I.“BreatheHeavy. Com – The Number One Britney Spears Fansite With The Best Britney Spears News, Photos, and Media”
http://www.breatheheavy.com/exhale/viewthread.php?tid=142087
The site seems to be pretty popular. There is a list of tour dates and locations on the home page, as well as large photos that lead to the most recent news concerning Britney Spears. One of the stories I looked at was that Britney may appear in court to testify in a conservatorship-related case. I don’t know much about this topic, but one of the main arguments in the fan posts about this topic is whether or not Britney called lawyer, Jon Eardley, about the conservatorship issue.
Based on posts, there are fans of both gender, however it seems that there are more females.
It’s difficult to get an idea of their age because I am not a member of this fan site and also I don’t think age is information that people willingly give over the internet…
The fan site has data….? Amazing!
Averages:
187.51 posts per member
103,065.29 posts per forum
-119.78 replies per thread
1,532.97 posts per day
8.20 new members per day
57.31% of all members have posted.
Based on the data it seems that the fans who use this site are, for the most part, devoted fans who frequently have something to say about Britney’s current status.
II. Britney Spears Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/britneyspears
how could I possibly have forgotten about facebook as a place for Britney spears fans to gather? What a horrible ethnographer I am…
Well congratulations Britney, you have 1,159,883 fans.
Majority of her fans “look” like they are in either high school or college. They also range from different places, a few were from France, Egypt, Italy, and the U.S. There are male fans, but majority are girls. I’d predict a 1:10 boy : girl fan ratio.
The discussions did not start until November 2008. The first discussion post was made on November 7, 2008. I wonder why her face book discussions are so recent? It could be directly related to the date that her latest album, Circus, came out. Okay, Circus came out on December 2, 2008.
III. Britney Spears Myspace
http://www.myspace.com/britneyspears
a member of myspace since 10/20/2003
Uses this site to advertise her music in playlists and music videos. Also, she has chat boxes and a “b-line” so that fans can talk to her?...she also has an email list.
Fan count on myspace is 571,356 fans. I wonder if this number is lower than the Facebook number because they might have overlapped. For instance, maybe Facebook came out so that less people went on myspace and they signed up to be a Britney fan on Facebook instead.
Just like on Facebook, the myspace fan base is of both genders. However, on myspace, it looks like there is a more even ratio of girls to boys as Britney fans who make posts.
After looking through some of the posts that people have made about Britney Spears and the problems she is facing. Some people view Britney as intelligent, others don’t. Some just like the sound of her music, other just like the way she looks. Some people are just concerned about her health and her family, others think she is just doing the best with the situation she is in. I wonder what it means to truly be a fan of Britney Spears? Is it looking out for her best interest in your own opinion, or is it about just enjoying the music she produces and supporting her musical endeavors? Should fans really be that involved in an artist’s personal life?
I liked the analysis of specific online Britney fan pages for this set of fieldnotes. I was surprised to read that some Britney fans, fans that would outwardly show their love for Britney by friending her or the like, could think that she is unintelligent. I guess I was under the assumption that all devoted Britney fans would see her as this perfect angel who is merely being harassed and tortured by the media and constant paparazzi.
ReplyDeleteI like the question that you pose: What makes a true Britney fan? I think that because the audience not only hears a singer's music, but sees the singer's appearance in concerts and television promos, there is an added element of being represented as a complete person (with rocky romances, weight issues, etc.) to everyone. Fans might naturally want to know about Britney's personal life because it will make their knowledge of her more whole.
As an on-and-off Britney fan myself, I was intrigued by the information you've found. The gender issue strikes me the most, however. One would think that Britney's new, sexed up image would bring her a larger male fanbase than a 1:10 ratio. It would be interesting to get some statistics from an older Britney fan site from the Baby One More Time days when Britney portrayed a more covert sexuality.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the issue of Britney's music. The reason I think of myself as an on-and-off fan, is that when Baby One More Time first came out, I listened to Britney 24/7. Now, I only find myself listening to her songs at dance parties. It might be interesting to see how this shift has affected her fanbase. Do younger kids still listen to the old stuff with a bubblegum vibe? Or have the tastes of preteens changed since I bought Britney CDs?
Comment from Nancy (sorry the comment thing wasn't working from my blog so i did it from my joint blog)
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was really cool the sites that you found. You did a great job at analyzing the different main points you could call them of each site and what its best attributes are. Maybe it is just me but i find that some of the numbers such as the amount of posts per day on the biggest fan site is just ridiculous! Over a thousand people are posting about Britney Spears on this one site a day is a cool fact to know. Keep up the good work and i am having fun checking out these sites! I look forward to your final post for more info (being that I am a Britney fan).
It's interesting to see how the internet is used so heavily by artists and fans alike. Also its interesting how the fans on these sites seem to treat Britney more like a celebrity than an artist. Why is it that for Britney her looks, intelligence, mistakes, family, etc get discussed more than her actual music?
ReplyDeleteI will admit that I used to be a pretty hardcore Britney fan, and I wonder what the differences between her previous fan base and her newer one. If they overlap, the make up of both, etc. Love the topic!
ReplyDelete