Collective Intelligence and Fandom

Collective intelligence, according to Jenkins (2009), is the capacity to combine knowledge and notes in an attempt to reach a common goal. The goal is not necessarily always an academic one, as Jenkins uses the example of Pokémon fans and fans of The Matrix. They choose to pool their information about their topic in order to further understand the work of the artist. It makes sense why Jenkins would use the examples of fans, because collective intelligence seems to be directly connected to fandom.

The concept of fandom literally means the state of being a fan of someone or something. Nowhere does fandom manifest more than on the popular blogging website, Tumblr. This website has over 200 million blogs (Smith, 2014), and a good portion of that is dedicated to people dissecting their favourite television shows, movies, video games, etc. and sharing their theories with their fellow fans. This is where many people choose to develop fan fiction and post their fan art.

One example of collective intelligence that I have come across on Tumblr is actually a creative writing exercise wherein two authors come together to do something they call, “fic tennis”. Tumblr users allrightfine (Jamie) and gallifreyburning (Allison) have been playing this game for a few years now. How it works is that one of the users – let’s say Jamie were to start – will start a fan fiction story, usually based around popular science fiction show Doctor Who, after writing an introduction and initial set-up of the story, Jamie will post the writing and tag Allison. At this point Allison will continue the story from where Jamie left off.

This combined effort is a creative representation of collective intelligence. It may not be terribly academic, but the two women are working together and combining their mutual knowledge of Doctor Who to create this piece of fan work.

With applications such as this, how can collective intelligence be seen as anything but useful? It is a skill that can be difficult for people to attain due to people not necessarily working well together. But, as they say, two heads are better than one.

Works Cited

Smith, C. (2014, January 26). 70 Amazing Tumblr Facts and Statistics (April 2015). Retrieved December 6, 2015. 

Allrightfine. (n.d.) well, if you insist. Tumblr.com. Retrieved December 6, 2015.

Gallifreyburning. (n.d.) shining world of the seven systems. Tumblr.com. Retrieved December 6, 2015.

Jenkins, H (et al). (2009) "Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21^st Century". The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts.