Fan practices have moved beyond fan communities, shaping political, economic, and cultural life. Social media has blurred the lines between popular and political communication, allowing both progressive and reactionary fandoms to influence the public sphere. The Manchester Game Centre and the Pop Screen Cultures Centre are hosting a symposium to explore these dynamics.

This event is free and is open to everyone, but places are limited. Please book your ticket by clicking the link below:

SCHEDULE

0900 – 0930: Coffees and welcome

0930 – 0945: Introductions, Ben Litherland, Bethan Jones and Simone Driessen

0945 – 1100: Panel 1 – Platforms and politics

• Briony Hannell, ‘The SJW and/as the killjoy: White il/liberal dis/identifications with the social justice warrior within Tumblr fan cultures’

• Adriana Amaral, Giovana Bordini and Guilherme Alves, ‘Deplatforming of Brazilian Stan Accounts on X. Politics and Fan Practices’

• Ben Litherland & Rachel Wood, ‘Platform participatory cultures in climate crisis: Reddit reception of NYC wildfire smoke’

1100 – 1115: Comfort break and handover

1115 – 1245: Panel 2 – Reactions, positions, and polarization

• Mark Johnson, ‘Ideological Tensions between Twitch and Kick: Political Polarisation in Live Streaming?’

• Anthony Kelly, ‘“Received this from a follower”: Ambivalent Fannish Positionalities and Reactionary Influencer Online Content’

• Sebastian Svegaard and Samantha Vilkins, ‘What Taylor Swift can tell us about polarisation’

• Qian Huang, ‘Fandom Nationalism: Participatory Censorship and Performative Patriotis’

1245 – 1330: Lunch

1330 – 1430: Adrienne Massanari, ‘The Shadow Side of Play and Fandom’

1430 – 1530: Coffee, breakout, discussion, further research etc.