ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of participation and engagement among participants of a fandom-based virtual community. Netnography, a specialized from of ethnography adapted to the unique computer-mediated environment, was utilized to analyze posts collected from the Hogwarts Running Club (HRC), a closed Facebook group. The HRC was a virtual community with over 16,000 members that was founded in 2014 to provide a space for members to share stories, experiences, and passion for running and Harry Potter. The text of the collected posts was coded thematically. Four themes emerged: You’re a Wizard Harry: Shared Passion for Harry Potter, Running in the Rain: Engagement Despite Challenges, Hogwarts is Home: Identity, and Pepper-up Potion: Improvements in Mental and Physical Health and Well-being. As a conceptual framework, the themes aligned with the Serious Leisure Perspective. HRC members whose posts were analyzed exhibited one or more of the six characteristics of Serious Leisure with all six characteristics being represented within the dataset. Findings suggested that virtual communities, as a leisure setting, can facilitate Serious Leisure engagement and should be considered a viable setting for Serious Leisure participation.

摘要

本研究的目的是探索基于粉丝圈的虚拟社区参与者对参与和参与的看法。网络志是一种专门针对独特的计算机介导环境的民族志，用于分析从霍格沃茨跑步俱乐部 (HRC)（一个封闭的 Facebook 群组）收集的帖子。HRC 是一个拥有 16,000 多名成员的虚拟社区，成立于 2014 年，旨在为成员提供一个分享故事、经历以及对跑步和哈利波特的热情的空间。收集的帖子的文本按主题编码。出现了四个主题：你是巫师哈利：对哈利波特的共同热情， 雨中奔跑：尽管面临挑战，但 霍格沃茨是家：身份，以及提神药水：改善身心健康和福祉。作为一个概念框架，这些主题与严肃休闲视角相一致。其帖子被分析的 HRC 成员表现出严重休闲的六个特征中的一个或多个，所有六个特征都在数据集中表示。调查结果表明，虚拟社区作为一种休闲环境，可以促进严肃休闲的参与，应被视为严肃休闲参与的可行环境。