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

NETS2004 A2 Conference Paper Presentation

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“How do people form social connections and communities through social media?”

Topic: Fan Culture

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In this video, I present my case that the fandom of The Chosen was formed as a community using three high-level social media affordances:

1. Fans as stakeholders
2. Fans as advocates
3. Fans as an affective public

I do this using a (to my knowledge) novel approach of an Affordances Relationship Matrix, which makes use of the four categories of affordances:

• Literal (low-level)
• Abstract (high-level)
• Imagined (potential)
• Actualised (structures)

Ultimately, social affordances begin as imagined affordances, manifesting by way of low-level ‘functions’ (tools/material), with all four quadrants being closely related and linked. From this basis, I explain community formation, expansion of publics, and creation of fandoms, with regards to the fandom of the most successfully crowdfunded television show, The Chosen.

Further explanation is available in the video.
Feedback is encouraged.
Enjoy.

Tarkyn Sharples

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Note: I came up with this Affordances Relationship Matrix before discovering a similar-looking one by William Gaver (1991). Though, when comparing, my matrix demonstrates something very different to his. Gaver’s is from a design principles perspective, whereas mine demonstrates relationships between working affordances, for a social goal.