Online Fandom: Justice-Seeking, Misinformation, and Disinformation
摘要
This chapter examines the intersection of streaming true crime, fandom, and wrongful conviction advocacy. Using Bob Ruff’s Truth and Justice podcast as a case study, it explores how fan communities engage in investigative practices, crowdsourcing, and prosumption to support wrongful conviction claims. It argues that streaming infrastructures convert attention into fan labour including research, fundraising, and amplification while potentially commodifying trauma and selectively governing what, and who, becomes visible in wrongful conviction spaces. The result is a mix of digital spectatorship and viral justice, where calls to action coexist with bingeable spectacle. The chapter highlights the presence of true crime ‘tribes’ which blur any existing boundaries between entertainment, activism, and commercialisation in the streaming age. While fan activity has raised awareness and mobilised support, their impact on actual exonerations remains limited. The chapter calls for a nuanced understanding of fan practices and their potential in justice-seeking efforts for the wrongfully convicted.