Tune in, Log on : Soaps, Fandom, and Online Community

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.

Nancy K. Baym is Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas, where she teaches courses in computer-mediated communication and interpersonal communication. She earned her doctorate in speech communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994.