Global Fandom Jamboree Conversation: Clara Cisneros Hernández (Mexico) and Pablo Escandón Montenegro (Ecuador) (Round Two)

Replay 

Pablo Escandón Montenegro - Quito, Ecuador

The Mexican and Ecuadorian communities show similarities regarding their dynamics, since the calls to action have to do with corporate proposals, that is, to reinforce or grow the community itself and its activities, but not as proposals to follow a thematic or discursive line in which its own members can deepen or develop as individual subjects, since in this way, they generate competition or rivalry between digital spaces and their administrators.

The use they make of the different media and platforms is limited, since they are exclusively centralized on Facebook and do not have web spaces, but their activity address is the fan page. From there the administrator proposes topics and activities, which makes their Followers participate to some extent. The fandom culture is not so free and is completely nucleated by administrators, who work under a traditional media publishing logic, since digital culture is important for the dissemination of content, but not for the creation and cohesion of new audiences.

In this sense, the generational difference in the use of platforms is decisive, since with them the intentions of control and administration of content and knowledge between members can be seen, which does not prevent the exchange of knowledge, but does limit the initiative to build new complementary spaces that converge in the centralized one.

Replay – Round 2

Clara Cisneros Hernández – Mexico City

It can be affirmed that the participation in social networks of followers and fans of both Ecuador and Mexico for select niches, have managed to preserve these virtual spaces in order to share affinities, as well as learning about cultural and media content. The digital public space on ocial networks such as Facebook, summon similar profiles that find convergence from a reinforcement of value systems and recreational motivators.

In the case of Mexico’s La Frikiplaza, applied advertising maintains a huge interest in preserving the flow of users in its networks. Therefore, the segmentation of themes has always had as a target audience various social groups such as gamers, otakus (fans of products derived from Japanese culture), geeks (people who focus their interest on technology and digital devices) , cosplayers (subjects dedicated to the creation and use of costumes for the representation of fictional narrative characters) as well as fans of the Asian music industry and collectors of any plurality of consumer goods from the global content industry.

As described, this legitimized space seeks to reinforce the links and interests of the user, without neglecting effective solutions to make visits to the site, as a necessary variant to stimulate commitment and broaden the spectrum of commercial transactions, which is why the administrators direct their advertising to praise the consumer goods attached to the square.

 Another motivator to keep users encouraged to visit is the offer of free workshops open to the public — for example, sessions to practice the illustration of various visual styles or the teaching of basic levels in the interpretation of languages, as well such as the organization of cultural events with media figures, or the realization of tributes to authors of the popular content industry. In the same way, this space gratifies and grants a space for the relief of social practices, through contests aimed at gamers, cosplayers and choreographic groups, as well as amateur karaoke singers, among others, that manage to encourage free competition, formats cooperation and recreation.

In conclusion, in Mexico it is observed that the practices of followers and fans, specify the social affinities online that, transform the captive socio-cultural exchange in digital activity, are transferred to a landscape of physical social interaction in a very similar way to Ecuadorian photography groups on social networks, which have taken advantage of the Facebook group space to establish learning communities that also manage to break the virtual barrier from coexistence in guided tours of the city of Quito, as previously explained.

In both countries, despite the difference in practices and interest in hobbies, proactive and recreational interaction has been achieved beyond the social environment, giving space to the manifestation of artistic practices in a collective and collaborative way (online and offline) that enable creative expression, knowledge enhancement, and personal transformation.