Media Fandom 8

So here are my final thoughts on Television without Pity & discussing the Real Housewives series:

I went in not having any expectations - I've never participated in anything like this before and thought it would be interesting to try. At first, it was! I loved reading what other people had to say, it was hilarious and catty and everything I had hoped for on the site.

After the first couple times, I became more comfortable posting to the website. I would read gossip websites and the Real Housewives blogs so that I could add something new to the conversation and I felt like it was just a matter of time before someone would reference me directly.

I was so wrong! I was barely acknowledged on the site and although I contributed to conversation, I'll never actually now if other people even read what I was saying. Which is kind of sad now that I think about it since I put hours and hours of my time into reading posts on the site and writing my own thoughts down.

I have to ask myself, will I ever do this again? I'm not so sure. I'd have to get a lot better at it. I even picked a couple shows that I absolutely love, thinking it would be easier to write and participate, and it really wasn't any easier. I'd have to be a lot more dedicated to the show, and a lot more time on my hands, before I could ever really feel like a "community member" on these fan forums. I'm just not one of the crazies who remains loyal to the shows and the website. Props to those who are the real contributors though, they are the source of many laughs and commentary for other users of the website. It was a fun semester of trying something new, and I'll leave it at that. Peace out TelevisionWithoutPity.com. It's been real.

Media Fandom 7

Since I've touched on whether or not I consider these fan discussion boards as an actual virtual "community," I wanted to bring up a reason for why this could be. There seems to be these "social hierarchies" within the web page, with posters and visitors to the site being labeled depending on their usage of the forum. On Television Without Pity, this "social hierarchy" consists of different labels: Just tuned in, Stalker, Loyal Viewer, Couch potato, Fanatic, Video archivist, and Channel surfer.

The site doesn't provide criteria for when or how someone can move up the "social ladder" and having been a member and active poster of the website since early September, I still have not changed from my newbie status of "just tuned in."

In an article we read for class, Watson describes about how the intimacy of a community can be threatened with these social hierarchies. After using the website for a few months, I would agree with this assumption. As I've stated before, it's hard to voice an opinion as someone who has "just tuned in" when all the other posts are by members who are considered "fanatics" and "loyal viewers." I think the discussion board would be more productive and conducive to new members if these labels did not exist.

Media Fandom 6

This week on RHOA, there was a big scene between one of the hwives (Cynthia) and her fiance (Peter). Peter got mad at Cynthia because she was on the phone with NeNe (another hwife) while he was making dinner for the two of them. He made some really blunt comment about how once he gets home, she should give him all of her attention. This has been getting a lot of discussion on the boards since Sunday night and so I decided to chime in. I commented on how this relationship reminds me of a different relationship (Charles & Cat) from Real Housewives of DC. I even drew specific references from DC to compare to ATL so that others would understand where I was coming from. I put a lot of time and thought into what I wanted to say to make sure I got some reactions and... I got nothing. In fact, they completely changed subjects and started talking about Kim's bad singing and Sheree's horrible acting.

Seriously, these boards are so repetitive and the one time I think I have something insightful to say, I go completely ignored. This is just reaffirming everything I've said up until this point - that unless you're a regular poster and an established member of the community, no one listens to what you have to say. Which is truly frustrating.

Media Fandom 5

As the semester has gone on, I've questioned whether I consider this forum as a "community." According to Howard Rheingold, a virtual community is defined as "social aggregations that emerge from the net when enough people carry on...public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace." Initially, I considered this fan board to be a community because every now and then, the posters would acknowledge each other and ask each other questions.

Now after looking at the forum for over eight weeks, however, I noticed that very rarely do posters ever respond to one another's questions. Maybe this is because they don't know the answer, but it could also be because they don't read what others have to say and simply state their opinion without reading prior posts. It could be that my boards (Real Housewives of ATL and Real Housewives of BH) are special cases, and perhaps maybe other boards focused on different shows are more interactive.

Media Fandom 4

So, this was a big week on RHOA, just FYI. Phaedra, one of the new h'wives, had a baby. This wouldn't seem so weird, except she claimed she was 7 months pregnant and was being induced. Now, this doesn't exactly make sense and the other h'wives were aware of this. So what did they do about it?? They found out the truth! Apparently, Phaedra was pregnant before she got married (gasp) and lied about it so that her mom wouldn't find out.

This basically summarizes the majority of the posts this week to the discussion board. Everyone from everywhere had something to say about what a horrible person Phaedra is, except for one poster who was quickly attacked by everyone else.

That's the thing about this site - there is this camaraderie around the RHOA and that if you don't agree with the opinions of the majority, then you shouldn't be posting at all. As a "just tuned in" member of the discussion forum, this makes it intimidating to begin posting know that I may or may not be criticized for the things that I have to say. It's much easier to agree with everyone else than to bring up a controversial subject, although it's the controversial posts that get acknowledged rather than the repetitive ones.

Media Fandom 3

One trend I have noticed is that a common theme for discussion board posts is gossiping about the show.Yes, I understand that the point of the forum is to discuss what happens within and outside of the show's context. However, the "posters" will literally go through the episode, piece by piece, and nitpick little details that they see a problem with. While some comments are funny, after you read 20 pages worth of the same shiznit, it gets a little annoying. Look at this for example:

prosperity2day (Loyal Viewer): "I didn't click on the link about Phaedra's comment and don't want to. I said when she first came on the show, there was something not quite right about her. She says a lot of things that make me really wonder about her state of mind so it wouldn't surprise me if she said something totally ridiculous and those looks she gives from the side of her eyes have me SMH.She is suppose to be a lawyer but how can she be an ACTIVE lawyer when she's having a baby AND filming a reality show at the same time? And I see NeNe is appearing on Celebrity Apprentice and already is acting a bigger fool than she does on RHOA. I don't think I can put the link on here but check out today's TMZ."

It's hard to make comments after reading what others have to say because I feel like everything has already been said a hundred different ways, and I would just be beating a dead horse at this point.

For anyone out there who's reading, why do you think gossip is such a common trend for discussion boards such as the ones that I've been posting on? Do you have any suggestions for how I should approach these comments or what I can do to add to the conversation?

Media Fandom Post 2 & Questions for Discussion - Jessie

Since my first post, I have made a couple more posts on my discussion boards. As I spend more time on the boards, I am learning what works and what doesn't work in term of topics that posters talk about. I realized that when I post a blurb about some new information in the news or blogs that no one else has seen or commented on yet, the responses I receive are much greater than if I just summarize "last night's episode."

This week we have been talking about Virtual Communities. And yes, even though this is my practicum topic, I hadn't really given it much thought whether I thought discussion forums constituted an online "community."

I would like to argue that there are definitely aspects that fit the definitions given in Watson's article on the Phish.net fan community. Watson says that community consists of "shared relationships" rather than just shared space, which applies to my discussion board (Television Without Pity or TWoP) because members have a habit of posting and responding to those they are familiar with. Postman argues that you cannot be a member of a community unless you meet others within the community, and there are still aspects of TWoP that apply to this (which I will touch on tomorrow).

Here are a few discussion questions for you to consider:
Do you consider online discussion forums to be a form of “community”?
Does anyone participate in online discussion forums? What topics? What are your experiences?
Do online communities change your perceptions of reality? Meaning, do users get caught up in the “virtual” world and become out of teach with reality?
“Communities in the offline world serve as models of human behavior in large-group situations.” (Watson, 125) Do you agree?
Would you ever want to meet someone you communicate with online in the “real world”?

Media Fandom Post 1 - Jessie Vandenhouten

So, my topic this semester is Media Fandom and since I consider myself a reality television junkie - I've decided that I would discuss reality television shows. I've never really been one to write on discussion boards or forums about shows that I watch, but I have occasionally read what others have to say about particular shows.

I found a pretty cool discussion board at a site called "Television Without Pity" (and coincidentally it's powered by Bravo, my favorite cable network). I created a log-in name (jessievan - super creative) and even had to be approved by the Admins before I could start discussing. Apparently there are all these sorts of rules and guidelines to follow, who knew?! The Admins don't want the discussions to turn into just a bunch of "flaming" and even act as moderators to make sure the posters to the boards stay on subject. I'll be discussing shows within the Candid Reality Shows discussion boards, which is precisely my area of expertise (specifically The Real Housewives Series on Bravo).

From what I can tell you so far, these people are CRRAAZZZYY - they eat, sleep, and breathe Real Housewives. It is taking me a little bit to catch on to the "lingo" and what other users usually post about. Other than my first post, which sparked zero discussion, I have learned what others like to read and have been more successful.

If you want to follow along, you can view my profile at: jessievan and my posts at: My Super Insightful Commentary If you have trouble viewing, it's probably because you aren't a member so I'll be posting some screen shots along the way too! Just kidding, I can't attach the screen shots as files (only as pictures) and they are waayyy too small to read.