Methodology

(Minorly revised 12.12.13)
In researching fan response to The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, I have focused upon Tumblr – specifically, the Tumblr tag “aoje.” (http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/aoje) Originally, I intended to track multiple tags in order to try to gain the most comprehensive view of fan activity, but as the series’ fanbase has increased that’s become more difficult. I have decided to specifically focus on the tag “aoje” because it is fan-established shorthand for the title of the series. Therefore, people posting to that tag have formed a particular affinity group around AOJE where they’ve developed an established fandom terminology.

I’ve chosen to look at Tumblr because it is a popular hub for virtually any fandom. Tumblr fan culture is also very immediate – reactions to new installments of a series will pop up within moments of the release date. Therefore, it struck me as the most vibrant online environment to observe fans’ reactions to AOJE as it progresses.

For my project, I have studied the Tumblr users who tag their posts “aoje”; this is a wide range of people. Some are regular posters who react to every episode of the series; some are more sporadic contributors; a small number of them are the cast and crew of AOJE itself. In particular, the main writer/producer of the show often posts to share behind-the-scenes details and insight into authorial intent.

When I began this project, I was most interested in seeing how fans reacted to the adaptation choices AOJE made, particularly fans with different levels of familiarity with Bronte’s novel. The online environment in the “aoje” tag provides consistent access to observing those various reactions, as well as insights into the creators’ adaptation decisions.

Most often, I am part of the “aoje” tag as more of a reader; I look at the posts on the tag, often “like”, and sometimes reblog them. I have made a few contributions to the tag myself, either through the form of short text posts or Photoshop graphic posts. The graphic posts have received more widespread attention than the text posts, which is pretty conventional of Tumblr; graphic posts carry the connotation of being made for everybody on the site, whereas text posts are more personal to one specific user.

For my first data analysis, I examined the response my first AOJE graphic received, specifically by tracking the number of “likes” and the number of “reblogs” on the post. I was more in pursuit of numerical data here; I was curious to see how many people were interested enough in AOJE to like or reblog a graphic from it. (This tends to be a common practice for more established popular fandoms, so if something is having graphics made for it, it suggests a certain level of fan interest.) In particular, my graphic emphasized AOJE’s choices as an adaptation by highlighting the gothic elements for which the Bronte novel is famous. There was therefore the implication that the users who liked and reblogged the post agreed with my statement that AOJE was successfully transferring the Gothic element of the novel to modern day. The actress who plays Jane reblogged this post to her own Tumblr blog, which accounted for much of the attention it received.

For my second data analysis, I focused upon fan reactions to one particular episode of AOJE – specifically, the one where Jane took part in the popular YouTube vlogger meme “Draw My Life.” I was curious to see how fans reacted to using this real life YouTube trend to further Jane’s characterization and adapt Jane’s childhood in the book (a very tricky portion to adapt in a video blog format). This data analysis was more based in text posts from fans and the content of their observations, rather than the more statistical focus of my first data analysis.

My analysis exists in the tradition of fandom studies; many of the foundational concepts there come from the work of Henry Jenkins. Jenkins' concepts of convergence culture and transmedia have been subsequently discussed by many scholars -- among them Shefrin (2007), Williams (2008), and Wood & Baughman (2012) -- as the internet environment becomes a more lively and vibrant place for fan participation.