{"title":"Virtual community participation as “Sirius” Leisure","authors":"Robin D. Lizzo, T. Liechty","doi":"10.1080/16078055.2022.2127867","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of participation and engagement among participants of a fandom-based virtual community. Netnography, a specialized from of ethnography adapted to the unique computer-mediated environment, was utilized to analyze posts collected from the Hogwarts Running Club (HRC), a closed Facebook group. The HRC was a virtual community with over 16,000 members that was founded in 2014 to provide a space for members to share stories, experiences, and passion for running and Harry Potter. The text of the collected posts was coded thematically. Four themes emerged: You’re a Wizard Harry: Shared Passion for Harry Potter, Running in the Rain: Engagement Despite Challenges, Hogwarts is Home: Identity, and Pepper-up Potion: Improvements in Mental and Physical Health and Well-being. As a conceptual framework, the themes aligned with the Serious Leisure Perspective. HRC members whose posts were analyzed exhibited one or more of the six characteristics of Serious Leisure with all six characteristics being represented within the dataset. Findings suggested that virtual communities, as a leisure setting, can facilitate Serious Leisure engagement and should be considered a viable setting for Serious Leisure participation.","PeriodicalId":45670,"journal":{"name":"World Leisure Journal","volume":"65 1","pages":"45 - 62"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"World Leisure Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/16078055.2022.2127867","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of participation and engagement among participants of a fandom-based virtual community. Netnography, a specialized from of ethnography adapted to the unique computer-mediated environment, was utilized to analyze posts collected from the Hogwarts Running Club (HRC), a closed Facebook group. The HRC was a virtual community with over 16,000 members that was founded in 2014 to provide a space for members to share stories, experiences, and passion for running and Harry Potter. The text of the collected posts was coded thematically. Four themes emerged: You’re a Wizard Harry: Shared Passion for Harry Potter, Running in the Rain: Engagement Despite Challenges, Hogwarts is Home: Identity, and Pepper-up Potion: Improvements in Mental and Physical Health and Well-being. As a conceptual framework, the themes aligned with the Serious Leisure Perspective. HRC members whose posts were analyzed exhibited one or more of the six characteristics of Serious Leisure with all six characteristics being represented within the dataset. Findings suggested that virtual communities, as a leisure setting, can facilitate Serious Leisure engagement and should be considered a viable setting for Serious Leisure participation.
期刊介绍:
As the official journal of the World Leisure Organisation, the purpose of the World Leisure Journal is to stimulate and communicate research, theory, and critical thought in all areas that address leisure, including play, recreation, the arts and culture, sport, festivals, events and celebrations, health and fitness, and travel and tourism. Empirical and theoretical manuscripts, as well as position papers, review articles, and critical essays are published in the World Leisure Journal . The World Leisure Journal is international in scope, and encourages submissions from authors from all areas of the world. Comparative cross-national and cross-cultural research reports are especially welcome. For empirical papers, all types of research methods are appropriate and the subject matter in papers may be addressed from perspectives derived from the social, behavioural, and biological sciences, education, and the humanities. Both pure and applied research reports are appropriate for publication in the World Leisure Journal . In addition to original research reports and review essays, book reviews, research notes, comments, and methodological contributions are appropriate for publication in the World Leisure Journal .