From Play to Political Action: Prosumerism on Fanvideo Meme Production

Abstract

Fans are singular productive consumers. One of their typical practices is the production of fanvideos. An increasingly common trend in fanvideos is the creation of memes, a phenomenon of the modern internet related to ironic humor. This study aimed to analyze how fans, based on media texts, related to successful popular culture franchises. For this purpose, we performed an interpretive content analysis of fanvideos based on popular culture franchises posted on YouTube. Results demonstrate that meme fanvideos are made for play with and through the franchises, play dirty tricks, and criticize the politics. It happens by a variety of types of performances and techniques that dialogue both with the fictional universes and with different spheres of social life, often revealing an attitude of social criticism. Nevertheless, this interface makes room for a reproduction of prejudiced practices that target stigmatized identities. This process illustrates the intensive use of information and communication technologies and the ubiquity of the media, as well as the political tensions increasingly present in ordinary social life. These outcomes show how productive consumer behavior collapses with other social spheres when the meaning of products and brands is appropriated and re-signified through skilled creative consumer practices.