Fangirling in social media era

If you never seen me in real life, you might think that I’m hard core otaku. Well, at least a fan. But, for my colleague, I’m just a girl who spends time giggling in front of my monitor. As they can’t distinguish special feature of Japanese entertainment, they label me as Kpoppers (cheap things sold easy, yeah). I don’t dress like anime character (unlike my Kpop addict friend who copies the whole girl idol’s fashion to office). I don’t have special merchandise (I don’t like to fill my place with various craps). I don’t talk much about j-ent around (no satisfaction coming from having convo with commoners, people). I’m what you call “unidentified fangirl” in real life.

However, if you know me from tumblr or livejournal, you’ll see that I’m quite an avid fans. I’m not only taking stuffs from various angels who love sharing their dvd, I often share things myself. I read my favourite actors’ blog and twitter, find out their small roles in dorama or movie, and make some gifs. And I’m not newbie in various stuffs, so I’m basically knows much where to find this or that. I avoid myself from asking stupid question before googling (something like “What show is that?” or “Where can I find this?”. It’s stupid. If you’re connected to internet you should be able to find information as much as I have).

In my years of fangirling, the interaction shift by the help of technology development. More and more people are connected through internet, enabling massive interactions, including file sharing. When I watched my first tokusatsu series, Kamen Rider Black, I was satisfied enough by watching Minami Kotaro kicking gorgons. That’s it. But today, watching Kamen Rider is an activity like festival. 

As the show’s airing on Japanese’s local tv, my twitter feed is already explode. People who get to see it early are commenting about the show’s development. Spoilers are everyone for us, the international fans, who can see it right away. Lol. But, the recorded video is coming in 3 hours *God bless those uploaders*. The new session of discussion takes place. This time, with gifs on tumblr. When fan subber finally release the English subbed video, another explanations are born, some theories are corrected, and more reblogs on my tumblr. XD.

I make some online friends in the fandom. It’s nice to talk to people who know. Internet covers some features of communication, such as enhanced opportunities for social connection and greater control over aspects of self-presentation (Swezdo, Allen, & Mikami, 2012:1). These features have been hypothesized to facilitate youths’ friendship formation and impression management online (Bargh & McKenna, 2004; McKenna, & Bargh, 2000, in Swezdo, Allen, & Mikami, 2012:1). Twitter, tumblr and other social media bring the latest information of the fandom, despite of being reliable or not. They gather people who have similar taste. They connect people. I never expected to talk to someone from Arab or Brazil before. But, thanks to fandom, we exchange words.

So, fangirling today brings more discussions, more heated argument, and more interactions than years ago. Internet connects fangirl, bringing out the best of them, the sides that never shown in real life. It’s giving us chance to shape our personas. And I say it’s a good things. Isn’t that painful to must keep up and suppress our feeling?

Reference

Swezdo, David E., Allen, Joseph P. & Mikami, Amori Yee, 2012. Social Networking Site Use Predicts Changes in Young Adults’ Psychological Adjustment. Journal Of Research On Adolescence. DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00788.x