Playing with identity : fan role playing on Twitter

Abstract

The participatory internet has revolutionized fandoms, making possible de territorialized virtual fan communities with enormous global memberships. The article draws on Fiske’s notion of the autonomous ‘cultural economy’ produced by ordinary ‘active’ audiences, Jenkins’ notion of an emergent ‘participatory culture’ spearheaded by popular culture fans, and Huizinga’s seminal study of ‘play’, to analyse two fan communities of Harry Potter and The Vampire Diaries on the social media platform, Twitter, focusing on fan role-playing, where fans either parodically masquerade as fictional characters while commenting on usually topical events, or interact in dramatic dialogues in the guise of fictional characters. The role-playing can be seen as a ludic playing with identity that foregrounds subaltern agency.