[Last modified: October, 25 2024 12:53 AM]
My proposed pilot project revolves around k-pop fans online engagement activities, it is expected to explore the production and consumption activities they engage in various online platforms and investigate the motivations and effects of doing so. Production content includes text, images, audio and video materials, and consumption activities is about fans’ interaction within online communities, interact with fan-created materials and material consumption like purchase idol peripheral merchandise.
I’m a Chinese female in mid-twenties who belongs to the mainstream audience of k-pop culture. As a k-pop culture lover myself, I dedicated five years in star-chasing activities in my life, so it is hard to say I didn’t have any bias towards this topic. For me, participating in online star-chasing activities has become an integral part of my daily routine. About three hours a day, I will spend on digital platforms like Weibo, Instagram and bilibili, browse the latest news about my favorite idols, interact with other fans in the communities, click” like” or “repost” under other fan-created content and buy material products like albums, photocards and dolls. These activities has been totally positive for me, I have master the skills about edit videos, design posters, made friends with other fans, and I also obtained emotional value within this process, especially during times of stress and depression. However, I’m well aware though that this opinion is not common, nor is it even of the majority. I clear know that fan behavior is often stigmatized, and in the view of older generation and even some of my peers, it can be described as crazy, ridiculous and even stupid.
When considering any positionality on my research project of fans online engagement activities, several key considerations need to be included. The fan base of k-pop idols is dominated by east Asian females, more than 90 percent of those who engage in online interactions or consume material products are young females below 25. Therefore, the information I gathered will also be from the perspective of young East Asian women, which means my intercalators will be very limited in terms of age and gender. And as a young female fan myself, it is necessary to be careful not to incorporate personal sentiments and group bias into my research. Furthermore, my nationality as a Chinese, special network censorship needs to be addressed. Due to the Great Firewall in China, people cannot access to western digital platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, this will lead to the information I collected is mainly about fan activities on Chinese digital platforms. A fair complete and relatively closed fan ecosystem has been formed on Chinese digital platforms. Fortunately, Chinese platforms have a huge base and rich research resources, so maybe I should focus my research on a certain Chinese platform in China.