{"title":"Time, space, strategy: fan blogging and the economy of knowledge at San Diego Comic-Con","authors":"Melanie E. S. Kohnen","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2019.1627547","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT My essay examines the blogging culture surrounding San Diego Comic-Con. Con-bloggers share desirable strategies for navigating the convention, including access to tickets, hotel rooms, and panels. I argue that con-blogging’s focus on wait times, the convention space, and communal experiences among fans functions as an adjacent yet external “extra” to the industry’s promotional discourse. The popularity of con-blogging demonstrates that fans’ interests exceed industrial offerings. Con-bloggers’ primary fandom is the ephemeral experience rooted in a specific time (four days in July) and space (the San Diego Convention Center), expanding the usual definition of fandom as centering on a media text. Even though con-bloggers’ fandom remains apart from industry buzz, they adopt industrial strategies to promote their blogs, including branding, sponsorships, and swag. The complex economy of knowledge production among con-bloggers reorients our understanding of industry-fan interactions at conventions and beyond.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2020-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/15405702.2019.1627547","citationCount":"4","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Popular Communication","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2019.1627547","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 4
Abstract
ABSTRACT My essay examines the blogging culture surrounding San Diego Comic-Con. Con-bloggers share desirable strategies for navigating the convention, including access to tickets, hotel rooms, and panels. I argue that con-blogging’s focus on wait times, the convention space, and communal experiences among fans functions as an adjacent yet external “extra” to the industry’s promotional discourse. The popularity of con-blogging demonstrates that fans’ interests exceed industrial offerings. Con-bloggers’ primary fandom is the ephemeral experience rooted in a specific time (four days in July) and space (the San Diego Convention Center), expanding the usual definition of fandom as centering on a media text. Even though con-bloggers’ fandom remains apart from industry buzz, they adopt industrial strategies to promote their blogs, including branding, sponsorships, and swag. The complex economy of knowledge production among con-bloggers reorients our understanding of industry-fan interactions at conventions and beyond.