Fandom Public and Community on Discord: The Chase Atlantic Fandom by Holly Andrews – 22309268 - Social Media, Communities, & Networks Conference 2026: Semester 1 & SP1

Fandom Public and Community on Discord: The Chase Atlantic Fandom by Holly Andrews – 22309268

Posted on

30/04/2026

22309268@student.curtin.edu.au

I argue that the Chase Atlantic discord server forms and maintains a fandom public and fosters community development through the platform’s social affordances enabled by server channels, server-member roles, and application programming interfaces.

Key concepts:

Social media platform affordances (Zulli & Zulli, 2022, p. 1874)
Fandom Publics (Zhang, 2016, pp. 128-131)
Communities (Bruns, 2023, p. 74)
Co-performance (Zhang, 2016, p. 131)
Third Spaces (Bruns, 2023, p. 78; Wright et al., 2015, p. 80)
Complementary agency (McAfee, 2000, as cited in Wright et al., 2015, p. 77)

References:

Bruns, A. (2023). From “the” public sphere to a network of publics: Towards an empirically founded model of contemporary public communication spaces. Communication Theory, 33(2-3), 70-81. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtad007

Burgess, J., Marwick, A. E., & Poell, T. (Eds.). (2018). The sage handbook of social media. SAGE Publications, Limited. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/reader.action?docID=5151795&ppg=364&c=UERG

Cabalquinto, E. C., & Soriano, C. R. R. (2020). ‘Hey, I like ur videos. Super relate!’ Locating sisterhood in a postcolonial intimate public on YouTube. Information, Communication & Society, 23(6), 892–907. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1751864

Chase Atlantic Portal. (n.d.). Personality charm quiz. https://portal.chaseatlantic.com/auth

Chase Atlantic. (2025). Chase Atlantic [Discord server]. Discord. Retrieved April 1, 2026, from https://discord.com/channels/812080513841627196/@home

Kiene, C., Jiang, A. J., & Hill, M. B. (2019). Technological frames and user innovation: Exploring technological change in community moderation teams. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 3, Article 44. https://doi.org/10.1145/3359146

Robinson, B. (2023). Governance on, with, behind, and beyond the Discord platform: a study of platform practices in an informal learning context. Learning, Media and Technology, 48(1), 81–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2022.2052312

Wright, S., Graham, T., Jackson, D. (2015). Third Spaces, Social Media, and Everyday Political Talk. In A. Bruns, G. Enli, A. O. Larsson, E. Skogerbo, & C. Christensen (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics (pp. 1-560). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315716299

Zhang, W. (2016). The Internet and New Social Formation in China: Fandom Publics in the Making. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315756141

Zulli, D., & Zulli, D. J. (2022). Extending the Internet meme: Conceptualizing technological mimesis and imitation publics on the TikTok platform. New Media & Society, 24(8), 1872-1890. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820983603

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One response to “Fandom Public and Community on Discord: The Chase Atlantic Fandom by Holly Andrews – 22309268”

kateedwards

01/05/2026

Good morning, Holly,

I first wanted to say how amazing you did with this assessment, especially for a viewer like me who has never understood Discord and its servers. I have people in my life who use Discord; however, I have never understood the platform’s purpose. I now understand and recognise how similar it is to the apps I use, such as Instagram and TikTok, where communities come together online to express themselves and form connections.

You articulated Discord’s capabilities very effectively, particularly by demonstrating how features such as channels and instant messaging foster connection and collaborative performance within the fan community.

Question 1: In addition to that, how could these identical platform features also serve as tools of regulation or constraint within the fandom environment? For instance, when we think about governance concepts “on, with, and beyond” the platform, how much are interactions influenced not only by users but also by moderators, platform design, or unseen algorithmic frameworks? In what way does this add complexity to the concept of fandom publics being participatory and community-driven, and might it imply that these environments are more organised or hierarchical than they first seem?

Your exploration of the Discord server as a third space was quite impressive, especially in how you connected it to daily interactions and the feeling of community among fans.

Question 2: I’m interested in the stability of that “third space” identity when we think about co-performance and the actual, or even perceived, presence of the band. Do you believe that fans could change their actions, s peech, or ways of expressing their identity, knowing they might be observed by the artists? If this is the case, does this shift the space from an informal, community-oriented third space to something more performative or self-aware, and how could this shift alter our perception of authenticity within fandom communities?

You connected effectively with the idea of fandom publics, particularly in demonstrating how common interests and interactions contribute to a robust sense of community within the Chase Atlantic Discord.

Question 3: Building on that notion, what are your thoughts on how fandom communities develop as they become bigger and more intricate? Based on Bruns’ concept of a network of publics, might a larger scale result in fragmentation, sub-groups, or potential exclusion within the fandom? Furthermore, in what ways could complementary agency influence which voices are elevated or sidelined in these environments, and does this question the belief that fandom communities are naturally inclusive and equal?

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Social Media, Communities, & Networks Conference 2026: Semester 1 & SP1