TY - JOUR
T1 - Enthusiasm, trust and its erosion in mediated politics
T2 - On fans of Obama and the Liberal Democrats
AU - Sandvoss, Cornel
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - This article explores the interplay of political enthusiasm as a form of fandom and the creation and disappearance of trust as a result of the evolving relationship between fans and their objects of fandom. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with supporters of Barack Obama and the UK Liberal Democrats, the article illustrates how the bond between fans and their political fan object is built in the highly polysemic environment of convergence media in which audiences actively construct textual boundaries. Based on projective and self-reflective readings, enthusiasts of given political causes, actors or parties thus build an affective attachment to their fan object which allows for the creation of trust in its perceived proximity. If such readings become unsustainable over time, this affective bond and its associated levels of trust are eroded.
AB - This article explores the interplay of political enthusiasm as a form of fandom and the creation and disappearance of trust as a result of the evolving relationship between fans and their objects of fandom. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with supporters of Barack Obama and the UK Liberal Democrats, the article illustrates how the bond between fans and their political fan object is built in the highly polysemic environment of convergence media in which audiences actively construct textual boundaries. Based on projective and self-reflective readings, enthusiasts of given political causes, actors or parties thus build an affective attachment to their fan object which allows for the creation of trust in its perceived proximity. If such readings become unsustainable over time, this affective bond and its associated levels of trust are eroded.
KW - fans
KW - Liberal Democrats
KW - Obama
KW - political communication
KW - political enthusiasm
KW - trust
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859246716&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/journal/european-journal-communication
U2 - 10.1177/0267323111435296
DO - 10.1177/0267323111435296
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84859246716
VL - 27
SP - 68
EP - 81
JO - European Journal of Communication
JF - European Journal of Communication
SN - 0267-3231
IS - 1
ER -