In this paper, we describe an Italian phenomenon that started offline, but has grown exponentially online through social media. We are talking about a journalist and scientific communicator, Alberto Angela. Can a public figure, who offers culture on a TV broadcast, be transformed on social media into a pop star, with legions of fans that go insane at every appearance? Fan pages with tens of thousands of likes, endless lines of people at the presentations of his books, peak viewing time during his prime time TV show: These features made Alberto Angela a cultural celebrity, with fandoms that follow him on- and off-line. Alberto Angela, born in 1962, is known in Italy as one of the most important cultural proponents, along with his father Piero, a journalist and writer. Alberto studied paleontology, then followed in the footsteps of his father, becoming a journalist and writer and producing documentaries around the world. The most unique aspect of Alberto Angela resides in his particular communicative style, characterized by gestures that have a hypnotic effect on the audience. His language is modern, but never ordinary, and it allowed him to fascinate millions of viewers, especially those under 25, that are usually less interested in culture on TV. He is a celebrity on par with many pop stars, and his presence on social media is overwhelming: Multiple unofficial fan pages are dedicated to him on Facebook, with hundreds of thousands of fans. Twitter has been critical in spreading the popularity of Alberto Angela. One of his most successful TV programs, Ulysses, The Pleasure of Discovery, broadcast on Saturday evenings, trends on Twitter with #Ulisse. In March 2016, another hashtag appeared on Twitter, #Angelers, which was enthusiastically picked up by Angela’s fans. The next step was to organize and give life to the unofficial #Angelers fandom by opening the Facebook group “Angelers, Fans of Alberto Angela.” This not only allows fans to meet online, but also makes them part of the creation and circulation of content related to Angela and the topics of his TV episodes. After the first few months, the group had a notable increase in followers, reaching over 18,000 fans in the first year. At the moment, most of the subscribers are Italian, concentrated between the ages of 21-50, and the majority are female. Many of the fans have a cultural background. Since its beginning, the group has been active in various cultural and charitable events. In the summer of 2016, after an earthquake in Italy, the community promoted three fundraisers for the Italian Red Cross through the sale of items with the #Angelers logo. The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 109 Today the fandom is still growing and very active in sharing articles, links, and videos related to many different cultural topics; four admins constantly monitor the activity of the group to avoid conflicts caused by keyboard warriors. The large amount of visual content led to the opening of a Pinterest and an Instagram account, as well as a Telegram channel - and a BOT account is on its way.
When Culture is a Trend: The #Angelers Fandom
mattia mancini
Co-primo
2017-01-01
Abstract
In this paper, we describe an Italian phenomenon that started offline, but has grown exponentially online through social media. We are talking about a journalist and scientific communicator, Alberto Angela. Can a public figure, who offers culture on a TV broadcast, be transformed on social media into a pop star, with legions of fans that go insane at every appearance? Fan pages with tens of thousands of likes, endless lines of people at the presentations of his books, peak viewing time during his prime time TV show: These features made Alberto Angela a cultural celebrity, with fandoms that follow him on- and off-line. Alberto Angela, born in 1962, is known in Italy as one of the most important cultural proponents, along with his father Piero, a journalist and writer. Alberto studied paleontology, then followed in the footsteps of his father, becoming a journalist and writer and producing documentaries around the world. The most unique aspect of Alberto Angela resides in his particular communicative style, characterized by gestures that have a hypnotic effect on the audience. His language is modern, but never ordinary, and it allowed him to fascinate millions of viewers, especially those under 25, that are usually less interested in culture on TV. He is a celebrity on par with many pop stars, and his presence on social media is overwhelming: Multiple unofficial fan pages are dedicated to him on Facebook, with hundreds of thousands of fans. Twitter has been critical in spreading the popularity of Alberto Angela. One of his most successful TV programs, Ulysses, The Pleasure of Discovery, broadcast on Saturday evenings, trends on Twitter with #Ulisse. In March 2016, another hashtag appeared on Twitter, #Angelers, which was enthusiastically picked up by Angela’s fans. The next step was to organize and give life to the unofficial #Angelers fandom by opening the Facebook group “Angelers, Fans of Alberto Angela.” This not only allows fans to meet online, but also makes them part of the creation and circulation of content related to Angela and the topics of his TV episodes. After the first few months, the group had a notable increase in followers, reaching over 18,000 fans in the first year. At the moment, most of the subscribers are Italian, concentrated between the ages of 21-50, and the majority are female. Many of the fans have a cultural background. Since its beginning, the group has been active in various cultural and charitable events. In the summer of 2016, after an earthquake in Italy, the community promoted three fundraisers for the Italian Red Cross through the sale of items with the #Angelers logo. The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 109 Today the fandom is still growing and very active in sharing articles, links, and videos related to many different cultural topics; four admins constantly monitor the activity of the group to avoid conflicts caused by keyboard warriors. The large amount of visual content led to the opening of a Pinterest and an Instagram account, as well as a Telegram channel - and a BOT account is on its way.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
