A Study On Affective Labor Of Fans On Online Literature Platforms In The Case Of Qidian Reading Fandom

Due to the advancement of media technologies,platform development and the cultural industry as a whole have become trends.Online literature enthusiasts now congregate on the platform for online literature.The trend of "fanization" of online literature has gained popularity.Fans’initial linear and static reading habits have evolved into a dynamic affective labor practice that is exemplified by interactive creation,tipping,voting,operation management,etc.,transforming online novel fans into a positive affective labor.This study takes the affective labor theory proposed by Hart and Nigel as the theoretical foundation,closely examines fans’work practices,and attempts to understand why fans actively engage in labor and provide their own strength to the platform.This study uses the Yuewen Group,a pioneer in online literature,as its research platform and 10 online novel fan communities,including Lord of Secrets,as its primary research objects.Participatory observation and in-depth interviews are two methods of collecting data.For the selection of interview subjects,purposive sampling and snowball sampling methods are used to select a total of 20 fans.Second,the pertinent text resources are compiled and examined utilizing the thematic analysis method.Firstly,Qidian Reading awakens fans’ feelings and fosters fans’ affective expression through its media affordances,enabling fans to create a fan community by imagining themselves as intimately connected to the virtual characters and authors of online novels.The platform’s mobile affordances has simultaneously heightened followers’ affection and shown a growing alienation tendency.Qidian Reading increased the mobilization of attachment by "creating stars" in order to encourage the affective labor of fans.Secondly,the thematic analysis of the interview data reveals that the primary drivers of fans’ voluntary work are three ones:acquiring feeling sensibility reaffirming their identity,and attaining life power,which speaks to the subjectivity and initiative of fans.Finally,Qidian Reading also uses the affection and subjectivity of its fans to manage its workforce.The three basic categories of fan work are management labor,creative labor,and data labor.By assessment,incentive,and quantitative mechanisms,Qidian Reading develops the "labor consent" of fans,encouraging their "voluntary labor" and turning them into the "free labor" of the platform.Yet,the platform’s labor control partially undermines fans’ subjectivity,leading to subject alienation and affection alienation in affective labor.Nonetheless,as a whole,fans continue to exhibit a high subjectivity in affective labor,suggesting that non-alienation labor may be possible in the future.