Loading...
“I found what I needed, which was a supportive community”: An ethnographic study of shared information practices in an online cosplay community
Vardell, Emily Wang, Ting Thomas, Paul A.
Vardell, Emily
Wang, Ting
Thomas, Paul A.
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
Purpose:
This study explored the information practices of cosplayers, as well as the social norms, social types and information infrastructure of an online cosplay Facebook group, the Rey Cosplay Community (RCC).
Design/Methodology/Approach:
To better understand individual behavior, the authors made use of ethnographic methods and semi-structured interviews. Observation of the RCC was combined with information gleaned from select participant interviews.
Findings:
The results suggest that the RCC can be conceived of as an information community where fans obtain and share information about cosplay costume making. Sufficient and well-organized information and positive community culture greatly help community members make their costumes.
Originality/value:
This works serves as a bridge between fan studies and information science research in its exploration of online communities, shared information practices and creating non-toxic virtual environments. It also lends support to the idea that positivity, respect for community rules and a tight-knit connection between members play essential roles in building a non-toxic fan and information community.
Description
Date
2021-08-13
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Emerald
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Community of practice, Cosplay, Cosplayers, Facebook, Fan studies, Information practices, Online communities, Social media, Social networking sites
Citation
Vardell, E., Wang, T. and Thomas, P.A. (2021), "“I found what I needed, which was a supportive community”: an ethnographic study of shared information practices in an online cosplay community", Journal of Documentation. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-02-2021-0034