Resistance And Discipline Of Virtual Idol Fans

This study aims to explore the complex power dynamics between subcultural fandom and the cultural industry within the context of platform society.Using the research method of online ethnography,the study examines the case of A-SOUL fandom,focusing on the culture of "anti Fan Quan" as an analytical entry point.Drawing on Foucault’s concept of micro-power,the study investigates the formation and decline of the "anti Fan Quan" culture,as well as the power dynamics between fans and the idol industry during this process.The findings reveal that the formation of the "anti Fan Quan" culture serves as both a compensatory imagination for the lack of value and meaning in real life and a resistant practice against the instrumental rationality and commercialization of the current idol industry,where fan culture becomes alienated by data and traffic logic.This romantic and idealistic cultural identification enables A-SOUL fans to maintain a confrontational and negotiative stance towards the idol industry.However,the unexpected departure of A-SOUL members intensifies the contradiction between fans and capital.In the process of fan resistance,the idol industry utilizes visibility to discipline fans.By concealing their own visibility,capital evades responsibility,while by creating visibility for fans,it triggers internal divisions within the fandom,shifting the contradiction from fans versus capital to internal fan conflicts.The cultural identification of the "anti Fan Quan" loses its integrative power over community members,and the logic of capital,such as "speaking through data" and "winning through revenue data," becomes the default consensus among fans.In the case of A-SOUL,we can glimpse the visibility paradox that fans face in the era of platform media.On the one hand,visibility empowers marginalized minority groups with the opportunity to express themselves,but on the other hand,the visibility of platforms is backed by a set of algorithmic rules,which entangle fans in a larger network of power and discipline.The failure of the "anti Fan Quan" cultural practice still holds positive significance as it reflects the structural dilemmas in fan practices within platform society and provides insights for the benign development of fan culture and the ultimate effectiveness of "Fan Quan" governance.