Fandom and identity construction: an analysis of Thai fans' engagement with Twitter

In our digital era, fandom has become a social and cultural phenomenon, notably in Thailand. Fans are dedicated, and creating fan text (i.e., text production made by fans about their object of fandom) is one way of showing dedication and passion to the fan base. This article explores how Thai fans engage with fan text on popular social media platforms such as Twitter, and how fandom relates to identity construction among Thai fans who are online media users. The results from a selected sample comprising 100 fan tweets from four different sources, suggests five types of fan tweets, including: hypothetical interpretation, fan art, narrative concerning an anecdote regarding the source text, expression of personal opinions and feelings, and fan parody. Moreover, this article discusses fans' shared lexicon called 'fan talk,' and how fans position themselves as relatives and friends of the source texts. This article further discusses the humorous nature and the transcultural elements found in fan tweets, especially the 'Thai-ifize' method that fans use in creating fan tweets.

Pitchapa Smutradontri, Savitri Gadavanij