This weeks screening included documentary on the 45th anniversary of Jaws the movie. This happening just this past summer. Also there was a Jaws WeMake 45th anniversary tribute to celebrate. This was a very cool way to get the public and the Jaws fans their opinion out there on the already great movie. They recreated parts of the movie and was very interesting to see how they wanted parts of the movie to look like and it was a amazing to see. Getting the public involved in my opinion is always a great idea not only for your current movie or business but for the future of your company. Building on an already huge fanbase will help them for their future movies.
Another topic we covered this week in class is the topic of Fandoms. Fandoms are a really huge aspect of pretty much anything. There is a fan group for almost everything nowadays. Weather it be a fan group for a movie such as Jaws or a fan group for a video game like Call of Duty. There are huge fanbases and these fanbases can sometimes get out of hand but that’s what makes them special. These fan group will most likely not only buy that product but will always buy that product. Xbox fans will always buy an Xbox and PlayStation fans will always buy a PlayStation and never consider the other. They have a loyalty to these brands and will always keep that loyalty to them unless the company does something negative to lose that loyalty. Companies acknowledge this fandom and will sometimes look to their fans and see what they want to see in upcoming products. As a business student this is always an amazing opportunity for businesses to grow and better develop their products because they always have a test group to go to and confirm products with.
A huge example of a fandom that can get very crazy is sports teams. Sporting teams can have very intense fan bases that will be loyal to them to the end. Growing up some kids grow up into families that sports are crazy important to them and they are somewhat forced to be fans of that team. Others find a team they like or a player and they will go all out to show their support for their team. In the photo show is a group of college basketball fans at a Duke basketball game. They are known as the Cameron Crazies because of how hard they go to show their support for the Duke Blue Devils.
My questions to the audience
Are you part of a fandom if so which one?
Do you have a loyalty to any one brand or product?
Mass Media and American Life 
I am not a part of any fandom. I also do not feel any sort of loyalty to any brand or product. I recognize that in the world today, this is fairly rare. There is plenty of access to media but I do not participate in any of the fandom culture. I like a few TV shows but I keep that as something for just myself. I don’t look for comradery surrounding these shows I like. And I especially do not go out searching for fandoms on the internet.
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I am not apart of any fandom. I like how you included sports team as an example of fandoms that can be very extreme and are commonly family-derived. I do feel like I have a loyalty to certain brands that I trust and use often, especially clothing brands which is in some ways, similar to being apart of a ‘fandom’.
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To answer your first discussion question, I am part of a fandom. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a team in the National Football League and I’ve been a fan now for over 8 years. I honestly could not tell you where the attraction grew from but I now feel remotely wired to the team.
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