The rise of social media, changes in the digital landscape, and innovations in interactivity have transformed the ways in which films, TV, and books are advertised.
As a result, audiences are no longer simply passive consumers of stories. Instead, they are shaping the conversation around them. New media no longer relies on traditional marketing campaigns to get it off the ground – a viral moment on Instagram could be the thing that launches a new story to instant hype status.
A single reaction can reach thousands of people, and now fans have the power to turn a new release into a cultural phenomenon like never before. Whether it’s hunting for easter eggs, participating in online memes and challenges, or creating their own trends, fans are a crucial part of the entertainment experience, and the traditional word of mouth style of promotion has taken on a new meaning with a wealth of new mediums. In this article, we explore just three ways that online fandom communities have become part of the story.
1. Trend-setting movie moments
Movie marketing is an industry in its own right, and marketing teams across the world couldn’t have imagined a better campaign in the summer of 2023 than Barbenheimer. The movement saw fans celebrate the topical contrast of the two films; a biopic of the father of the atomic bomb, and a fantasy-comedy about a Barbie doll who enters the real world.
The viral Barbenheimer trend saw fans agree that the two films, which debuted in cinemas on the same day, should be viewed as a double bill.
The trend proved powerful publicity for both films, which grossed a collective $2.5 billion worldwide.
2. Readers in digital spaces
In the publishing world, more readers are buying books than ever before, and many suspect that this is in part due to the rise of platforms like BookTok and Bookstagram.
These are digital communities where readers recommend books, share their reactions, and discover new authors.
And for some, this has seen independent authors going viral. Dungeon Crawler Carl is a popular science fiction LitRPG series which was initially independently published by its author Matt Dinniman, until it was acquired by Ace Books in 2024.
The series, which is on its eighth instalment so far out of a planned ten, has now sold over 13 million copies thanks to its viral status on online platforms, demonstrating perfectly how word of mouth online can determine the next big thing.
3. Interactive content and online fandom communities
The online realm has become a place where fans can interact with one another, as well as their favourite creators.
The Marvel fandom is a great example, where fans’ love for and knowledge about the universe goes so far as to become competitive. Reddit and Discord threads rage with debate, while some fans choose to test their knowledge – and others’ – with online quizzes (FlexiQuiz is one such tool for remote or in-person quizzing to share the experience with others).
Meanwhile, interactive features go beyond comment sections on social media, with functions such as polls and Q&As which are used not only by fans, but by their favourite creators, to transform groups of fans into true communities.
These are just three ways in which the strength of online fandoms has transformed our individual passions for film, TV, literature and more can be shared among hundreds of thousands of people.