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Section 1
PRACTICE INTO THEORY: FANDOM INFORMING THE ACADEMY
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1
Fans, Flouncers, Fundamentalists: Understanding Online Archers Fan Cultures
Claire Astbury
Research Motivation
The internet age, and social media in particular, provides fans with a variety of platforms and means of discussing The Archers, as well as ways to connect with each other and with people involved in the programme itself (see also, Bailey, this volume). As a listener and fan, who comments on The Archers on the DumTeeDum podcast, on Twitter and in various Facebook groups, I noticed I was making choices about where and how I commented on storylines, characters and action in Ambridge. I was interested in how others use online fan spaces and why they value the spaces they use to connect to each other and talk about the programme. In addition, there were clearly different norms and differences in language between different online fan spaces. I wanted to find out more about these differences, how they manifested and how subcultures grow amongst a broader fanbase; this chapter relays my findings.
The Research
I carried out two online surveys. One was to members of online groups and fan spaces (I will refer to this as ‘the main survey’) which took place in December 2019. It was wide-ranging and returned over a thousand responses. The second, in January 2020, specifically targeted moderators of online fan groups. Both surveys were anonymous.
In order to achieve the greatest reach for the surveys I spent several months researching as many Archers fan themed groups as I could find and joining as many groups as possible across message boards such as Reddit and Mumsnet, Facebook groups and other online spaces. I was then able to promote the survey in all these spaces, encouraging people to respond and to share it with fellow Archers fans. However, some groups are easier to locate and join than others. This means that the surveys, both of participants and moderators, cannot hope to be fully comprehensive and representative of the full breadth of fan cultures and online fan spaces.
Demographics
They're not all middle aged, knitting, Guardian readers… but a lot are.
(Comment from the participant survey)
The demographic information from the survey can only reflect those people who chose to respond and complete that section of the questionnaire. Accordingly, the sample may not be representative of the broader audience of The Archers. Indeed, the prevalence of certain age groups and genders in different social media spaces, and the propensity of different demographic groups to respond to surveys, may have directly impacted upon the demographics of respondents. The personal reach of the researcher (myself) may have influenced the number of returns from the groups within which the researcher was more active, and there is some indication that this is the case because the three Facebook groups most represented were Archers Appreciation (305), DumTeeDum (222) and Academic Archers (197).
To summarise the overall demographics for the main survey, the responses showed a significant prevalence of women over 55 who had listened to the programme for over 30 years, the detail of which is shown below. I have given responses in percentages and commented where this is not representative of some demographic information, for example where responses were from fewer than 1% of participants.
Gender
The most significant demographic result was the dominance of women within the main survey cohort: Female, 83%; Male, 15%; Prefer not to say, 2%; and Non-Binary 0.5%. Amongst group moderators, there was a different gender balance. Women were still more likely to be fan group moderators, but the ratio of men to women was very slightly closer: Female, 76%; Male, 20%; and Non-Binary, 4%.
Age
Although three people aged under 25 responded to the main survey, the majority of respondents were over 55, with the full results as follows; 26–40, 7%; 41–55, 34%; 56–70, 48%; 71 and over, 8%; Prefer not to say, 3%. The age profile of moderators was concentrated in the 41–70 range, with no over 70s represented: 26–40, 4%; 41–55, 40%; 56–70, 52%; Prefer not to say, 4%.
Time Listened to The Archers
I asked respondents about the length of time they had listened to the programme. There was a clear trend towards longer listening time, with responses rising for each ‘time-period’ group and those listening longest are more likely to have responded to the survey. It could therefore be suggested that longer term listeners are more likely to engage online (and/or answer surveys about it.) On reflection, given the 70-year history of the programme, the survey would have been better designed if the over 41-years cohort could be analysed by decade bands.
The trend for engagement offline followed the same pattern. The main survey asked whether respondents had been involved in any pre-internet fan activity, such as postal based fan clubs, events or local groups. Table 1 shows the breakdown of listening time in the main survey and the proportion of each listener group to have been an active fan pre-internet. It shows, perhaps unsurprisingly, that new listeners to the programme are unlikely to have engaged in any non-internet fan groups. Whilst those listeners who had been with the programme prior to the internet age were increasingly likely to have participated in fan activity offline, with nearly a fifth of those listening over 40 years having described pre-internet fan activity.
Table 1. Breakdown of Listening Time and Pre-Internet Active Fandom (Astbury, 2021).
| Time Listened to The Archers | % of Main Survey Respondents | % of Each Listener Group Who Declared Pre-Internet Fan Activity |
| 0–2 years | 1 | 0 |
| 3–5 years | 8 | 0 |
| 6–10 years | 9 | 1 |
| 11–20 years | 14 | 3 |
| 21–30 years | 16 | 6 |
| 31–40 years | 19 | 16 |
| 41 years and over | 32 | 18 |
Background and Location
At the instigation of one of my survey testers, Lonny Behar, I included questions about the national background and current location of Archers fans. This helped to identify how The Archers, and the fanbase around it, provides meaning for UK citizens living abroad, and for non-UK citizens who were not usually brought up with BBC radio and came to it later in life. Whilst most respondents were located in the United Kingdom (85%), and predominantly England (77%), there were participants from across the world, most notably North America/Canada which accounted for 5% of respondents. Comparing the current location and nationality of respondents (see Table 2) demonstrated that non-British residents outside of the United Kingdom were more motivated to be moderators within fan groups.
Table 2. Location and Nationality of Survey Respondents (Astbury, 2021).
| Nationality/Location | Main Survey 2019 [%] | Moderator Survey 2020 [%] |
| United Kingdom national in United Kingdom | 85 | 68 |
| United Kingdom national outside United Kingdom | 7 | 12 |
| Non-United Kingdom national in United Kingdom | 3 | 0 |
| Non-United Kingdom national outside United Kingdom | 5 | 20 |
Online Fan Locations
When it comes to where people engage online, I had by far the largest response from Facebook users – 75% of all people who responded. This was followed by Twitter (32%) and podcast listeners (16%) then message boards (8%) and websites (5%). Just over half of the respondents (55%) were only using one platform, although they may be in multiple groups, especially given the plurality of Facebook groups. Around a quarter (23%) were engaging on two and 11% were involved in three different online spaces. This provides an indication as to how Archers' fan language may transfer between different online groups.
Preferred Online Spaces and Perceptions of Cultures
A central part of my research focused on the reason for the multiplicity of and varied ways of interacting with other Archers fans online about the programme (and many other topics). The main research questionnaire uncovered many more online spaces than I had previously identified, including 71 individual Facebook groups – the survey only specified 19.
When asked their views on the statement ‘I notice a different group culture in different online Archers fan spaces’, only 3% of respondents who answered that question disagreed and 70% agreed. A total of 82% of those who responded agreed with the statement ‘I have a favourite online group or space’. Of those who responded to the specific questions, around two fifths of people (42%) identified with using different groups or online spaces for different discussions. 30% of respondents had left a group or online space ‘due to the culture or atmosphere of the group’ and 49% had added more groups or spaces over time. Longer-term fans are more likely to have moved across different discussion spaces.
Around one third of respondents to the main survey took the opportunity to comment in a free text question about their views on different groups. Common themes were observations about the different approaches to swearing, talking about non-Archers' content, the spin-off groups for general chat, crafts, politics and/or pets (among other specialties.) With so many options available people find the groups which work for them – and leave the ones which do not. The comments also show how online engagement can encourage people to listen and vice versa, for example:
In uk.media.radio.archers they are politer than most usenet groups and have been for longer (Female, 71+).
Some of the Facebook groups I've been in are just fuelled with hate (Female, 26–40).
Archers Appreciation used to be very friendly but after Mustardland closed and lots of new people joined it became a very cliquey group (Female, 26–40).
Archers Unofficial Official is my favourite - rude, sweary, anarchic, honest, v good fun (Male, 41–55).
I left the one Facebook group I joined because it was completely different to the clever wit of Twitter (Female, 41–55).
A group I left tended to be intolerant with a bullying leader (Female, 56–70).
Archers Appreciation is gloriously rambunctious, sweary and anarchic (Male, 41–55).
We do not acknowledge ‘cast’ or ‘actors’. It is Real Life. And we hate them all (Female, 56–70).
I'm only on Twitter because of The Archers and I only listen to The Archers because of the Tweetalong (Female, 41–55).
There is a nasty amount of bullying as well (Gender and age not disclosed).
Archers Chit Chat is barely about The Archers but that is what brought us together (Female, 56–70).
They vary, sometimes the subcultures become very sexist/offensive, overtaken by a mob mentality. I leave at this point (Female, 56–70).
Some fan groups are sanctimonious and unwelcoming (Female, 41–55).
The internet has its share of fakes, and Archers sites are no different, sometimes they are fun, sometimes used to hurt (Male, 41–55).
Moderators were very clear about both managing the culture of their group and differentiating it from others. Nearly three fifths (58%) of moderators had expressly set up a group to meet a need which they did not feel was currently being met in another group or online space. When asked about rules and culture of their group, moderators shared explicit examples relating to their group which showed the range of cultures – including some groups which only discuss The Archers and other groups which barely discussed the p...
