Now let me start out by saying that in writing this, I find myself in an unexpected position. I am by no means an American Idol “fan,” let alone a “loyal,” so by no means am I fighting for or protecting my own kind. In fact, I am pretty sure I have never seen a full episode of the show, but I have seen enough to understand what Henry Jenkins is talking about in Convergence Culture when he says “audience participation is a way of getting American Idol viewers more deeply invested, shoring up their loyalty to the franchise and its sponsors” (70). Let me make myself clear though, by “understand what he means,” I am not saying I agree. I do believe that the participatory nature of the show does help earn more dedicated fans, but i don’t believe that it some evil corporate plot to brainwash you into buying coca cola and American Idol tote bags. ALmost every TV show has done some sort of participatory promotion or aspect at some point to get more people interested, its just another method the industry uses. It seems like common sense almost, let the people get involved if you want them to get interested.
Here are some other examples I’ve found of the use of fan participation in television:
Here at Madmenyourself.com and Southparkstudios.com, you can literally put yourself into the world of the show, by making an animated version of yourself. In the case of South Park, you even have the chance of getting your animated self put in the show. DO I think that these shows are trying to trick you into buying merchandise and supporting the franchise? No, to be honest, I do not. I feel that yes it is promotional, so it is to promote their show, it is also just what the fans want. We live in a world where people want to be involved in the shows they enjoy and they want the content, to span across as many platforms as possible.
Also, since American Idol’s success, many shows have implemented audience voting techniques such as America’s Best Dance Crew, Top Chef, Project Runway, and many more.
So to sum it all up, I am not on board with Jenkins implying that the use of audience participation is just some trap to suck you into buying things and supporting the sponsors. Feel free to disagree, I am a fan of Convergence Culture so I may be easily swayed to Jenkins’s ways, just not by his own convincing…
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Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture. New York: NYU Press
