Conclusion

            Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a very popular TV-show that is broadcasted in a lot of countries. It has several characters where the viewers can relate to and identify with. On top of that, the TV-show is full with adventure and entertainment. Although the subject may not always be very realistic, there’s always a certain level of realism put in, by creating storylines that are taken out of live.

            Leisure time has had a switch in definition the last couple of years. Leisure time used to be explained as time free from obligation or compulsion. Nowadays it’s explained as time not spent on work and based on a recreational activities, such as sports or going to the movies. With the coming of the internet, there has been a whole new way of communicating. People can let themselves be heard on the internet by creating a website. People with an interest in common can easily find eachother on the internet and create a community. On those websites are a lot of free references to other websites. Websites that are only intended for money making purposes. The fans are actually making this references/advertisements for free.

            Internet provided also a very easy distributionsystem for the fans. Through the use of peer-to-peer-programs like KaZaA and Emule it’s very easy to share files. These are all tools for creating a bigger sense of a community. The websites contributed to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all have quizzes on them, chatrooms, forums etc. The fans cane easily find eachother on the internet, and talk with one and another and share files with one and other and write fanfiction and create their own musicvideo. They’re not really depending on the studio’s to give them more of their favorite TV-show.

The coming of internet  brought up several changes. A change in the filling of free time, a blurring of the boundaries between producer and consumer and a lot of tools to start some sort of community. I don’t think you can still talk about leisure time when you’re making a website. You’re doing actually two things than. First the promoting of a TV-show and second the making of free advertisements for commercial websites. These activities are considered to be activities where one normally would get paid for. It isn’t leisure time anymore but labor time.

Producers can easily keep up with the wishes of the fans, through their fansites. Fans are making their wishes clear through the forums, through the musicvideos, through the fanfiction. These fans who are considered to be the consumers become more or less producers themselves.

Bibliografie

H. Vogel, Entertainment industry economics - a guide for financial analysis (Cambridge 2001).

H. Jenkins, ‘Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars? :Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture’ in Rethinking Media Changes (Cambridge 2003).

H. Jenkins, ‘Interactive audiences? The collective intelligence of media fans’ in The New Media Book

( Londen 2002).

http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php?id=P40