Over the past century of technology driven storytelling, our culture has taken the most popular stories and stretched them across multiple platforms. From page, to screen, to forum, the entertainment industry’s interest in these transmedia and adapted properties have risen in the past two decades, as seen most evidently by the rise of expanded franchises and universes, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Harry Potter  (Heick, 2017). As these transmedia properties have taken over our newsfeeds, with audiences clamoring online to discuss the newest plot twists that happened in the most recent episode, what was once just a cinematic event, has become a daily part of pop culture. Bennett explains, “It’s just as important to acknowledge the wonder of that as it is to honor what happens when the experience gets messy (Bennett, 2019).” In an age of 24/7 connection, fandoms are a microcosm of how we engage with our culture, specifically transmedia properties. Some are passionate to the point of action and investment; others are blissfully just enjoying good television. However, in the age of constant communication, fans are more passionate than ever about the stories that they have a specific and undeniable relationship to, and the entertainment industry is well aware of it. I argue that further observing these fandoms through a specific transmedia property (Game of Thrones) and computer-mediated communication theory, will allow a better understanding of how fans are impacting participatory media platforms, the internet, and the larger entertainment industry as a whole as these adapted properties become the new storytelling obsession.

In August of 2004, Starbucks was struck with a crisis of comfort when a mother was asked to relocate in their café for breastfeeding publicly and multiple customers had complained. In an effort to best address the issue, I would approach Starbuck’s public relations crisis with Karl Weick’s sense-making. In organizational sense-making, Weick’s theory understands that as with any event, participants and organizations do not always view circumstances through the same lens and thus a wider approach may need to be taken to resolve it. As Starbucks representative, Ms. Lincoff, and the Starbucks leadership is already doing, understanding the potential impacts of the crisis for the company’s future is just as important as managing the crisis itself. In order to continue navigating this crisis, I will utilize Weick’s sense-making theory to best understand the situation as of Ms. Lincoff’s current circumstance and what next steps can be taken to minimize impact and prepare for future events like this in the future.

As April 2019 approached, the internet was buzzing with the news of multiple major franchises ending their narratives within mere weeks of each other. Game of Thrones and the Marvel cinematic universe (MCU) are two of the largest franchises in pop-culture history with about ten years of success after success. As both approached their premiere dates, fans began the defense against spoilers while pitching their theories for the final stretches. With the emergence of hyper-fan culture and these new unique communication twists, the new media landscape and its corporate giants faces a new set of peculiar challenges. In this paper, we will observe the GOT and Endgame properties, their fandom’s experience with theories and spoilers, and how this new wave of communication challenges the relationships with fan audiences.

 With the rise of social media, came the rise of content creation and a desire to connect with audiences in a new and fresh way. The desire to build consistent relationships with audiences gave way to hashtags, blogs, and the focus of this paper, podcasts. According to HowStuffWorks.com, podcasting began its rise in 2004 after Adam Curry and Dave Winer developed software to “download Internet radio broadcasts to his iPod (Watson, 2005).” Over the past 15 years, podcasting has quickly become one of the largest content hubs via the internet, with companies, organizations, or average-joes starting their own content streams online. These podcasts are just one of many ways companies, organizations, and audiences connect through content, bringing convergence culture into the new media age.

Appealing to audiences with different tastes of content is a rare talent in this day and age, but some specialized sites and communities have made it work. Sites, like Buzzfeed, have attracted massive diverse audiences with a wide variety of content topics and media sources, like articles, podcasts, and video. These platforms are built to appeal to audiences of all demographics, sometimes unintentionally, build communities that remain loyal to their platform. As Reed (2014) explains, early technologies were built from a default subject position of “the straight, white, middle-class, Euro-American male,” however some popular platforms are making strategic choices to include more than just the default (p. 84).

As of March 2019, I am a member of eleven different social media platforms, and I have two to four accounts on each that I for myself or manage for others. Whether we are promoting a brand or sharing personal information, the ability to shift and mold a rather convincing authentic online persona has never been easier. In this digital age, it is not surprising to see our phones loaded with the potential to reach thousands with the click of a button. Users have access to entire libraries of information with applications to assist them in becoming whoever or whatever they want to be.

In 1997, Netflix launched with a bold vision to bring watch power to the people in their homes. In the age of Blockbusters, Netflix took advantage of every opportunity to disrupt the consumption of media for the audiences. Netflix, as with many new technologies in the new millennia, challenged the new status quo of the internet. From the changes in language, like “Netflix and chill,” to the changes in how media is consumed, like binge watching, society has shifted significantly due to the technological advancements specifically when it comes to stream-able media (Deal, 2018).

Participatory platforms like Instagram and Twitter have given way to the rise of influencer culture and marketing, with the preverbal “everyman” rising as opinion leaders in growing industries. “Influencer marketing involves marketing products and services to those who have a sway over the things other people buy (Kádeková and Holienčinová, p. 91).” As influencer culture grows, the understanding of what influencers can do but the advantage of leveraging those recourses is more important than ever to those in the marketing industry.

In the digital age, it’s almost unheard of to go a day without non-digital or mobile communication. As technology has evolved, so has the way we communicate in this new digital age, especially when it comes to language. Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World by Naomi S. Baron addresses just that, focusing on not only the platforms we use to stay connected but the evolution of digital language. “With more than one-third of the world’s population using mobile phones, it’s hardly surprising that researchers of all sorts… have been studying the ways in which young and old, rich and poor, have been using these devices (Baron, p. 120).” Baron walks through platforms like Facebook and AIM to discuss how we have changed as a culture in the way we communicate, using empirical and observational data to illustrate the importance and impact language has in “an online and mobile world.”

We live in a world where, in a matter of minutes, users share the most personal pieces of information freely to strangers across the globe. With over 3,000 words in the Facebook user agreement and its use of “lay-man’s terms” language, we would hope that the respect of privacy and our personal information would be absolute. However, the realization that our information is “for sale” can often be a jarring and concerning one. We live in a society where information truly is power and there is no limit to how entities can get their hands on it.

In an effort to better understand the importance of a cohesive strategy in approaching global disasters, we’ll be discussing social media’s role in the sharing of information by public media outlets surrounding Hurricane Florence. Throughout our research, we’ll be observing the media’s ability to establish a strategy and accurately disseminate information to the public about the storm. Then, using Charmaz’s grounded theory approach, we’ll be observing emerging trends and strategy highlights that could provide valuable insight to future communication strategies surrounding natural disasters.

On October 23, 2001, Apple announced what would be a catalyst for a revolution in portable media. The iPod shifted the way century content was consumed and engaged with. Although many competitors had already produced great quality products, Apple chose to do what they do best: focus on the full experience, from unboxing to charging the device after its first use. The organization shifted what it means to listen to music with “no limits,” providing their consumers with what they considered as a singular listening experience.

In April of 2018, Marvel is set to release part one of its franchise finale, Avengers: Infinity War. The film, concluding a unprecedented 10+ year story arch, is set to break multiple box office records, following on the heels of Marvel’s most recent release, Black Panther. The fandom itself is loyal and driven to help their favorite aspects of the comic book source material make it to big screen. We see this in other trans-media genres as well, such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, with passionate fans leading the way for content to be expanded and experimented with. These niche audiences are building momentum for bigger production houses to look towards niche content for their hits, examples include 50 Shades of Gray and Ready Player One. With thousands of people daily engaging online about their favorite movies, bands, books, or shows, practically everyone is a “die-hard fan” of something. Simply to say, we’re seeing the shift right before our eyes of specific unique communities online significantly shifting mainstream culture, all with a few clicks.

Pine Valley United Methodist Church was originally established in 1961 with a small congregation of the Pine Valley Estates neighborhood in Wilmington, North Carolina. After over 50 years of consistent service and ministry to the community, the congregation has only grown and strengthened. However, as culture and theological branches of ministry have stepped out into mainstream culture (non-denominational churches, etc), traditional and classic cornerstone churches are closing their doors daily or blending with other local churches. Pine Valley at the time was no different.

In the aspect of content itself, I had originally used this topic as a discussion board post, but fell pretty hard for it and wanted to learn more about what made the messaging “miss the mark.” In diving deeper into past Youtube changes, and the state of the company itself in the eyes of Google and the media industry, it’s no wonder that Youtube seems to be walking on eggshells with their creators. With competitors like Vimeo and on-demand platforms, like Netflix, Twitch, and Alpha going after their top creators, Youtube definitely has some stiff competition when it comes to the future of the platform. However, the same could be said when Vine and Instagram premiered, and look where we are now: Youtube is still on top when it comes to shareable content.

Over the past two decades of technological growth, it’s become increasingly apparent that the human need for real connection has had to adapt to our new way of communicating. This has become even more apparent in big versus small business. The gap between consumer and provider has become increasingly narrower with companies being able to advertise directly onto someone’s phone with just a simple photo. This has made advertising for small business increasingly difficult, with ads and social media engagement becoming a necessity, and financial burden, for entrepreneurs and creatives. This concept of small business, entrepreneurial, and creative-led innovation has been largely produced with emergence of self-made content creators and digital influencers who have “upended” the status quo of “business as usual” and put the spotlight back onto the local upstarts (Duffy, p. 48). This is what broke web 1.0 into web 2.0, skyrocketing not just businesses past just promoting but actually generating content (Carney, p. 359). Luckily, with these new challenges has come sense of community, fostering an environment of small business owners not only sharing their experiences, but advice and services to benefit the whole of their communities.