Comprising essays written by faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars, this collection reflects the current trend in fan studies to use fan practices to examine everyday life in a mediated age (as distinguished from using them to examine different fan communities). It is debatable whether the term 'fan culture' holds any meaning at this stage of academic examination. As the practices that made the subculture distinct have been absorbed into the mainstream or died off, 'fan' is becoming a generic term: a viewer who does anything more than view is a fan. Whereas most of the contributors frame their analyses within traditional fan communities formed through shared affinity for a specific television text, the focus of the book as a whole is on the interaction of social media and the medium of television—that is, how social media are used by fans to view and create content and by producers to market their content and monetize viewer engagement. Television programs and genres discussed include Game of Thrones, Dr. Who, Man from U.N.C.L.E., Duck Dynasty, Tiaras and Toddlers, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, soap operas, and sports. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above.

Choice Reviews

Today’s fans are actively engaging with television through social media. Drawing on the diverse expertise of a variety of researchers, Television, Social Media, and Fan Culture explores this engagement from multiple vantage points, and extends and develops new avenues in fan and media studies research. Sure to spark debate, this volume speaks to the importance of fan studies as a discipline and the crucial role that social media plays in this development.

Paul Booth, DePaul University

This engaging collection lies at the forefront of an emerging and essential cultural and technological dialogue. The trio of editors have assembled an impressive critical chorus, whose case studies chronicle and contextualize the complex triangulation of activity and interactivity between the evolving broadcast and cable programming environment, passionate fan communities, and the revolutionary ripples of an array of New Media platforms. The perspectives in the twenty essays are fresh and forward-looking and the views vast and varied. No network, link, site, genre, or fan base is overlooked. This impressive volume is trending, streaming, and tuned-in to the times. #Bigfan.

George Plasketes, Auburn University

Regardless of which fandom you belong to, you should read Television, Social Media, and Fan Culture. All fans of television or pop culture will revel in the intellectual fanaticism. Media and culture are inseparable, and the studies included in this edited collection acknowledge the pedagogy of popular cultural products and the new participatory fan culture.

Elizabeth Barfoot Christian, Louisiana College, editor, Rock Brands: Selling Sound in a Media Saturated Culture