ABSTRACT
The popularization of the Internet, the participatory possibilities of Web 2.0 and the increased availability of video capture and editing software paved the path for fandom to go online. The innovations enabled fans to more easily participate in diverse socio-cultural contexts and provided fans already involved in creating fan productions with a broader audience. For Cornel Sandvoss, the notion of fans in popular and academic thought has emerged drastically since the 1980s. Whereas fans were initially considered as psychologically and culturally dysfunctional, they became active agents who operated in the margins and were able to challenge hegemonic ideologies embedded in popular culture. An inquiry into the ideological dimension of online fandom that is centered on gayness is motivated by the emancipatory project of queer theory. A combination of both textual and reception analyses would provide more insights into how heteronormativity is confirmed and/or resisted in the different dimensions that form the fan community centred on fan recaptured videos.
