Abstract
Falero introduces the site and its members, describing key factors that contributed to Television Without Pity’s success. The site’s large and comprehensive space for television criticism drew members through aesthetically pleasing design and consistent and strict moderation of discussion. Its independence from any particular fandom, the television industry, and traditional television journalism allowed for everyday television viewers to feel comfortable joining discussion. The author also explores how the study was constructed and discusses ways digital communities require a rethinking traditional ethnographic models.
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Notes
- 1.
David T. Cole, personal interview with author, 3 September 2015.
- 2.
Barbara Martinez, “On the Web, a Network of Television Viewers,” Washington Post (12 November 2002), accessed 20 December 2002, http://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/11/12/on-the-web-a-network-of-television-viewers/3760f386-125f-4a32-b94f-545515281233/
- 3.
David T. Cole, personal interview with author, 3 September 2015.
- 4.
Most of the recent statistical information was gathered from site co-founder Tara Ariano’s online resume via LinkedIn, accessed 2 March 2011, http://www.linkedin.com/in/taraariano
- 5.
David T. Cole, personal interview with author, 3 September 2015.
- 6.
Nicole Neroulias, “Couch Potatoes Thrive Online,” Columbia News Service, accessed 20 June 2002, http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2002-03-04/234.asp (site no longer active)
- 7.
I explain more about this turn in Chap. 7.
- 8.
M. Giant, “Interview with Jill Soloway—writer for Six Feet Under,” Television Without Pity, accessed 30 August, 2005, http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/six-feet-under/the-jill-soloway-interview/
- 9.
Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse, eds., Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet, (London: McFarland & Company Publishers, Inc., 2006): 13.
- 10.
Rosengren, K. E., and S. Windahl, “Mass Media Consumption as a Functional Alternative,” in Sociology of Mass Communication, David McQuail, ed. (London: Penguin Books, 1972) 166–194.
- 11.
Kristina Busse, “Fandom-is-a-Way-of-Life vs. Watercooler Discussion; or, The Geek Hierarchy as Fannish Identity Politics,” FlowTV 5.13 (18 November, 2006), accessed 14 November, 2015, http://flowtv.org/2006/11/taste-and-fandom/
- 12.
Kristina Busse, “Fandom-is-a-Way-of-Life vs. Watercooler Discussion; or, The Geek Hierarchy as Fannish Identity Politics,” FlowTV 5.13 (18 November, 2006), accessed 14 November, 2015, http://flowtv.org/2006/11/taste-and-fandom/
- 13.
Nielsen Media Research, “TV Research” accessed 31 May 2010, http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/solutions/measurement/television.html
- 14.
Gavin Polone, “The Folly of Having Focus Groups Judge TV Pilots,” Vulture, last modified 9 May 2012, accessed 21 May 2012 http://www.vulture.com/2012/05/tv-pilot-focus-groups-gavin-polone.html
- 15.
Jason Mittell, Television and American Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 50–51.
- 16.
Ethnographies published in 1992 by Camille Bacon-Smith and Henry Jenkins about Star Trek fan communities found that the creative works of fans, particularly fan fiction not only challenged the ideas of the creators of Star Trek, but also delved into the politics of gender and sexuality. Far from escaping the real world, these fans confronted real world problems all the time in their creative works and through discussions of the program in social groups. Both authors challenged the notion of television as a one-way transmission, insisting that audiences weren’t possessed by the media as argued by Frankfurt School theorists, but rather feel that they possess it, and feel free to use it to tell their own stories. Studies such as these showed that at least some audiences were active, rather than passive.
- 17.
Christine Hine, Virtual Ethnography (London: Sage Publications, 2000), 9.
- 18.
Christine Hine, Virtual Ethnography (London: Sage Publications, 2000),19.
- 19.
Barry Wellman and Milena Gulia, “Virtual Communities as Communities: Net Surfers Don’t Ride Alone, “in Communities in Cyberspace, Marc A. Smith and Peter Kollock, eds. (New York: Routledge, 1999): 169.
- 20.
Claire Hewson, Peter Yule, Dianna Laurent and Carl Vogel, Internet Research Methods: A Practical Guide for the Social and Behavioural Sciences, (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2002): 50.
- 21.
Chava Frankfort-Nachmias, Research Methods in the Social Sciences (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996), 210.
- 22.
Matt Hills, Fan Cultures (London: Routledge, 2002). 174–175.
- 23.
Matt Hills, Fan Cultures (London: Routledge, 2002): 176–177.
- 24.
Malin Sveningsson Elm, “How Do Various Notions of Privacy Influence Decisions in Qualitative Internet Research?” in Internet Inquiry: Conversations About Method, Annette N. Markham and Nancy K. Baym, eds. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2009): 77–85.
- 25.
See the Appendix for a complete list of the message boards I frequented during the study.
- 26.
Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford and Joshua Green in Spreadable Media (New York: New York University Press, 2013): 49.
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Falero, S.M. (2016). “Meet Market”: The Attraction of a Place Without Pity. In: Digital Participatory Culture and the TV Audience. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50000-7_1
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