Glee on a Serious Note

Before I start discussing my final thoughts on the Glee Forum, I wanted to make sure I brought up one discussion thread that caught my attention, not because it was about a Glee topic I found interesting, but because it was one of the first topics I’ve come across with actual substance. Now, I’m not trying to say that the other topics in the forum are insignificant or juvenile, but they tend to be more frivolous and light-hearted. The topic I came across today, however, was created by a very passionate Glee member who decided to start a thread about the tensions of homosexual characters on the show. Before I read FallenAngelII’s post (real name Phillip), I always thought Glee handled the sensitive topics of homosexuality in high school, homophobia, and those related topics very tastefully. However, after reading Phillip’s post titled “Gay vs. Straight stalking, It’s A-OK if it’s a girl and you’re at least mildly attractive” (a little long, yes), I began to wonder why members on the Glee Forum don’t discuss such serious topics more often. Most of the conversations pertain to character relationships, episode inside secrets, and spoilers, but this thread started a conversation that was much more substantial.

As I discussed in my last blog post, most of the conversations on the Glee Forum are simply observational, and people rarely respond directly to one another. Most of the time, people will say “I totally agree with you _____!” and then continue with their opinions, but in the thread about Gay vs. Straight Stalking, many people chose to “directly quote” what others said, in order to continue a deeper conversation where people directly addressed the opinions of others. This gave me a greater sense of the Glee “online community,” where people gathered to discuss a topic they felt was both important and worth talking about. I feel that if the Glee Forum followed this strategy more often, many of the Glee fans would get a lot more out of the conversation. It was nice to come across a topic of controversy and substance, and it gave me another perspective on how people interact on the site. Below, I’ve taken a screen shot of what it looks like to directly quote people’s comments in order to continue the discussion- Notice how often it reoccurs! My next post will tie in the greater themes of the class and how they pertain to the Glee Forum with Online Community, Identity, and participatory culture. I’m sure you guys CAN’T WAIT!