​According to Jenkins in Convergence Culture, the fandom will act as a collective intelligence in which all fans will contribute to the whole knowledge of the fandom, which would be more knowledge than only one person could know: "The types of questions that thrive in a collective intelligence, however, are open ended and profoundly interdisciplinary;...draw on the combined knowledge of a more diverse community (52). In the fandom, no fan would be an expert because no fan would be more important than another: "Walsh argues that the expert paradigm creates an 'exterior' and 'interior,' there are some people who know things and others who don't. A collective intelligence, on the other hand, assumes that each person has something to contribute" (53).  Additionally, in participatory culture

​Because of its extensive universe and interactive fans, the Doctor Who fandom is an example of participatory culture as Jenkins describes: “new communities are defined through voluntary, temporary, tactical affiliations, reaffirmed through common intellectual enterprises and emotional investments” (27). Like other fandoms, Whovians are a community, defined by their activities and united through their common love of Doctor Who. 

While fans consume the show, they are also active producers, analyzing the official text and creating their own. In these interactions, fans consider social issues and challenge social norms, such as commenting on the patriarchy and demanding a female Doctor. Additionally, fans are self-aware as well as self-governing by creating their own hierarchy, rules, and even questioning their own fandom. All these activities illustrate skills Jenkins outlines for participatory and convergence culture, such as “the ability to pool knowledge…to make connections across scattered pieces of information…and the ability to express interpretations and feelings” (185). The internet and social media/fan forums, particularly Pinterest and Tumblr, do foster connections and allow for sharing and collective intelligence. Members have access to the classic and new series of Doctor Who as well as all fandom knowledge, especially in the form of Wikis, personal blogs, and Buzzfeed articles. Additionally, many times there are no clear authors. For example, some theories, tumblr posts, and fan art, and in some cases, while the author may be known, the person may be anonymous and/or under a user name. Here, the fandom fosters sharing and no clear authorship, in a more democratic vision of the online fandom as Jenkins claims.

Yet, despite being a knowledge community, fans have still created their own hierarchy and “types,” defined by what kind of knowledge a member possesses, creating the idea of the “other” and going against Lévy’s ideal democratic society (38). And, Hills also points out how the fandom perpetuates the expert paradigm. However, while rough around the edges, the fandom does exemplify some skills and qualities that Jenkins outlines in his theory on participatory culture.