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In 2012 library and museum professionals from 24 different countries met in Salzburg, Austria for the Salzburg Global Seminar. The seminar was entitled Libraries and Museums in an Era of Participatory Culture. Shortly summarised their views of participatory culture includes low barriers for engagement, strong support for creating, sharing and feeling a social connection with each other. During the seminar it was mentioned that participatory culture usually exists online and that their challenge was in creating experiences that work both online and offline and allow for meaningful participation.Contemporary examples of museums working with participatory culture to engage their visitors is presented. Inspired by these examples and working with research through design as main method technology experiments and prototypes are conducted to develop a concept. Findings from this iterative process leads to a final concept that has the potential to engage museum visitors both online and offline. In one part of this concept museum visitors explores a narrative in a physical interactive exhibition. Visitors proxemic relations to objects and other people is used to trigger media and unfold the full story in a room. In the end of the prototype visitors are asked to write a physical postcard that is also published on a web page.The final concept presented can be scaled and customised to suit many different scenarios and context. When structuring the narratives clear instructions guiding visitors through the experience should be included. The people who were invited to try this prototype all created content and were curios to know what other people had written.

This thesis is about YouTube, focusing on the phenomenon on the platform called vlogging. The study aims to examine how the dedicated user explains his/hers feelings towards the people of which vlogging content they have been consuming for a long period of time. Is there perhaps a noticeable pattern regarding how and why they established this relationship in the first place, and how it has developed over time. What is it that makes this type of video consumption valuable to the consumer, and what is the driving force that makes them stay so committed. The aim and purpose of this study is to find out what kind of participatory culture that is involved around vlogging as a media production and how it is described with the dedicated users own words. Is the driving force behind the engagement being a part of a community on the platform, or is the relationship straight between the producer and the consumer. If so, how and what is it that makes this one-way-relationship between the viewer and the vlogger valuable. To gather information about the dedicated users view of their consumption, and to answer the questions above, I have carried out 10 qualitative interviews with respondents who have been watching vlogs for five years or more within the media of YouTube. Through data collection and previous research within the subject, this thesis is able to confirm five different themes. Through analysis these themes together map out a pattern that concludes different factors for participating.

Submitted by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-16T13:40:14Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL J OLIVEIRA OFEMANN.pdf: 1794512 bytes, checksum: 6cfea8e99d965205d8dac35d39e46e3f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-16T13:40:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL J OLIVEIRA OFEMANN.pdf: 1794512 bytes, checksum: 6cfea8e99d965205d8dac35d39e46e3f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Cristina Ropero (ana@espm.br) on 2017-11-22T12:58:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL J OLIVEIRA OFEMANN.pdf: 1794512 bytes, checksum: 6cfea8e99d965205d8dac35d39e46e3f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-22T12:58:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL J OLIVEIRA OFEMANN.pdf: 1794512 bytes, checksum: 6cfea8e99d965205d8dac35d39e46e3f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-19 / The cinephile universe is recognized as an active sphere of cultural consumption and sociability who has in the reflexivity on the cinematographic works his mark. Be a movie buff, along the history, constitutes itself as a way of being. This research took as its object the cinéfilas in the digital environment. These practices of cultural consumption make up what we call such as cybercryphilia, a way of relating to cinema that has made use of the technological possibilities to connect people with close access to cinematographic works, dissemination of information, independent productions and reflections criticism as well as promoting the online debate on seventh art. To support reflection proposal, a dense bibliographical research sought to establish articulations between the studies of communication and consumption, cinema and cyberculture. In an empirical approach of the phenomenon, we investigate cybercryphilia environments through virtual ethnography and examine more detail a forum for sharing movies on the internet. The results that cibercinephilia has broadened and diversified cinema practices and proved to be a movement of resistance to the hegemonic logics of the great global film industry, by conflicts between free-sharing advocates and holders of intellectual property rights. The broad access to films and information made possible by cybercryphilia allows the cinephile develop more autonomously his expertise and judgment on the cinema than in the past. / O universo cinéfilo é reconhecidamente uma esfera ativa de consumo cultural e sociabilidade que tem na reflexividade sobre as obras cinematográficas sua marca. Ser cinéfilo, ao longo da história, constitui-se como um modo de ser. Esta pesquisa tomou como objeto as práticas cinéfilas no ambiente digital. Estas práticas de consumo cultural perfazem o que denominamos como cibercinefilia, uma forma de se relacionar com o cinema que tem feito uso das possibilidades tecnológicas atuais para conectar pessoas com interesses próximos, ampliar o acesso a obras cinematográficas, disseminar informações, produções independentes e reflexões críticas, bem como promover o debate online sobre a sétima arte. Para fundamentar a reflexão proposta, uma densa pesquisa bibliográfica buscou estabelecer articulações entre os estudos de comunicação e consumo, cinema e cibercultura. Em uma abordagem empírica do fenômeno, investigamos por meio da etnografia virtual ambientes de cibercinefilia e examinamos com mais detalhe um fórum de compartilhamento de filmes na internet. Os resultados demonstram que a cibercinefilia ampliou e diversificou as práticas cinéfilas e revelou ser um movimento de resistência às lógicas hegemônicas da grande indústria cinematográfica global, ao embarcar os conflitos entre os defensores do livre compartilhamento e os detentores de direito intelectual. O amplo acesso a filmes e informação possibilitados pela cibercinefilia permite que o cinéfilo desenvolva de maneira mais autônoma sua perícia e juízo sobre o cinema do que no passado.

Este trabalho desenvolve um estudo do sistema de produção estabelecido por fãs da trilogia de filmes O Hobbit. Nós partimos da questão “como se organiza o fandom de O Hobbit a partir da produção de fanworks sobre fanworks?” com o objetivo de verificar como as práticas de consumo e produção internas ao fandom de O Hobbit podem defini-lo como comunidade interpretativa. Assim, tomamos por objeto teórico o sistema de produção de fãs que se estabelece a partir do que um fã faz sobre o trabalho já produzido por outros fãs, fanworks de fanworks. Para embasar nossa pesquisa, apresentamos uma contextualização dos estudos de fãs em Comunicação, a partir de um panorama da literatura internacional e seu desenvolvimento sobre o conceito, com um aprofundamento na produção de teses e dissertações nacionais, que nos permitem compreender como o tema, e esse objeto em específico, vem sido trabalhado academicamente para situar a nossa pesquisa. Desenvolvemos também uma reflexão teórica buscando problematizar a produção dos fãs com relação aos processos de consumo cultural e midiático e sua articulação em comunidade. A partir desse contexto teórico, desenvolvemos duas pesquisas exploratórias que se embasam na interpretação de dados levantados por pesquisas maiores realizadas por terceiros: AO3 Census e o Hobbit Project. Os dados da primeira pesquisa nos permitem compreender mais sobre os fãs e suas práticas de consumo e produção, enquanto os dados da segunda nos lança luz sobre o fandom dos filmes de O Hobbit em específico. A partir da análise de conteúdo realizada nessas exploratórias, fundamentamos delimitações de contexto e ferramentas metodológicas a serem apropriados em nossa pesquisa. Com inspiração etnográfica, realizamos dois experimentos buscando as interações dos sujeitos envolvidos nos processos de produção realizados pelos fãs: uma imersão em um site de postagem de fanworks, o AO3, em que analisamos as notas deixadas por autores de fanworks produzidos sobre outros fanworks para os seus leitores. Pudemos não só nos aprofundar nas formas de produção, mas também nas relações pessoais estabelecidas entre fãs nesse processo. O segundo experimento se fundou em uma imersão em campo, em que realizamos entrevistas pré-estruturadas com fãs de O Hobbit participantes da I Feira Medieval de São Leopoldo, buscando compreender mais de suas interações e formas de produção. Por fim, nossa análise se volta para as particularidades do sistema de produção de fanworks sobre fanworks com relação ao fandom como comunidade, trazendo como principais resultados a constituição de uma rede de produção estruturada nos critérios interpretativos dos fãs e o processo de identificação do fã como fã. / This work develops a study on the production system established by fans of The Hobbit movie trilogy. Our starting point was the question “how does The Hobbit fandom organize itself based on the fanworks about fanworks?” with the objective of verifying how the consumers practices and internal productions of The Hobbit fandom are able to define it as an interpretive community. Thus, we took as a theoretical objective the fans production system established by the work a fan made based on a work created by another fan, fanworks of fanworks. In order to base our research, we present a contextualization of the fans studies in Communication, from an overview of international literature and its development about the concept, with a deepening in the production of national theses and dissertations. That allow us to comprehend how the topic, and this objective in specific, have been worked on academically to situate our research. We also developed a theoretical reflection with the intention of discussing the fan production in relation to the cultural and media consumption and its articulation in community. Two exploratory researches that are based on the interpretation of data collected by to major researches made by third parties were developed from this theoretical context: AO3 Census and the Hobbit Project. The data from the first research allowed us to comprehend more about the fans and their practice of consumption and production, while the data from the second one shines a light on the films’ fandom for The Hobbit in specific. Then, based on the content analysis done on these exploratory researches we substantiated boundaries of context and methodological tools to be appropriated in our research. Inspired by ethnography, we’ve conducted two experiments in search of the interactions between subjects involved on the production process done by the fans: an immersion in a fanwork website, AO3, in which we analysed the notes left by authors of fanworks about other fanworks to its readers. We were able to not only deepened in the ways of production, but also in the personal relations established between fans in this process. The second experiment was based on a field immersion, in which we’ve conducted pre-structured interviews with fans of The Hobbit participating on the I Medieval Fair of São Leopoldo, with the intention of comprehending more about their interaction and ways of production. Finally, our analysis focus on the singularities of the production system of fanworks of fanworks related to the fandom as a community, rendering as its main result the building of a production network established on the interpretative criteria of the fans and the process of identification of the fan as a fan.

In 2007, Radiohead released a downloadable album, In Rainbows, allowing consumers to pay what they thought the album was worth. The band responded to a moment of change in the music industry. Since then, other bands, like Nine Inch Nails and Coldplay, have made similar moves. Radiohead's capability to release an album and let the fans decide its worth relied on the image they built, which foregrounded their commodification. The historic move redefined the boundaries between art and commodity, a well know tension in popular music studies. The thesis focuses on popular music as communication in the changing industry. Using Radiohead’s album as a case study, it looks at the changing boundaries in the tension between art and commodity. The thesis examines Radiohead's performance, its mediation by the press, and what the album’s distribution method meant to the fans.

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.

This dissertation concerns live action role-playing (larp). Larp may be described as improvised theater without an audience, as participants simultaneously embody both audience and actor in their constant interaction with one another.  Hence, larp can be seen as a participatory culture.  The study is based on participant observation, interviews and online ethnography in Denmark, Latvia, Sweden and Norway. The aim of the thesis is to analyze how bodies materialize, take and are given space in larps. At the heart of the study lie questions on how processes of embodiment are enacted before, during and after the game. Two central concepts - larp chronotope and matrix of interpretation – shape the analysis. The first denotes the specific timespace in which a larp takes place, e.g a Soviet military camp or a fantasy world. The second concept stands for a general matrix of norms that informs participants on how to enact their characters in the larp chronotope. The thesis shows that participants strive to act in ways that are intelligible according to the matrix of interpretation that reigns during the game days. In addition, although game and everyday matrixes of interpretations are always inseparable, while attending a larp the participant’s ordinary lives are temporarily allowed to fade into the background. Thus, larps are complex combinations of objects, spaces and bodies that are given new relations and new meanings. Furthermore, the thesis shows that larp embodiment is conditioned by normative ideas of what it means to be an intelligible live action role player. White male bodies are more likely to access the sphere of larp intelligibility than others, which is evident in many of the stories and made up worlds portrayed in the study. Yet, the collaborative narration of game worlds that take place before larps can include all sorts of bodies. Consequently, larps provide an opportunity for alternative forms of embodiment and experiences.

abstract: The goal of this research was to understand the different kinds of learning that take place in Mod The Sims (MTS), an online Sims gaming community. The study aimed to explore users' experiences and to understand learning practices that are not commonly observed in formal educational settings. To achieve this goal, the researcher conducted a four-year virtual ethnographic study that followed guidelines set forth in Hine (2000). After Hine, the study focused on understanding the complexity of the relationships between technology and social interactions among people, with a particular emphasis on investigating how participants shaped both the culture and structure of the affinity space. The format for the dissertation consists of an introduction, three core chapters that present different sets of findings, and a concluding chapter. Each of the core chapters, which can stand alone as separate studies, applies different theoretical lenses and analytic methods and uses a separate data set. The data corpus includes hundreds of thread posts, member profiles, online interview data obtained through email and personal messaging (PM), numerous screenshots, field notes, and additional artifacts, such as college coursework shared by a participant. Chapter 2 examines thread posts to understand the social support system in MTS and the language learning practices of one member who was a non-English speaker. Chapter 3 analyzes thread posts from administrative staff and users in MTS to identify patterns of interactions, with the goal of ascertaining how users contribute to the ongoing design and redesign of the site. Chapter 4 investigates user-generated tutorials to understand the nature of these instructional texts and how they are adapted to an online context. The final chapter (Chapter 5) presents conclusions about how the analyses overall represent examples of participatory learning practices that expand our understanding of 21st century learning. Finally, the chapter offers theoretical and practical implications, reflections on lessons learned, and suggestions for future research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

viii, 94 p. / My thesis examines Star Wars fan fiction about Anakin Skywalker posted on the popular blogging platform LiveJournal. I investigate the folkloric qualities of such posts and analyze the ways in which fans through narrative generate systems of meaning, engage in performative expressions of gender identity, resistance, and festival, and create transformative works within the present cultural milieu. My method has been to follow the posts of several Star Wars fans on LiveJournal who are active in posting fan fiction and who frequently respond to one another's posts, thereby creating a network of community interaction. I find that fans construct systems of meaning through complex interactions with a network of cultural sources, that each posting involves multiple layers of performance, and that these works frequently act as parody, critique, and commentary on not just the official materials but on the cultural climate that produced and has been influenced by them. / Committee in charge: Dr. Dianne Dugaw, Chair; Dr. Lisa Gilman, Member; Dr. Debra Merskin, Member