular fan site, people can construct a fictional identity, which is incorporated into 'news stories'. The creative back stories for each character often hint at potential narratives, and subsequently, these character profiles can fuel fan fiction. In our participatory culture, people begin "composing stories on their own as a spontaneous response to popular culture" (p 178).

Although the movie studio was concerned about their intellectual rights being infringed upon, I think fanfiction serves the positive function of adding to the transmedia story. The international community of fans creating fanfiction, web sites, fan art, music and podcasts should not be seen as a threat to profits; these people are already super fans and likely own all the books and DVDs already. Instead, the online Harry Potter community allows fans to interact and contribute a piece of the story. Especially while fans waited for the next book, these fan sites were important to hype up the books/movies and they gave a place for fans to gather, discuss, and generally maintain their interest in the series.

Many fanfiction sites have a system for beta readers to edit or provide notes; this gives people the opportunity to grow their writing skills and others the chance to share their knowledge by mentoring newbies.This kind of learning can only happen by choice, and the opportunities for this kind of interaction with other fans seems to only be increasing. With the internet, there is the opportunity for niche groups to interact as well as produce and share their own work. Today, people want to do more than just passively watch a tv show or read a book.

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In addition to Harry Potter, I'm also part of the growing fan base for HBO's series, True Blood. Not only is it a great show, it's marketed very well.

Before the premiere, they lauched a viral marketing campaign via an alternate reality game at Blood Copy (Archive). There was a prequel comic distributed to ComicCon 2008 attendees. Also, extra videos and commercials are made available online on the HBO website, Facebook, and myspace. There is a website for the fictional enemy group to vampires, the Christian Fellowship of the Sun with videos and discussion about fictional issues and news from the perspective of this Christian group who believes vampires are too dangerous to be integrated with humans. The youtube channel is amazing. There are over a hundred videos with fictional commercials, news stories, political propaganda and celebrity stories (even sex tapes!). Check out the vampire rights amendment campaign video below:

True Blood is taking world building to a new level. The story is told through various media formats and the success of their approach is undeniable.