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Bronies Although the Concept of Fandom Has Existed Before the Digital Age, It Is No Doubt That the Rise of the World Wide Web Ga

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Bronies Although the Concept of Fandom Has Existed Before the Digital Age, It Is No Doubt That the Rise of the World Wide Web Ga Bronies Although the concept of fandom has existed before the digital age, it is no doubt that the rise of the World Wide Web gave birth to a whole new level of participatory fan culture. In other words, the Internet acted as the fuel to kindle the passions of fans and created a platform where fans can dominate, influence, and proliferate. The accessibility and ease of the World Wide Web granted average people with positions as amateur journalists and publishers, with the power to freely publish anything on the Web; thus, people are able to publicize their ideas and works with just a click of a button. However, as a massive medium of information, the Internet also makes it more difficult for parties to have complete control of their intellectual properties. In the old commodity logic, industries would see the contemporary media environment as a threat, fearing that fans would deflect profits from these large corporations, and instead bring profit to independent fan groups by illegally using corporations’ copyrighted material. However, companies have now realized that fans do not necessarily steal from corporations by disregarding copyright rules, but instead fans borrow from and engage with corporate media texts. Jones mentions, “digital production and dissemination profoundly alters the unwritten contract between the culture industry as the producer and distributor of popular cultural texts and fans as merely passive consumers” (168, Jones Web Wars). Thus, the Internet blurs the line between producers and consumers. Unlike during the age of Star Wars and X-Files, when corporations would profusely send ‘cease and desist’ letters to any websites that contained copyrighted material, industries now have taken a more liberal stance on audience participation. This now leads to the question of whether industries should give fandom some leeway for the ultimate success of the product or not. With the case study of a particular fandom for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic known as “Bronies”, slang for “bro” and “pony”, this study will evaluate the pros and cons of promoting fan activity from an industrial standpoint. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is an animated television show based off of the My Little Pony line of toys and animated works. Although this show was originally meant to target younger children, specifically girls, it had phenomenally gained a mature male audience who call themselves “bronies”. Emerging from the popular Internet forum of 4chan, bronies have formed a subculture of males who share a common appreciation for all media and commodities related to MLP: FIM, with the reasoning that this show not only has notable animations, but also focuses on the “idea of excitement, of happiness, of joy, of friendship, and of magic” (Wenger). Bronies are arguably one of the largest fandoms on the Internet; according to the “herd census” online survey, approximately between 4.0% and 6.8% of the internet-using US population strongly identify as bronies, or approximately 7 to 12.4 million people (Herd Census). Equestria Daily, a fan website dedicated to MLP: FIM that was created after bronies had been temporarily banished from 4chan, has over 250 million page views up to date (Equestria Daily). What differentiates fans from regular viewers of media texts is that fans usually have a “sustained emotional and physical engagement with a particular narrative universe—an engagement that visualizes a noncommercial, shared ownership with the media company that holds the commercial, legal property rights” (Shefrin). Thus, fans are active participants of the media texts they consume; by decoding corporations’ media texts, fans create and recreate new meanings from these texts. Although industries would normally interpret the appropriation of their intellectual properties as copyright infringement, Hasbro, the creators of My Little Pony, actively reciprocates and engages with their brony audience. To facilitate and to profit from their expanding audience pools, Hasbro incorporates elements from online brony fan communities into the show. This is epitomized through fan-created pony, “Derpy Hooves”. Creators of MLP: FIM took immediate notice of their massive and unexpected fan following. The Internet not only allows bronies to easily exchange thoughts on the MLP: FIM products, but it also helps industries track their audience’s feedback. "As soon as the episode airs, I can go online and see people's responses in real time," says Jayson Thiessen, supervising director for MLP: FSM, "I can actually watch them watch the show and see their comments” (Turner). This reciprocal relation is personified through “Derpy Hooves”, a once miniscule background character whom audiences transformed into an Internet meme and eventually got excorporated back into the show with actual history, personality, and speaking parts (Broverman). The Internet meme of Derpy Hooves arose when people noticed a pony with crisscrossed eyes in the background of a scene in the pilot episode. Although this was a simple animation error, fans became obsessed with this distorted pony and identified it as “Derpy Hooves” (based on the word “derp” which is also another Internet meme for a specific facial expression that represents stupidity or clumsiness). Fans began to engage with this insignificant background character, even creating fan fiction for Derpy Hooves that involves him being the mail carrier of Equestria, which is the setting of the show. Realizing the ironic popularity of Derpy Hooves, Laura Faust, the executive producer of the show, gave the brony fans homage by incorporating Derpy Hooves into the show, even giving him the role as the mail carrier with his crisscrossed eyes as dictated by the fans (Turner). Through the Internet, fans are able to influence the production of the show, which Jenkin refers to as grassroots convergence. Bronies epitomize the concept of grassroots convergence, which is “the increasingly central roles that digitally empowered consumers play in shaping the production, distribution, and reception of media content” (Jenkins, Fans 146). With the help of the Internet, Bronies can openly leave feedback or specific concerns to Hasbro of anything related to the My Little Pony products. This freedom allows audiences to actively participate in the mass produced commodities of the show. For instance, fans of MLP: FIM often complain about the inaccuracies and poor quality of official Hasbro toy collectibles. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, “some bronies disdain Hasbro's Pony figurines, which they find too commercial and not ‘show- accurate’” (Vira). Due to Hasbro’s lack of desirable collectibles, bronies turn to fan-made products, depriving Hasbro of possible revenue for their intellectual properties. However, Hasbro does not stop these fan-made sells, instead Hasbro enforces a “hands-off” policy, allowing fans to create their own unofficial products (Griffiths). Because of the immense influence bronies have on the revenue of MLP: FIM, Hasbro is forced to accommodate with their niche audience, giving them freedoms of “free use” rather than ultimately to sue their potential audience. Overall, Hasbro has benefitted from toy sales (Vira). Thus, bronies are both consumers and criticizers of the franchise, fulfilling the binary roles of a fandom. Fandoms, as a participatory culture, transform the experience of media consumption into the production of new texts through active engagements. According to Jenkins, “for many media producers, who still operate within the old logic of the commodity culture, fandom represents a potential loss of control over their intellectual property” (Jenkins, Fans 146). However, through this contemporary media environment of the Internet, “fair use” becomes more of a practical decision for MLP: FIM producers. To promote the brand and facilitate broad audiences, Hasbro chooses a more liberal stance on their intellectual properties, giving fans leeway for fan productions without threats of copyright infringement. Also, due to the mass medium of the Internet, it becomes harder to control property that freely travels through virtual cyberspace, so it becomes more of a practicality measure than a legal response to allow for “fair use”. Despite not being the original targeted audience of Hasbro, bronies influence the production values and contents of the show. Yet, there must be a maintained balance between fan expectations and industrial pressures. No party should supersede the other. With the inclusion of fan service and incorporating fan-made productions, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, although sacrificing some degree of their intellectual property, successfully engages with its fans, ultimately bringing success to the industry. Thus, the legal battles between corporations and fans no longer apply to situations where the line between consumers and producers is blurred, because in the end both fans and industry leaders dangle on each other in such round-a-bout way. Works Cited Broverman, Aaron. "'My Little Pon'y Not Just For Girls Anymore: Meet The Bronies." The Blog. Huffington Post, 23 2012. Web. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-broverman/bronies-my-little- pony_b_2005566.html>. Brony Herd Census & State of the Herd Report. Web. 5 Nov 2012. <http://herdcensus.com/>. Equestria Daily. Web. 5 Nov 2012. <http://www.equestriadaily.com/>. Griffiths, Daniel. "SOPA, Skyrim and My Little Pony - Infringement is Magic?." Forbes. 19 2012: n. page. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2012/01/19/skyrim-ponies-sopa/>.
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