Understanding Fandom Identity Construction In Spectacle/Performance Paradigm

In 2013,TFBOYS made their major debut and these three children with an average age of 13 started getting to a greater audience.They feature a growing model of"fostered idol",and interact with their fans via social media-mainly Weibo,gradually expanding their influence from Internet platforms to mainstream media.Nowadays,as large volume of social media messages permeates our lives,the initiative of audiences increases day by day which leads to some new characteristics in fandom study.Taking spectacle/performance paradigm as theoretical framework,the present study focuses on the fandom identity in TFBOYS' fans.Taking the perspective of spectacle/performance paradigm,this present study mainly analyses the identity construction process of fans from two ways:fandom "as the subject" and "as the object of being viewed".The article is divided into five chapters."Introduction",as the first chapter,introduces the origin of the topic,research questions and objectives.It also delivers a systematic review of fan studies,identity studies,and the Spectacle/Performance paradigm.The second chapter is about research methods.Considering the network community model of TFBOYS fandom,Internet ethnography and interview methods were adopted to conduct the fan culture research.The third chapter introduces the forming process and characteristics of fandom,as well as the network community framework.Taking fandom as the subject,the fourth chapter analyzes how they construct self-identity when consuming media information,together with their emotional projection during self-identity construction.The fifth chapter is focused on the performance of fans and fandom.This part explains the media consumption and daily life of fans under the framework of "role-playing","impression management" and "carnival theory",so that we can further understand how fans construct their identities and form the Spectacle/Performance loop.According to the findings,in long-term viewing of media messages,fans interpret idol symbols and images,and also create the sense of identity and belongings through"emotional projection".On one hand,the fans of TFBOYS construct and display their self-identities by "impression management" and "collective consumption" on theInternet platform;on the other hand,they construct group identity via online and offline culture consumption,and realize carnival-like performances.