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JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Abstract

Digital era has changed human’s life, including in the practice of fandom. It results in a much broader dissemination of fans-related products produced by the fans, such as alternative universe (AU) as part of fan fiction. In addition, nowadays, Thailand popular culture is rising, especially with the boys’ love drama series (Thai BL drama) which caught foreign viewers’ interest, including Indonesians. This study explores how AU can be considered as a tool for promoting Thai BL drama which goes to fandom actively involvement in the promotion of a foreign country's cultural product with taboo value. It is a qualitative content analysis of online texts which focuses on three female AU author accounts on X with more than 5,000 followers. It is found that AU does not directly impact on the promotion of Thai BL drama, considering the massive modification on the character, setting, plot, and language due to the creativity of AU authors. It is a unique finding that makes it possible to promote Thai BL actors. Finally, it will promote Thai BL drama which the actors are part of, which can be understood from the replies and quotes of X users as AU readers

Bahasa Abstract

Era digital telah mengubah kehidupan manusia, termasuk dalam praktik fandom. Hal ini menghasilkan penyebaran yang lebih luas dari produk-produk terkait penggemar yang dihasilkan oleh para penggemar, seperti Alternate Unverse (AU) sebagai bagian dari fanfiction. Selain itu, budaya populer Thailand saat ini sedang naik daun, terutama dengan serial drama boys love/ drama cinta antar laki-laki (drama BL Thailand) yang menarik minat pemirsa luar negeri, termasuk masyarakat Indonesia. Penelitian ini mengeksplorasi bagaimana AU dapat dianggap sebagai alat untuk mempromosikan drama BL Thailand yang mengarah ke keterlibatan aktif fandom dalam mempromosikan produk budaya negara asing yang memiliki nilai tabu. Ini adalah analisis konten kualitatif teks online yang berfokus pada tiga akun penulis AU wanita dari Indonesia di X dengan lebih dari 7.000 pengikut. Ditemukan bahwa AU tidak berdampak langsung pada promosi drama BL Thailand, mengingat modifikasi besar-besaran pada karakter, setting, plot, dan bahasa akibat kreativitas penulis AU. Ini adalah temuan unik yang memungkinkan tidak hanya sekedar mempromosikan drama, tetapi juga aktor BL Thailand. Terakhir, justru AU ini merupakan media promosi untuk projek lain dari para aktor pemain drama BL Thailand, yang dapat dipahami dari balasan dan kutipan pengguna X sebagai pembaca AU.

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