Esports : alternative fandom research in Turkey

Abstract

A fan can be anyone who has both potential media consumer and producer. Fandom as we call, is a community of fans interested in a specific media context such as actor, author or TV series. This study is about the developing fandom around eSports (electronic sports) in Turkey, analyzing game fans interaction with League of Legends which has become a product of popular culture. To investigate eSports fandom, this study relies on interviews with professional and amateur players and virtual ethnographic methods. Findings of the interviews and ethnographic data aim to ground the similarities between League of Legends players reproducing and code switching techniques in the light of Anglo American studies on series and movie fandom.