Audiences and Fandom: Spectacle/Performance Paradigm - Annotated Bibliography Example

Audiences and Fandom: Spectacle/Performance Paradigm (SPP) Introduction The Spectacle/Performance Paradigm (SPP) is a newly established paradigm by Abercrombie and Longhurst (1998), which seeks to address the limitations that are associated with the traditional theories of studying the audience, such as the Incorporation/Resistance Paradigm and the Behavioral paradigm, which recognizes the audience as a passive position (Abercrombie & Longhurst, 1998:144). This paradigm, while trying to address the limitations of identifying the audience as a passive position, argues that there are different types of audience that have been created and which co-exist, categorized as the simple, the mass and the diffused audience (Abercrombie & Longhurst, 1998:144). Therefore, in attempt to establish the motivations for young people to engage in personal photo/video sharing websites, which has made such websites very popular, a study was undertaken in respect to use of Facebook, Youtube and other similar websites. Therefore, this study seeks to analyze the study: Gülnar, B. Balcı, S. & Çakır, V. (2010). ‘Motivations of Facebook, You Tube and Similar Web Sites Users’, Bilig, 54, pp.161-184. The discussion seeks to assess the validity of the Spectacle/Performance Paradigm (SPP), through using the above study as the lens. Discussion How and why the chosen study/piece of research is an example of Spectacle/Performance Paradigm (SPP) According to Abercrombie and Longhurst (1998), there no longer exists a solid identifiable difference between the real world and mediated world, considering that in the contemporary society, the difference is diffusing fast, and a new concept has come about, where everybody in the contemporary society becomes an audience all the time (Abercrombie & Longhurst, 1998:145). Therefore, in the modern day world, being an audience is no longer an exceptional occurrence as happened traditionally. Traditionally, an audience was either simple audience, constituted by the live audience like the theater crowd and the football match fans, or the mass audience, constituting the mediated communication audience, such as the TV viewers (Abercrombie & Longhurst, 1998:144). However, in the contemporary society, the two forms of audience have been overshadowed by the diffused audience, though not replaced by them. Thus, this study, ‘Motivations of Facebook, You Tube and Similar Web Sites Users’, was undertaken to establish the motivations of the young people to use the social media platforms such as the Facebook and the You Tube (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:161). Therefore, this study falls under the SPP paradigm, considering that it is a study that seeks to understand the behavior and motivation of “diffused audience” on the internet, through the application of theoretical framework of the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP) (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:164). The study fits in the category of the SPP paradigm, considering that it studies the audience both as an “agent (uses and gratification) and an outcome (effects and attitude change)”, thus applying the continuum of passive to active audience, which is different from the traditional paradigms that only considers the audience as agent, and thus passive (Hsu, 2007:596). Further, the study suits the example of spectacle/performance paradigm, considering that it foregrounds identity, as opposed to power notion of the traditional audience study paradigms, as the basis of understanding g the motivations of the audience in using the Facebook, You Tube and other social media platforms. Strengths and weaknesses of the paradigm in terms of its ability to accurately assess the actions of an audience and/or fan community According to spectacle/performance paradigm, the diffused audience does not replace the simple and the mass audience, but rather coexists with them (Abercrombie & Longhurst, 1998:145). The diffused audience arises as a result of a media-saturated society, where there is no longer tangible physical space between the performers and the audience, as would happen in both simple and mass audiences. The use of Facebook, You Tube and other similar websites has become so much rampant in the contemporary society, such that there is hardly anyone who is not an audience to these social media platforms. The study ‘Motivations of Facebook, You Tube and Similar Web Sites Users’, has created a different type of audiences, who are motivated by different factors to engage in Facebook, You Tube or other similar media. The use of Facebook, You Tube and other similar websites therefore creates the categories of audiences who are neither present in a ceremony performance nor receive information through mass media, but who are present in every circumstance of the occurrences every time, not as a matter of attending to certain events, but as a way of life (Silverman, 1999;47). According to the findings of the study, there are different motivating factors for young people to engage in Facebook, You Tube and other similar websites. First, according to the findings of the study, the highest ranking motivating factor amongst the students that were interviewed in the study was narcissism and self expression (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:169). This motivational factor is consistent with the concept of ‘diffused audience’ as advocated by the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP). The students posted photos and videos of Facebook, You Tube and similar websites, so that they could increase their familiarity amongst the people using these platforms, and thus they could be known more easily amongst the people. In addition, the students engaged in these social media platforms, so that they could make a nice impression of themselves to the people, allow people to know more about their interests, and establish romantic relationships (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:169). According to the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP), the essential features of ‘diffused audience’ are that; everybody becomes an audience all the time” (Abercrombie & Longhurst, 1998:144). Therefore, the findings of the study confirm the ‘diffused audience’ concepts as advocated under the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP), thus underlining the strength of the paradigm in the study the contemporary audience. The second motivating factor, according to the study, for the young people to engage in Facebook and You Tube, is media drenching and performance, under which the young people are seeking to examine photos and videos since it has become a way of life (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:170). Additionally, under this motivating factor, students were engaged in these social media platforms, so they could feel that they belonged to a certain group, while also being there for the sake of just checking the photo and the video updates regularly. One of the basic tenets of the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP) is that, ‘diffused audience’ are present in every time and not simply as a matter of attending to an event or being part of a ceremony (Hsu, 2007:596). This is the same principle that is depicted by the study, where the young people are engaging in Facebook ad You Tube or other similar websites simply because it has become a way of life, and they need to attend to the practice regularly. In this respect, the media drenching and performance motivating factor confirms the ‘diffused audience’ concept that is advocated by the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP), which provides that the notable and uniquely identifiable feature of the diffused audience is that, they are present all the time, and their presence as audience is a way of life, as opposed to being an occasional attendance (Crawford, 2004:35). The third factor according to the analysis of the motivating factors for young people to engage in Facebook, YouTube and other similar websites is to pass time (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:170). Under the passing time motivating factor, there are more component motivators, such as using photo and video posting and viewing in Facebook and You Tube as a way of spending time on a daily basis. The student young people are interested in these social media platforms, because they are very attractive and colorful. Thus, most of the times the audience spends time viewing the photos and videos posted on the social media platform without even being aware that they are actively engaged in the activity (Hsu, 2007:597). Further, when the students find themselves with no duties or responsibilities to attend to, they simply get into the social media sites where they find all reasons to help them pass time, in addition to keeping themselves entertained with the happenings on the sites (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:171). Therefore, there is a new concept of audiences being engaged all the time, without even any awareness, because it is way of life that cannot be easily done with. This observation from the study also relates well with the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP), which provides that the contemporary audiences are audiences all the times, a concept referred to as the ‘diffused audience’ concept (Ruddock, 2001:51). The strength of the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP) emanates from the fact that, it has been confirmed by this study, under the passing time motivating factor. Information seeking ranked as the fourth motivating factor for the young student engaging in Facebook and You Tube platforms, to share videos and photos (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:172). Under the information seeking factor, the students are engaged in the social media platforms because it offers them a lot of things to see all the time. Additionally, it provides the audience with opinion about many things, since such audiences are constantly following the most popular news and developing stories, so they can be able to form and shape their opinion regarding those issues. The concept of ‘diffused audience’, in the contemporary world allows the audience to participate in all manner of events, not as exceptional audiences, but because they are capable of attending to them all the time (Atkinson, 2005:144). Therefore, the aspect of the students seeking to engage in Facebook and YouTube to for information seeking purposes, serves to make them all time present audiences, since new information and stories are developing every single day, meaning that the students will always be audiences, not because of exceptional events or issues arising, but because they will always be seeking for the new developments which happens every day. This fulfils the definition of the ‘diffused audience’ according to the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP), serving to indicate the strength of the paradigm being confirmed by the study (Atkinson, 2010:77). The other motivation factors that were found to make the young students engage in Facebook, You Tube and similar websites were the maintenance of status, the maintenance of relationships and seeking for entertainment ,respectively (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:173). The process of maintaining a status requires that the individuals are involved in establishing and applying the elements that will constantly promote the status of the individual as they want to portray it to the outside world (Peters, 2009:67). Similarly is the process of maintaining relationships, since when individuals are in a relationship, they cannot help feeling responsible for ensuring that the relationship succeeds, meaning that they will be involved in running it all the time. These two factors are related to narcissism and self expression attributes of the contemporary audience, which under the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP), is a core element of ‘diffused audience’ (Gülnar, Balcı & Cakır, 2010:169). Naturally, people like to be entertained, and it is something that they can seek all the time. This way, entertainment is a factor that keeps the young people as audiences to the social media platforms all the time, as a matter of lifestyle (Myerly, 1992:105). It is through the engagement of the students in maintaining their statuses and maintaining the relationships, that they remain audience to Facebook, You Tube and similar websites all the time, serving to confirm the strength of the spectacle/performance paradigm, since it is an observable factor operating in the contemporary world audience (Hsu, 2007:599). Conclusion The most significant conclusion in relation to this discussion is that; the motivations for individuals to engage in Facebook, YouTube and similar websites is very different from the motivations for the normal use of the internet. This being the case, the study serves to confirm the theory of spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP), by proving that in the contemporary society, it is not only power and elitism that is dominating the audience, but rather more personal constructs and indentify factors, such as narcissism and self expression, as well s maintaining statuses and relationships. Therefore, the study served to confirm the strength of the spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP) and thus affirm the concept of ‘diffused audience’. References Abercrombie, N., & Longhurst, B. 1998. Audiences a sociological theory of performance and imagination. London, Sage. Atkinson, J. D. 2010. Alternative media and politics of resistance: A communication perspective. New York: Peter Lang. Atkinson, J 2005, Conceptualizing global justice audiences of alternative media: the need for power and ideology in performance paradigms of audience research, Communication Review, 8, 2, pp. 137-157. Crawford, G.2004. Consuming Sport: Fans, Sport and Culture. Routledge. Hsu, C. 2007, Staging on the Internet: Research on Online Photo Album Users in Taiwan with the Spectacle/Performance Paradigm, Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10, 4, pp. 596-600. Laughey, D.2012 . Towards Everyday Consumption and Production: Approaching Music Audiences and Performances. Edinburgh University Press. Myerly, S 1992, `The eye must entrap the mind: Army spectacle and paradigm in nineteenth-century Britain, Journal of Social History, 26, 1, p. 105. Peters, J 2009, Drama, Primitive Ritual, Ethnographic Spectacle: Genealogies of World Performance (ca. 1890-1910), Modern Language Quarterly, 70, 1, pp. 67-96. Ruddock, A. 2001. Understanding audiences: theory and method. London [u.a.], SAGE. Silverman, D. 1999. Harvey Sacks: Social Science and Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp 835-865. Read More