Is there an example that might clarify or support the authors claim?
Your comment regarding the development of strict, rule-based cultures to address threatening environments from outsiders is not simply true of national or religious cultures, but even subcultures of the kind that exist online, either through sharing fan fiction, social media websites, TikTok, and other forms of spontaneous sharing. However, although the culture may be informally regulated, there can also be a great deal of gatekeeping and infighting, perhaps because certain fandoms or subcultures are so niche in terms of the scope of the community. Paradoxically on one hand, Fan cultures are examples of participatory cultures. Participatory cultures involve fans acting not only as consumers but also as producers and creators of some form of creative media but on the other hand participatory cultures can still have rigorous formal enforcement (Fandom and participatory culture, n.d., par.1).
Fan participation can be mercilessly self-regulated, if certain fans are viewed as violating taboos, in terms of how certain characters are depicted romantically, in fan art, and even in simple disagreements about the best way to be a fan. Sometimes, there are tensions between gender dynamics in terms of how different groups relate to fandom,...
Social hierarchies exist between and within fan cultures, which can...
…what the rules are according to the law and how strictly they are followed. Although some tight cultures such as Singapore may have very stringent legal enforcement and strong punishments, some highly social cultures may have equally stringent enforcement mechanisms regarding certain behaviors. Even in the United States, a nation which is considered to have relatively loose social enforcement structures, the act of wearing or not wearing a mask during the
pandemic (regardless of actual local laws) often resulted in a great deal of
social pressure, both pro and con, depending upon the values and social norms of the community. It can be almost as difficult to ignore strict social enforcement as legal enforcement, even in societies where legal enforcement…
