“I found what I needed, which was a supportive community”: An ethnographic study of shared information practices in an online cosplay community
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Issue Date
2021-08-13Author
Vardell, Emily
Wang, Ting
Thomas, Paul A.
Publisher
Emerald
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Rights
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
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.
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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
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