Hadas and Shifman and Hills
In "Keeping the Elite Powerless: Fan-Producer Relations in the ‘‘Nu Who’’ (and New YOU) Era," Hadas and Shifman analyze the fandom now based on Tulloch's idea of the powerless elite and claim that the fandom chooses to remain powerless since the fans caused the "classic" series cancellation. Hadas and Shifman agree with Jenkins: “collective action now undermines the powerless aspect” (277). However, according to Hadas and Shifman, even though the fandom has more power now, fans are reluctant to wield it. According to the fandom, the producers of the classic series were writing to please the fans rather than the general audience and lost the general audience’s attention, causing the show’s subsequent cancellation (278). Thus, according to Hadas and Shifman, the fandom in their study wanted to “remain powerless” so that the newest series would be successful: “While [fans] consider it important that producers be aware of and in touch with the fandom, they just as strongly feel that showrunners should stick by their own vision and not write according to what fans are saying” (278). In this way, fans saw themselves as “gatekeepers” of Doctor Who, and writing for the fans was associated with failure (280). Thus, while in Jenkins’ idea of participatory culture, the fandom should be more powerful, according to Hadas and Shifman and past experiences, the Doctor Who fandom is wary of power in terms of the official text.
In "The Expertise of Digital Fandom as a ‘Community of Practice’: Exploring the Narrative Universe of Doctor Who," Hills on the other hand claims that the fandom does not adhere to Jenkins' outline for the ideal collective intelligence since there are still experts in the fandom. While there is certainly collective intelligence and everyone has access to knowledge, fans are not equal.Hills quotes Hadas and Shifman who agree with Jenkins: “The expertise that was the pride of [pre-Internet Who fandom] depended on investment in time, effort, and sometimes money…that same knowledge is now within the easy reach of any internet user” (362). However, Hills argues that actually accessing this information still takes time and demands a certain level of investment: “still depends on major fan investment in time and effort” (362). Thus, even though fans can all access the information, some fans still know more than others. Another example of this is that some fans even know Gallifreyan, the language of the Time Lords.
Additionally, Jenkins claims that the expert paradigm will no longer exist: “The expert paradigm requires a bounded body of knowledge, which an individual can master. The types of questions that thrive in a collective intelligence, however, are open-ended and profoundly interdisciplinary” (Jenkins 52). According to Hills, there are “Big Name Fans” such as Philip Sandifer who has published his blog posts as books. Hills argues that by publishing books on Doctor Who makes him and others like him experts in the fandom. And, in doing so, some fans see themselves as "true" fans while other fans are more what he calls "industry-driven fans" (366). According to Hills, "'industry-driven fans' lack awareness of established fan practices. In this formulation, 'industry-driven' appears to stand in for non-expert fandom" (366). By industry-driven fans, I believe the fans and Hills are referring to the fans that joined the fandom with the revived series, who did not know already established fan practices, and like the revived series for other reasons, like David Tennant, rather than what the show itself is about.
Tulloch, Hadas and Shifman, and Hills all discuss the fandom as being situated between the official producer and the general audience. Even Hills points out that with the new series, there is the traditional fan communities who have been with Doctor Who since the beginning and “industry-driven fans” who have come into the fandom with the revived series. Hills goes on to say that the fandom looks out for the industry-driven fans’ interests so the show remains popular rather than appealing to only the classic fans. However, while there are different communities of fans within the fandom (which attests to the size and complexity of the fandom), the classic fans, or any other fans, do not have to protect the show for the general audience. Now, the general audience has access to the same information, can easily become members of the fandom, and join the discourse.
In "The Expertise of Digital Fandom as a ‘Community of Practice’: Exploring the Narrative Universe of Doctor Who," Hills on the other hand claims that the fandom does not adhere to Jenkins' outline for the ideal collective intelligence since there are still experts in the fandom. While there is certainly collective intelligence and everyone has access to knowledge, fans are not equal.Hills quotes Hadas and Shifman who agree with Jenkins: “The expertise that was the pride of [pre-Internet Who fandom] depended on investment in time, effort, and sometimes money…that same knowledge is now within the easy reach of any internet user” (362). However, Hills argues that actually accessing this information still takes time and demands a certain level of investment: “still depends on major fan investment in time and effort” (362). Thus, even though fans can all access the information, some fans still know more than others. Another example of this is that some fans even know Gallifreyan, the language of the Time Lords.
Additionally, Jenkins claims that the expert paradigm will no longer exist: “The expert paradigm requires a bounded body of knowledge, which an individual can master. The types of questions that thrive in a collective intelligence, however, are open-ended and profoundly interdisciplinary” (Jenkins 52). According to Hills, there are “Big Name Fans” such as Philip Sandifer who has published his blog posts as books. Hills argues that by publishing books on Doctor Who makes him and others like him experts in the fandom. And, in doing so, some fans see themselves as "true" fans while other fans are more what he calls "industry-driven fans" (366). According to Hills, "'industry-driven fans' lack awareness of established fan practices. In this formulation, 'industry-driven' appears to stand in for non-expert fandom" (366). By industry-driven fans, I believe the fans and Hills are referring to the fans that joined the fandom with the revived series, who did not know already established fan practices, and like the revived series for other reasons, like David Tennant, rather than what the show itself is about.
Tulloch, Hadas and Shifman, and Hills all discuss the fandom as being situated between the official producer and the general audience. Even Hills points out that with the new series, there is the traditional fan communities who have been with Doctor Who since the beginning and “industry-driven fans” who have come into the fandom with the revived series. Hills goes on to say that the fandom looks out for the industry-driven fans’ interests so the show remains popular rather than appealing to only the classic fans. However, while there are different communities of fans within the fandom (which attests to the size and complexity of the fandom), the classic fans, or any other fans, do not have to protect the show for the general audience. Now, the general audience has access to the same information, can easily become members of the fandom, and join the discourse.
