Participatory Heterotopia: A Global Perspective on the Construction Mechanism of the Emotional Community Within the “Brony Fandom,” a Fan Circle of My Little Pony
Abstract
In the present era of media convergence, My Little Pony has drawn young people worldwide to form an affinity group called the "Brony community". It has broken the traditional view of fans of children's animations and established a self-consistent and distinctive subcultural circle in the online realm. This article adopts the perspective of "participatory heterotopia" to delve into the reasons why the brony community has emerged as a space for young people's emotional attachment. Emphasis is placed on the characteristics of emotional expression and community interaction within this circle. Through six months of online ethnographic observations (covering multiple platforms, such as Trixiebooru and Baidu Tieba) and case studies, it has been discovered that the brony community expresses emotions through various forms, including fan creations and comment interactions. Moreover, it has developed three types of interaction models based on exclusive discourse, collaborative co-creation, and rational mediation. This community not only exhibits the characteristics of "heterotopia" but also constructs a highly cohesive emotional community through continuous "participatory" practices. This research enhances our comprehension of the emotional belonging mechanism among young individuals in the digital era. Moreover, it offers an empirical case and theoretical reference for subculture studies.
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