AlDub NAtion

• On October 24, 2015, the AlDub Nation made history by being acknowledged by the Guinness World Records as the most used hashtag in 24 hours
• The hashtag #AlDubEBTamangPanahon garnered more than 40 million tweets within 24 hours
• The Tamang Panahon event took the entire around 3 hours of airtime of Eat Bulaga without commercial breaks
• AlDub


  The love team of Alden Richards, and Maine Mendoza's character Yaya Dub
• AlDub Nation


  The fan community of the AlDub love team
• This paper aims to discuss the foundation and dynamics of the AlDub Nation which is an exemplary case of a fan community or fandom in the Philippines
• Dimensions of the AlDub Nation fan community

  • Increased social media reliance of fans
  • Online and offline relationships or dynamics of fans
• This study intends to contribute toward strengthening academic literature on the role of new media technologies (NMTs) and now referred as social or digital media in the formation and maintenance of fan groups
• Convergence culture


  The convergence of both traditional and digital media, and this convergence is utilized by fandoms in their activities
• Group dynamics


  The influential interpersonal processes that affect groups over time
• Tuckman's developmental stages of a group

  Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning
• This study seeks to explain how the rise of a fan community such as the AlDub Nation, from being an online group, is attributable to the use of digital media and how digital media enables group dynamics within the fandom
• This study lends voice to fans, who are perceived not just as passive followers but are active agents and framers, and thus rendering their participation in various online and offline activities visible
• This paper builds on existing literature on fan studies, which is a well-established transdisciplinary field and had various focus such as identities and participation
• This paper also builds on existing works on fandoms in the Philippines, including recent works on the JaDine fandom, Filipino stan culture on social media, and the Noranians fandom
• This paper is a contribution to existing studies on fandoms in the Philippines and the existing literature on fan studies by providing an empirical study on the AlDub Nation as a fandom and as an audience of Philippine popular culture
• Convergence culture


  Explains the convergence of both old and new media, which enables more active participation from audience members, and in this case, fan members of the AlDub Nation
• Audience ethnography


  A methodology that gives "voice" to specific audiences, making sure that they do not remain passive spectators or consumers of media messages and products
• This study adhered to ethical principles such as anonymity and voluntary participation
• Against them personally or against their fan group
• Forming


  Formation of the group
• Factors and motivations for individuals to join groups

  • Need for affiliation, need for power, etc.
• Digital media has the capability to link different enthusiasts from various backgrounds to form fan groups
• Twitter executive Rishi Jaitly wanted to see if the live AlDub conversation can set global records by uniting their passionate fans, the nation, and the world on Twitter
• A simple search on Facebook or Twitter would show various fan group accounts with chapters (groups) from many locations
• Salient factors as to why people patronize the Kalyeserye and became AlDub fans


  Thrill that goes with the development of the AlDub story, introduction of new characters, twists and turns of their love story
• Groups that form the AlDub Nation

  • Alden's fans
  • Eat Bulaga fans
  • Casual viewers
  • Online bystanders
• Joey de Leon coined the term AlDub Nation during one episode of Eat Bulaga, and the fans accepted that name and called themselves as such
• Affect


  Enabled the four groups to continue to consume the fan text that is Kalyeserye, which led to forming the AlDub Nation
• Mutuals


  Social media slang used by fans of the AlDub Nation to call their fellow fans who are following each other on social media
• Fans meet with their mutuals offline
• Teams based on the location of where fans watch Kalyeserye

  • Team Bahay (Home)
  • Team Office
  • Team Livestream
  • Team Studio
  • Team Barangay
  • Team Abroad
  • Team Replay
• Some offices do not have televisions nor good television signal, so working people resorted to watching the livestreams on YouTube and other websites
• Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have varying time zones and the time when Eat Bulaga is airing may be the time they sleep, so they have to resort to past livestreams or videos posted on YouTube channels
• Storming


  Conflicts that groups encounter: any friction that occurs when the actions or beliefs of one or more members are unacceptable to and resisted by one or more of the other group members
• Maine's open letter in 2017, which fans nicknamed as OL, where she stated that she and Alden are just friends and that her actions are being dictated
• Lack of projects of the love team together, which fans blame the management for "actively" separating the two
• Norming


  Social cohesion or solidarity between members because of common goals and tasks
• Some fans prefer to become members of fan groups, while others consider themselves as part of Team No Group (TNG) or those fans who are not members of Fan Clubs
• The majority of the respondents consider themselves as part of Team No Group