Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur fan-aktivistiska praktiker online kan skapa gemenskap bland fans och bidra till social förändring för hbtq-personer. Genom att använda kvalitativ innehållsanalys fördjupar jag mig i åtta artiklar som analyserar fansens engagemang, gemenskap och praktiker, relationen mellan producent och fans samt begreppet bury your gays. Då jag positionerar mig inom fältet fanstudier betraktar jag publiken som en aktiv och kreativ aktör. Det speglar även mina teoretiska perspektiv där jag utgår från begreppen medborgarskap, identitet och publikens taktiker kontra producenternas strategier. Resultatet av studien visar att fansen kollektivt kunde skapa en långvarig och handlingskraftig rörelse för att belysa hbtq-frågor. Då konvergensen och fankulturen utvecklats tillsammans kunde fans förlänga producenternas kulturproduktion och ge utrymme för egenproducerat material som även stärkte fansens identiteter. Slutsatsen blir att producenter har makt över mediet då de kan definiera och konstruera normer men det innebär också att publiken har kontroll över sitt eget formade och tolkande av innehållet. / The purpose of the essay is to investigate how fan activist practitioners online can create community among fans and contribute to social change for LGBTQ people. By using qualitative content analysis, I examine eight articles that analyze fans' involvement, community and practices, the relationship between producer and fans, as well as the concept of bury your gays. When I position myself in the field of fan studies, I consider the audience as an active and creative participant. My analysis also reflect my theoretical perspectives, assuming the concepts of citizenship, identity and the audience's tactics versus the producers' strategies. The result of the study shows that fans could collectively create a long-lasting and effective movement to highlight LGBTQ issues. When convergence and fan culture developed together, fans could prolong producers' culture production and provide space for self-produced material that also strengthened their identities. The conclusion is that producers have power over the medium as they can define and construct norms, but it also means that the public has control over their own form and interpretation of the content.

Sätten att titta på TV-serier har utökats de senaste åren i och med Internets allt mer centrala rolli vår mediekonsumtion. Sverige har gått ifrån att vara ett land med en enda public service-kanaltill ett med ett stort utbud av kommersiella TV-kanaler med syfte att locka tittare och annonsörer.I vår studie har vi undersökt aspekter av TV-serier som ligger utanför själva texten. GerardGenette (1997) var den som myntade uttrycket paratext som består av de två delarna peritextoch epitext. Dock är det Jonathan Gray (2010) som pratar om paratexter i relation till TV-serier,medan Genette (1997) endast beskriver paratexter i samband med litteratur. Eftersom det finnsså många olika TV-serier och TV-kanaler är det viktigt för en ny TV-serie att sticka ut blandmängden, samt att skapa en bild av vilken typ av TV-serie den är innan den faktiskt börjat sändas.Vi har använt oss av tre olika metoder för att kunna besvara våra två frågeställningar som rörvilka epitexter TV-kanaler använder sig av och hurvida det finns ett intresse hos tittare att kunnaengagera sig vidare i en TV-serie. Vår första metod utgjordes av en kvantitativ innehållsanalys avtio svenska TV-serier på fem olika svenska TV-kanaler, där vi främst riktade in oss på epitextersom kan hittas online. Därefter skapade vi en kvantitativ enkätundersökning där 79 respondentersom tittar på TV-serier deltog. Den sista metoden var en kvalitativ innehållsanalys på fyrapopulära svenska TV-seriers officiella webbplatser.Vårt resultat tyder på att det finns ett starkt intresse hos TV-tittare att följa en TV-serie på andrasätt än endast på utsatt tid på TV:n, och även att det finns en vilja att diskutera TV-serier, medsläkt och med vänner, likväl som med främlingar på Internet. Webbplatser för de olika TV-serierna erbjuder besökare möjligheter till både diskussion och vidare läsning om exempelvisavsnitt eller karaktärer. På så sätt skapas ett engagemang som gynnar båda parter. / Ways of watching TV series have increased over the years by way of the ever expanding part theInternet plays in our media consumption. Sweden has gone from being a country with a singlepublic service channel to one with a wide range of commercial TV channels with the purposeto attract viewers and advertisers. In our study we have examined aspects of TV series that existbeyond the text itself. Gerard Genette (1997) was the one who coined the expression paratextwhich consists of two parts; peritext and epitext. Though Jonathan Gray (2010) is the one whowrote about paratexts in relation to TV series, whereas Genette (1997) only describes them interms of literature. Because there are so many different TV series and television channels it isimportant for a new series to stand out from the rest, while also making it easy for potentialviewers to determine the show’s genre even before it has started airing. We have used threedifferent methods to be able to answer our two main questions about what different epitexts TVchannels use and whether there is an interest among viewers to be able to engage themselvesfurther in a TV series. Our first method consisted of a quantitative content analysis of tenSwedish TV series from five different Swedish television channels, where we mainly looked atepitexts found online. After this we made a quantitative survey in which 79 people who watchTV series took part. Our last method used was a qualitative content analysis of the officialwebsites of four popular, Swedish TV series.The result of our study shows a strong interest among viewers to follow a television seriesbeyond its regular broadcasting on television, and also that there is a will to discuss TV series,among family and friends, as well as with strangers found online. Websites of the different TVseries give visitors possibilities for discussion and further reading about, for example, episodesand characters from the show. In this way an involvement that benefits both parties is created.

Denna studie har fokuserat på villkor, kontroll och reglering av den barnkulturella platsen Schoolforgoodandevil.com och hur den tänkta målgruppen av barn rör sig inom platsen och dess rum. Genom användandet av en netnografisk metod har studien gått i dialog med platsens rum med hjälp av Foucaults heterotopiabegrepp samt barndomsgeografi för att påvisa hur diskursiva praktiker som kretsar kring barnet har påverkat uppbyggnaden av platsen och hur användarna tillåts nyttja dess rum. Anonymisering och censur har varit den främsta taktiken för platsens uppehållande av barnets ”säkerhet”. I analysen används även en social nätverksanalys som är en netnografisk metod för att deskriptivt analysera användarnas dialog för att undersöka förhållning till platsen regler, villkor och kontroll. Studien kommer fram till att målgruppen och positionen av platsen, det vill säga barnet respektive det digitala rummet, var den främsta påverkande faktorn i dess uppbyggnad, regler och kontroll.

Die ‚’Twilight’‘-Saga der Autorin Stephenie Meyer, welche die Geschichte von dem Vampir Edward und seiner menschlichen Geliebten erzählt, hat eine neue Phase des Vampir-Genres eingeläutet. Fernab von gesellschaftlich verankerten Mythen um die geheimnisvollen und gefährlichen Blutsauger, kreiert die Autorin ein neues Vampirbild. Das einst rücksichtslose, egoistische Monstrum ist gezähmt und tritt in Form eines aufopferungsvollen Liebhabers in Erscheinung. Für die Zielgruppe, weibliche Teenager und junge Erwachsene, ist Edward, der Prototyp des neuen Vampirs, schnell zum Idol avanciert. Rund um die ‚’Twilight’‘-Saga hat sich somit eine riesige, internationale Fangemeinschaft gebildet, die vorwiegend über das Internet den Vampirismus-Diskurs zum populärkulturellen Gegenstand werden ließ. Die neue Vampir-Begeisterung stellt jedoch nur den vorläufigen Höhepunkt einer langen Genre-Geschichte dar. Bereits seit der Entstehung des Vampir-Glaubens übt der Mythos vom blutsaugenden Wesen eine enorme Faszination auf die Menschen aus. Grund dafür ist seine Anlehnung an menschliche, meist tabuisierte Bedürfnisse und Wünsche, die mit Hilfe der Vampir-Metapher zum Ausdruck gebracht werden können. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit soll es sein, die Entwicklung des Vampir-Genres und seine Funktionen im Rahmen gesellschaftlicher Kontexte nachzuzeichnen. Zu diesem Zweck erfolgt zunächst ein kurzer Überblick über die Entstehung des Vampir-Mythos und eine Charakterisierung des ‚klassischen‘ Vampirs, wie er im Volksglauben verankert ist. Im Anschluss soll das Vampir-Genre als multidimensionales und historisch variables Genre analysiert werden. Der Schwerpunkt der Betrachtung liegt hierbei auf dem Vampirfilm, welcher sich im Laufe seiner Entwicklung vom Sub-Genre des Horrorfilms zum zielgruppenspezifischen Unterhaltungsmittel ausdifferenziert hat. Abschließend erfolgt eine Skizzierung der aktuellen Vampir-Begeisterung, welche durch die Verfilmung der ’Twilight’-Romane von Stephenie Meyer ausgelöst wurde.:1 Einleitung...1 2 Vampir-Mythos…2 2.1 Der abendländische Vampir...2 2.2 Herkunft und Entwicklung des Vampir-Begriffs...3 2.3 Der Vampir im Menschen…3 3 Das Vampir-Genre…4 3.1 Einflüsse…4 3.1.1 Fantasy…5 3.1.2 Horror…8 3.1.3 Mystery…11 3.2 Charakterisierung…14 3.3 Der Vampirfilm…15 3.3.1 Versuch einer formalen Einordnung…15 3.3.2 Funktionen…17 3.3.2.1 Der Vampirfilm als Spiegel der Gesellschaft…18 3.3.2.2 Die Vampir-Metapher und Sexualität…19 3.3.3 Zielgruppe…20 4 Der gesellschaftsfähige Vampir als popkulturelles Phänomen...21 4.1 Die ‚Twilight‘-Saga: Ursprung eines Vampir-Hypes…21 4.2 Das neue Vampirbild…21 4.3 Der Fan als ‚Opfer‘…23 4.4 Vampirismus und Populärkultur…24 5 Fazit und Ausblick...26 6 Literaturverzeichnis…27 7 Eidesstattliche Erklärung...30

With the rise of Hallyu, or the global export of Korean culture also commonly known as ‘The Korean Wave’, South Korea has become a big trendsetter in recent years: whether it be within fashion and K-Beauty skincare or Korean movies and drama series, to Korean popular music, also known under the umbrella term K-pop. What these categories have in common are their strong ties to visual aesthetics and K-pop is known for its very colourful and maximalist design, which is also a key characteristic to why K-pop as a phenomenon has been particularly attractive and has managed to captivate fans all over the world. In the marvelling K-pop universe, the goal is to engage all the senses for a complete and interactive sensory experience, making the visual just as important as the auditory, and this can also be applied to the physical album design. Physical K-pop albums sell better than ever despite the digital streaming services dominating our digital age. A visual analysis was conducted on selected contemporary K-pop albums together with a survey on Swedish K-pop fans, in order to discuss how packaging design of K-pop albums can influence consumer behavior. The study showed that interactive packaging design and extra album inclusions like photocards, photo books, postcards etc. makes the fans more likely to want to collect albums and merchandise, which on its own can be viewed as a collectible item. The packaging design both facilitates and encourages fans to interact with the design not only visually, but also in a tactile way, by engaging in participatory behavior such as filming unboxing videos and posting them on social media, and it can also be associated with identity making, i.e. how they identify themselves as fans in relation to their favorite artists or towards other fans. Lastly, it is interesting to discuss how K-pop design can be heavily influenced by American and Western concepts despite being marketed as a Korean phenomena and innovation; from the visual analysis it could also be concluded that contemporary design trends draw inspiration from Western concepts such as the y2k millennium bug, retro and technology.

The overall purpose of this essay, “‘I really hope you guys are enjoying this. Thank you so much for watching!’ - a qualitative and quantitative study of the interaction between YouTubers and their audience", is to study how YouTubers that play and comment video games interact with their audience, what kind of response these YouTubers receive and the interaction between viewers and fans in these YouTubers comment sections. This essay also studies if there is a difference between the response female and male YouTubers receive. The study is based on theories about fan culture, participation culture, collective intelligence, feminism and gender. A quantitative content analysis has been used to analyze 600 comments on six YouTube videos uploaded by six different YouTubers. The purpose of the quantitative analysis was to see what content of the comments most often occur as well as if the comment showed a positive, negative or neutral view of the YouTuber. The result of the quantitative analysis was used as a base for a qualitative critical discourse analysis, which also studied how the YouTubers behaved in the videos. The results of this study showed that the YouTubers mostly received positive comments about their personalities and their YouTube channel. They mostly received negative comments about the way they play the game. The female YouTubers received more negative comments than the male YouTubers, who in turn received more positive comments. The study also showed that YouTubers interact by talking directly to the audience and looking into the camera, by using the word “we” when talking about how they play the game as if they are playing with the audience, by asking the audience questions and by answering comments that the YouTubers have received. The YouTubers engage their audience by using strong expressions and by playing the game during a livestream. The YouTubers’ fans engage and interact by showing appreciation of the YouTubers and defend the YouTubers when they receive negative comments in the comment section of their videos. These ways which YouTubers interact with and engage their audience can be seen as part of a discourse about interaction and engagement online.

With the rise of Hallyu, or the global export of Korean culture also commonly known as ‘The Korean Wave’, South Korea has become a big trendsetter in recent years: whether it be within fashion and K-Beauty skincare or Korean movies and drama series, to Korean popular music, also known under the umbrella term K-pop. What these categories have in common are their strong ties to visual aesthetics and K-pop is known for its very colourful and maximalist design, which is also a key characteristic to why K-pop as a phenomenon has been particularly attractive and has managed to captivate fans all over the world. In the marvelling K-pop universe, the goal is to engage all the senses for a complete and interactive sensory experience, making the visual just as important as the auditory, and this can also be applied to the physical album design. Physical K-pop albums sell better than ever despite the digital streaming services dominating our digital age. A visual analysis was conducted on selected contemporary K-pop albums together with a survey on Swedish K-pop fans, in order to discuss how packaging design of K-pop albums can influence consumer behavior. The study showed that interactive packaging design and extra album inclusions like photocards, photo books, postcards etc. makes the fans more likely to want to collect albums and merchandise, which on its own can be viewed as a collectible item. The packaging design both facilitates and encourages fans to interact with the design not only visually, but also in a tactile way, by engaging in participatory behavior such as filming unboxing videos and posting them on social media, and it can also be associated with identity making, i.e. how they identify themselves as fans in relation to their favorite artists or towards other fans. Lastly, it is interesting to discuss how K-pop design can be heavily influenced by American and Western concepts despite being marketed as a Korean phenomena and innovation; from the visual analysis it could also be concluded that contemporary design trends draw inspiration from Western concepts such as the y2k millennium bug, retro and technology.