Sage Publications Tune In, Log On: Soaps, Fandom, and Online Community: 3 (New Media Cultures)

Tune In, Log Out is an ethnographic study of an Internet soap opera fan group. Bridging the fields of computer-mediated communication and audience studies, the book shows how verbal and non verbal communicative practices create collaborative interpretations and criticism, group humour, interpersonal relationships, group norms and individual identity. While much has been written about problems and inequities women have encountered online, Nancy K Baym′s analysis of a female-dominated group in which female communication styles prevail demonstrates that women can build successful online communiciteis while still welcoming male participation. In addition, a longitudinal look at the development of fan group allows an examination of the endurance of the group′s social structure in the face of the Internet′s tremendous growth. Lively and enagaging, Tune In, Log Out provides an entertaining introduction to issues of online and audience community. About the Author Nancy Baym is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. She has written many widely-cited articles about online fan community and social aspects of online interaction and is the author of the book Tune In, Log On: Soaps, Fandom, and Online Community (Sage Press, Inc.). She is a co-founder and Past-President of the Association of Internet Researchers. She is an award-winning teacher whose courses address the use of new communication technologies in creating identities, relationships and communities, interpersonal communication, and qualitative research methods. She serves on the editorial boards of the premiere journals in the field, including New Media & Society, The Journal of Communication, The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and The Information Society. Her blog about fan activity on the internet can be found at