- The University of Leicester announced a conference on Fandom and Religion. “‘Fandom is a major activity today: people’s passions become major commitments, and fans start seeming like religious devotees,’ says Dr Clive Marsh, Director of Lifelong Learning at the University of Leicester, who is one of the organisers. ‘I am particularly interested in researching the intensity with which people exercise their fandom, and how this signals the meaning and purpose that people find in, and through, their fan activity. Functionally at least, this can prove to be very similar indeed to religious practice.’”
- BizCommunity discussed results of a survey of music fans and categorized them by eight ‘Logics of Engagement’. “Music fans engage in their passion differently country by country. For example, the festive culture of Brazilians make them the fans that engage most strongly through the logic of Social Connection (62%), whereas 9 out of 10 Chinese fans engage through the logic of Play. Furthermore, age matters. Young fans aged 13-17 engage the most strongly through Immersion when they listen to music (64%). A majority of fans that are 35 and older engage through the Logic of Exploration (59%).”
- Barnes and Noble was targeting fangirls as part of its Pop Culture events. “Barnes & Noble is calling all fangirls to its stores nationwide for a special Fangirl Friday meet-up…to celebrate fandom. From ‘Potterheads‘ to ‘Whovians‘ to YA Booklovers, there’s a fandom for everyone, and Barnes & Noble is calling all fangirls to unite and visit their local store to enjoy special events, giveaways and more. Cosplay is welcomed. Additionally, while supplies last, customers can pick up the Vinyl Vixen Metallic Wonder Woman, available only at Barnes & Noble.”
- Cosmopolitan discussed an unfortunate overlap between Cameron Dallas fans and porn viewers. “Cameron Dallas is a dreamy, wholesome male Vine and YouTube star who is 20 years old. As is typical of this genre of celebrity, his fans are mostly teen girls. So I found it pretty disturbing last night when those fans started posting tons of selfies for Cameron on Twitter under their fandom name: Cam Girls. Anyone who has used the Internet probably knows what a cam girl is (other than a Cameron Dallas fan, apparently) and if you don’t, I’ll just tell you right now: “Cam girl” is short for “webcam girl,” a woman who strips and does porn via webcam for money. Another fact about cam girls is that — like most other businesses — they often use Twitter to foster a following.”
What strange bedfellows have you seen in fandom? Write about them in Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.
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