Comics and Tumblr

Comic fans makeup a large portion of the many sub communities on Tumblr, but they are one of the few that stem from an already decades old fan base. Comics don't reach the mainstream media the way that they used to in their hay day, so they have to change to mold with the current technology and trends. Tom Ewing talks about an example of this with the recently ended comic Young Avengers and it's fan base on Tumblr. Many of Marvels comics have become less about the big moments- butt kicking, action, big reveals- and more about the everyday interaction between the teenage characters. Because of this, Ewing says that Young Avengers gained a reputation as a “Tumblr type of comic”. While on its own, this is somewhat of a back handed comment he goes on to claim that Tumblr may very well be the future of Marvel.

Overlapping Communities 

Tumblr offers a community that is much different from the traditional comic book audience of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. The majority on Tumblr actually correlates to minorities on other platforms; a greater number of users are people of color, queer, teenaged and the majority are female. It’s also a place where users interact in fandom, and can do so in a more complex and intimate way than in the past because it occurs on a social media platform. Since the fans are more diverse they will demand more diverse content, no need to pander to the same action clichés to drive profits. Fan culture means that characters are more greatly appreciated by fans that crave complex characters. Ultimately, all of this means a shift away from the focus on epic moments that has been so prevalent in super hero comics in the past to more complex and subtle stories. Since these kinds of fans are driving the markets for so many things, including comics, it makes sense for the comic industry to try and please them. And it's beneficial for the community to demand more interesting, and diverse stories.

Technology Evolves Fandom and Content

Even though I’m personally not in the Marvel or comic community, this article is a perfect example of how a community can be shaped by technology and how that evolving community can in turn shape the medium that the community is centered around. Social media, in this case Tumblr, allows many different sub communities to come together and have more of a voice than they could on other platforms. There is a huge community of LGTBQ individuals and every minority you can imagine who all love to be fans just as much as ‘traditional’ audiences, and as these people gain more voice they are slowly demanding greater representation in media. In the case of Young Avengers, it’s popular on Tumblr because it has such a diverse range of characters.  These are characters that all fans can identify with and love to analyze. Since these fans love to devour more complex stories and characters rather than just action packed male power fantasies, comics will have to shift in order to maintain a market.

Resources:

Ewing, T. (2014, January 10) All Our Friends: aka is there a Marvel Tumblrwave? Retrieved from:     http://freakytrigger.co.uk/wedge/2014/01/all-our-friends/

Culture Under the Rocks

What and Why

Many well-meaning adults talk to us young-people about how technology is ruining society, how social media is at best frivolous and worst stupid, and all around discrediting a huge part of society today. What people who aren’t involved in anything online don’t realize is that there is an entire complex world of culture and subculture that exists within the circuitry they are so afraid of. Sure, the internet-verse is silly, and has plenty of offensive things, but it’s also a place where communities can form that could not exist without the technology. Not only do these communities exist, they change lives, make art, and give the underrepresented a voice.

This blog will talk about various different online communities, analyze how they use the technology that is relevant for them, how they change that technology, and showcase things they are doing that contributes to culture. Instead of just talking about vague groups like “the Tumblr community” or the “YouTube community”, we will focus on communities that exist beyond the platform they choose to use. What I mean by that is I’m particularly interested in sub groups that have used social media to band together and form communities in new ways. For instance, YouTube is much more diverse than just sketch comedies and cat videos, and each niche has it’s own unique community. On Tumblr, smaller fandoms and marginalized groups can be heard where they can’t in mainstream media. I’m also interested in discussing the way online media as whole is different than traditional mainstream media. Over all, the internet is a diverse place with many different kinds of cultures that are all accomplishing amazing things that are worth being discussed and showcased.

About the Author

I’m Katie, an 18 year old college student studying arts and technology. In recent years, online communities have become a big part of my life, and I feel that is the case for many people. I have YouTube channel, and I really love online video. As I became more involved in the YouTube community and saw the flourishing of many other communities online, I became more interested in what makes them tick and how they affect people’s lives.