Academic Paper Studying Bronies

[eightball 2]

Hello everybody,

 

I am conducting a study on the Brony community for a paper for the English department at my university.  There is little to no academic material covering the Bronies since your community is so new.  Therefore, I am gathering my own primary research into MLP and your community.

 

... And you guys may be able to help.

 

My paper is investigating the reason so many people are attracted to MLP despite being outside the predicted target demographic.  After doing some preliminary research, my hypothesis is that the show's writing and content lend itself to a larger audience, and that this is not as unusual as it would seem because other cartoons (Disney, Pixar, etc) do an excellent job of reaching multiple audiences.

 

I might do a survey or questionnaire to learn important information.  Secondly, I want to interview 2 or 3 people one on one asking in depth questions.  If you would like help, you can follow my forum account's posts and threads I create. 

 

The survey or questionnaire will be open to anybody who wishes to participate, but I will have to be selective with my interviewing.  If you would like to be interviewed, I would like people who are very involved in the Brony community (conventions, forums, very familiar with the show).  Give me a PM if  you are interested with the degree of your involvement with the Brony community.

 

 

Thank you guys for reading this.  I hope I can write a paper that does justice for both the study of your community and the members as well.

[The565er 9]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV-OF9wZWDs

 

This video will probably help you get started. Sorry, but I can't help you any more than that. I'm only a relatively new brony so I wouldn't be able to answer many in depth questions to your satisfaction. Sorry.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woUeRjj-vzI

 

This video also has a lot of interesting history of the bronies that might help you as well

Edited February 17, 2013 by Jafro159

[Starswirl the Trixie 975]

Hello everybody,

 

I am conducting a study on the Brony community for a paper for the English department at my university.  There is little to no academic material covering the Bronies since your community is so new.  Therefore, I am gathering my own primary research into MLP and your community.

 

... And you guys may be able to help.

 

My paper is investigating the reason so many people are attracted to MLP despite being outside the predicted target demographic.  After doing some preliminary research, my hypothesis is that the show's writing and content lend itself to a larger audience, and that this is not as unusual as it would seem because other cartoons (Disney, Pixar, etc) do an excellent job of reaching multiple audiences.

 

I might do a survey or questionnaire to learn important information.  Secondly, I want to interview 2 or 3 people one on one asking in depth questions.  If you would like help, you can follow my forum account's posts and threads I create. 

 

The survey or questionnaire will be open to anybody who wishes to participate, but I will have to be selective with my interviewing.  If you would like to be interviewed, I would like people who are very involved in the Brony community (conventions, forums, very familiar with the show).  Give me a PM if  you are interested with the degree of your involvement with the Brony community.

 

 

Thank you guys for reading this.  I hope I can write a paper that does justice for both the study of your community and the members as well.

Thanks for offering to study us.  This community is one of the more fascinating communities to have emerged on the internet and deserves a closer look.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV-OF9wZWDs

 

This video will probably help you get started. Sorry, but I can't help you any more than that. I'm only a relatively new brony so I wouldn't be able to answer many in depth questions to your satisfaction. Sorry.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woUeRjj-vzI

 

This video also has a lot of interesting history of the bronies that might help you as well

 

I would recommend the second video to the OP, but not the first.  John de Lancie meant well, but he did not portray as accurately.

 

For instance, there are certainly different kinds of Bronies, but they are not "Hipsters, moderates, and creatives".  First of all, there are fewer hipster Bronies than you may think, likely because this fandom started on the internet.  I have no idea what a "moderate" is, and those Bronies who make creative content are not really a sub-culture themselves, but instead belong to various other groups.

 

If you're interested in more credible sources than what I am telling you on a forum, I'd recommend these surveys:

http://herdcensus.com/

http://www.bronystudy.com/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/94234033/Survey-of-the-Brony-Subculture

 

The Know Your Meme page (http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic) is fairly accurate, although the video at the top is outdated (it can still provide good insight on history, though).  Saberspark's "Ballad of the Brony" (

) is also informative, although it is an hour long.

 

Oh, and don't trust the new Brony Documentary by John de Lancie and Michael Brockhoff.  It's not very well conceived, poorly researched, and it comes across as a badly executed Brony propaganda video.

 

___

 

One final note to the OP: I fear that you will never understand Bronies until you can understand the internet.  Perhaps you already do, but the failure of most non-Bronies who have looked at the fandom is that they didn't understand internet society.  It is impossible to capture in words the entire reason why memes on the internet hold such significance, for example.  I wish you luck in your study, but if you are not acquainted with the denizens of the internet, Bronies or non-Bronies, you'll have quite a lot more work to do.

 

I don't know if I am the best person for an interview, but if you have any questions about...anything, you can contact me through a forum PM or my email, which can be found in my profile.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

I'd love to help if I can, although I haven't been involved in the actual community for very long. I was a fan of the show for a while before I found this website more or less by accident and became involved with the rest of the fandom.

[Golurk 468]

If you need help, I'm here for ya. I'm not really the most involved or hardcore, but I know a thing or two. Feel free to shoot me a PM with anything you need to ask. 

[Scootalove 10,689]

It's s good thing your doing a academic paper to study us. Pretty easy way, to do research on us.

 

Hope you learn more!

[eightball 2]

 

Thanks for offering to study us. This community is one of the more fascinating communities to have emerged on the internet and deserves a closer look.

 

I agree.  Its a very odd thing for the average person to suddenly learn that MLP has an avid young adult and adult fanbase, but I think it can be easily explained with comparisons to other cartoons/animated media and by studying the content/writing in MLP.

 

I'm quite happy you guys met my study with enthusiasm.

 

I am familiar with some aspects of the Brony community already due to my preliminary research, so I have a good idea of what the Brony community is all about and what you guys do.  However, what I need to do is collect data, so I can fulfill my goal of learning and explaining why Bronies are attracted to MLP.

 

I will likely post a survey either tonight or tomorrow.  If you decide to take the survey, I would appreciate advertising it to friends or to other forum sections.

[ColtofPersonality 855]

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the MLPforums eightball!!!!!!

Please enjoy your visit and your stay and please have a nice day!!!

~Explodes into a fog of streamers/confetti and fireworks~
 

[Patrick Cox 0]

Hey eightball,

 

If you're looking for an academic conference to present your work at, I'm trying to assemble a MLP panel for the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association. You can find your current CFP and info about this year's conference here: http://mapaca.net/

 

Thanks, and all the best,

 

Patrick