![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Parody accounts are prevalent on Twitter, offering irreverent interpretations of public figures, fictional characters and more. These accounts post comments framed within the context of their fictional universes or stereotypes of their subjects, responding in-character to topical events. This article positions parody accounts as a ritualised social media practice, an extension of fan practices and irreverent Internet culture. By providing a typology of parody accounts and analysing the topicality of selected parody accounts’ tweets, the research examines how these accounts contribute to topical discussions. In-character framing of topical comments allows parody accounts to offer original interpretations of breaking news that receive more attention than their other tweets. The presence and longevity of parody accounts underline the importance of humour on social media, including within news and topical coverage.
Keywords Fandom, humour, irreverence, news and commentary, parody, play, rituals, social media, tropes, Twitter
References
|
Baym, NK (2013) The perils and pleasures of tweeting with fans. In: Weller, K, Bruns, A, Burgess, J. (eds) Twitter and Society. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 221–236. Google Scholar | |
|
Blasiola, S, Carviou, J (2013) #Lightsout: audiencing and ad hoc community formation in the Super Bowl discussion network. Paper presented at IR14: appropriation and resistance, Denver, CO, 23–26 October 2013. Google Scholar | |
|
Booth, P (2010) Digital Fandom: New Media Studies. New York: Peter Lang. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bucher, T (2014) About a bot: hoax, fake, performance art. M/C Journal 17(3). Available at: http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/814 (accessed 20 September 2014). Google Scholar | |
|
Burgess, J (2008) ‘All your Chocolate Rain are belong to us’? Viral video, YouTube and the dynamics of participatory culture. In: Lovink, G, Niederer, S (eds) Video Vortex Reader: Responses to YouTube. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures, pp. 101–109. Google Scholar | |
|
Burgess, J, Green, J (2009) YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. Cambridge: Polity Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Deller, R (2011) Twittering on: audience research and participation using Twitter. Participations 8(1). Available at: http://www.participations.org/Volume8/Issue1/deller.htm (accessed 20 September 2014). Google Scholar | |
|
Driscoll, K, Ananny, M, Bar, F. (2013) Big Bird, binders, and bayonets: humor and live-tweeting during the 2012 US Presidential debates. Paper presented at IR14: appropriation and resistance, Denver, CO, 23–26 October 2013. Google Scholar | |
|
Fournier, S, Avery, J (2011) The uninvited brand. Business Horizons 54(3): 193–207. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Gray, J (2003) New audiences, new textualities: anti-fans and non-fans. International Journal of Cultural Studies 6(1): 64–81. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Haig, F (2014) Guilty pleasures: Twilight, snark and critical fandom. In: Clayton, W, Harman, S (eds) Screening Twilight: Critical Approaches to a Cinematic Phenomenon. London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 11–25. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Harman, S, Jones, B (2013) Fifty shades of ghey: snark fandom and the figure of the anti-fan. Sexualities 16(8): 951–968. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Harrington, S (2013) Tweeting about the telly: live TV, audiences, and social media. In: Weller, K, Bruns, A, Burgess, J. (eds) Twitter and Society. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 237–247. Google Scholar | |
|
Hartley, J (2012) Digital Futures for Cultural and Media Studies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar | |
|
Highfield, T (2013) Following the yellow jersey: tweeting the Tour de France. In: Weller, K, Bruns, A, Burgess, J. (eds) Twitter and Society. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 249–261. Google Scholar | |
|
Highfield, T, Harrington, S, Bruns, A (2013) Twitter as a technology for audiencing and fandom: the #Eurovision phenomenon. Information, Communication & Society 16(3): 315–339. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Hutchins, B (2011) The acceleration of media sport culture: Twitter, telepresence and online messaging. Information, Communication & Society 14(2): 237–257. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Jenkins, H (2006) Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Jenkins, H, Ford, S, Green, J (2013) Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. New York: New York University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Johnson, A (2014) Voicing technological objects on Twitter: from @big_ben_clock to @SelfAwareROOMBA. Paper presented at IR15: boundaries and intersections, Daegu, South Korea, 21–24 October 2014. Google Scholar | |
|
Kalviknes Bore, I-L, Hickman, J (2013) Continuing The West Wing in 140 characters or less: improvised simulation on Twitter. Journal of Fandom Studies 1(2): 219–238. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Leaver, T (2013) Olympic trolls: mainstream memes and digital discord? Fibreculture 22. Available at: http://twentytwo.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-163-olympic-trolls-mainstream-memes-and-digital-discord/ (accessed 20 September 2014). Google Scholar | |
|
Leavitt, A (2013) From #FollowFriday to #YOLO: exploring the cultural salience of Twitter memes. In: Weller, K, Bruns, A, Burgess, J. (eds) Twitter and Society. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 137–154. Google Scholar | |
|
Magee, RM, Sebastian, M, Novak, A. (2013) #TwitterPlay: a case study of fan roleplaying online. In: CSCW‘13: Proceedings of the 2013 conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work companion, San Antonio, TX, 23–27 February 2013, pp. 199–202. ACM. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Marwick, AE, boyd, d (2011) To see and be seen: celebrity practice on Twitter. Convergence 17(2): 139–158. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Milner, RM (2013) Hacking the social: Internet memes, identity antagonism, and the logic of lulz. Fibreculture 22. Available at: http://twentytwo.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-156-hacking-the-social-internet-memes-identity-antagonism-and-the-logic-of-lulz/ (accessed 20 September 2014). Google Scholar | |
|
Miltner, KM (2014) ‘There’s no place for lulz on LOLCats’: the role of genre, gender, and group identity in the interpretation and enjoyment of an Internet meme. First Monday 19(8) Available at: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/5391/4103 (accessed 20 September 2014). Google Scholar | |
|
Nooney, L, Portwood-Stacer, L (2014) One does not simply: an introduction to the special issue on Internet memes. Journal of Visual Culture 13(3): 248–252. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Rodríguez Ortega, V (2013) Spoof trailers, hyperlinked spectators & the web. New Media & Society 16(1): 149–164. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Shifman, L (2012) An anatomy of a YouTube meme. New Media & Society 14(2): 187–203. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Shifman, L (2014) Memes in Digital Culture. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Twitter (2014) Twitter Help Center: parody, commentary, and fan account policy. Available at: https://support.twitter.com/groups/56-policies-violations/topics/236-twitter-rules-policies/articles/106373-parody-commentary-and-fan-account-policy Google Scholar | |
|
Vis, F (2013) Twitter as a reporting tool for breaking news: journalists tweeting the 2011 UK riots. Digital Journalism 1(1): 27–47. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Wiggins, BE, Bowers, GB (2014) Memes as genre: a structurational analysis of the memescape. New Media & Society. Available at: http://nms.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/05/23/1461444814535194 (accessed 20 September 2014). Google Scholar | |
|
Wilson, J (2011) Playing with politics: political fans and Twitter faking in post-broadcast democracy. Convergence 17(4): 445–461. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Wood, MM, Baughman, L (2012) Glee fandom and Twitter: something new, or more of the same old thing? Communication Studies 63(3): 328–344. Google Scholar | Crossref |
