One-above-all: Stratifying communication within Marvel fandom

An individual's membership in a fandom can constitute an important aspect of their identity. Accordingly, intrafandom conflicts can create division, prompting members to build hierarchies. Previous work examined intrafandom conflicts and what symbolic resources and fan capital (e.g., knowledge) are used to reinforce these hierarchies. However, little work has thoroughly assessed how communication facilitates stratification by linking symbolic currency to social strata. Expanding Weber's (1947) work on social stratification, we examine Marvel fandom to understand how symbolic resources gain power and how resources are invoked via stratifying communications. Through interviews with Marvel fans, we uncovered six intrafandom communication stratification strategies and found that external resources, including finances and gender, play an influential role in stratification.