Fandom Paper: Football Fans

Fandom Paper: Football Fans

Introduction

A fandom refers to the community of fans and interactions through discussions or creative features. Discussions and original work can either take place through written communication or on an online platform. In our day to day living, we encounter different types of fandom. One of the most amusing fandoms is the soccer fandom. Soccer cultures appear to be growing regarding social and historical conditions. The current ideas of all forms of football fandom differ from the past sorts of ideas (Dixon, 2013). Soccer fandom has many benefits to our fast developing countries. Therefore, there is a genuine reason as to why we should embrace soccer fandom.

Soccer is a capital generating organization. It is famous across the world. Logically, it is significant and has many supporters. However, clubs cannot develop without the support from the fans. Every soccer club has its fans. The interest in soccer is growing daily. A soccer club sometimes serves as a media production to many companies. Soccer offers the fans with a club-approved view. Some soccer or football clubs provide free trips to their fans. The fans can move to exciting cities as they extend their celebrations. They see these trips as supportive to their experiences of soccer celebrations.

In many countries, some events focus on the roles of soccer supporters. Over the last few years, it is evident that there is a considerable growth of fan organizations as well as publications. The creation of Football Supporters Association (FSA) has increased the interests of soccer supporters. Soccer supporters feel a sense of accomplishment when their team wins. Additionally, a football supporter poses both loyalty and rivalry characteristics. However, the loyalty and rivalry are situational. They can shift depending on the performance of their team. In most cases, fans wear casual clothes that have the logo of their team. Soccer fandom creates integration among the citizens and is an expression of solidarity and identity.

Online Platforms for the Soccer Fans

Participation in soccer fans in online platforms drives a consciousness of shared temporary dimension. One of the most used online platforms is Facebook as it provides free flow of soccer information. Sometimes, cyber supporters create Facebook accounts to perform events related to soccer. Different club supporters form their own club fan pages. These fan pages are full of gossip and news that concerns their clubs. It takes a short duration for the report to spread.

The spread of such news shows the importance of the Facebook to the soccer community. How the fans behave on the fan page manifests their attitudes towards their team. The Facebook platform enables the supporters to live as a community. In nowadays, meetings in the fields are strengthened by the use of Facebook (Clavio, 2011).

Additionally, Twitter provides a platform for the football fandom (Bruns, Weller, & Harrington, 2014). Three years ago, many teams were not registering their fans and players to any of the twitter accounts. Now, all clubs across the world have their twitter account. In fact, the number of club followers is increasing everyday. The statements with a high number of fan followers are those of prominent players. Research shows that players like Christiano Ronaldo millions of followers on their twitter accounts. The twitter solves the challenge of connecting and reaching many soccer fans.

More so, the rise of Instagram is facilitating the high increase in soccer fandom. Many clubs are using an Instagram platform to compile the data of their fans. In fact, it turns the love of fans to their clubs. Over 1.3 billion of soccer fans possess any of the social media platforms. Instagram has become an essential element of the sports fandom. Moreover, young people watch the games even when bantering with other fans through Instagram. Viewing is easy and fast. It only requires an online click.

Theoretical Framework

The roots of fandom started gaining momentum in the 1960s. The focus of fandom is on the way individuals can interact with the text. Fandom involves the scholarly study of fan community members and how they can identify themselves with and talks about their identity by use of media platforms (Davis, 2015). The experiences that texts provide bring about the primary focus of the fandom. Then, fan cultures are then grouped creating a structure that forms a tight connection.

The term fan comes from a Latin word ‘fanaticus’ which meant, ‘belonging to the temple. However, various definitions can be used to describe the fandom. Some have described fandom as the’ first degree of intensity with which one can relate to the cultural text.’ There are three levels of fan productivity (De Kloet & Van Zoonen, 2007). The first level is the semiotic productivity level. It entails consumption of popular culture through making social identity meanings. It as well entails social experience which is acquired from semiotic resources present in the cultural commodity. There are certain symbols of particular cultures which the fans identify themselves.

There is also the second level of fan productivity known as enunciative productivity (Redhead, 2016). It involves experience sharing as well as the styling of, which, for instance, can involve hair or body outfit. The styling may involve the development of a certain sub-cultural style. There is also a third category called the textual productivity. This level involves the fans having the attitude and culture of circulating or sharing texts among themselves. The texts, in most cases, are crafted with values involved in the production. A good example is the ‘Le Impact de Montreal’ who gather in a particular forum on the monthly basis. They develop various storylines and share multiple experiences and cultural diversity among themselves. Nowadays, the development of modern communication technologies like the internet has facilitated sharing of culture among the fandom (Pope, 2017). Therefore, due to the advance in technology, the textual fan production has globalized significantly.

The soccer fandom is extensive, especially in the United States. Each fan identifies a specific item which he/she supports. In case that particular team wins the match, the fan becomes excited. In case the team loses, the fan becomes annoyed. Therefore, semiotic productivity level is prevalent in soccer fandom. In fact, the fans usually identify themselves with various resources in the soccer arena. For instance, people identify themselves with the symbols and colors of particular teams. The uniforms, banners, and logos of various clubs are the standard material which the fan identifies themselves with. Others love specific players, most probably because of their outstanding performance in multiple matches

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