Potter fandom encompasses millions of people, ranging from elementary kids, to senior citizens. Yet, despite this wide variety of followers, Pottermore only has around 850,000 registered users as of April 15, 2012. While this number in and of itself is rather large, taking it into context of the greater Potter fan base, we’re talking small numbers. This can be because Pottermore itself is marketed towards a younger demographic — one that hasn’t already dedicated 15 years of their life to the Potter franchise.
While the concept seems entertaining enough, the extent of interactivity, and demand of game play time, is not one that the average adult could commit to. It seems as though the creators themselves have already recognized this. During Pottermore registration, users are unable to actually choose their own username, being given a randomly generated one by the Pottermore website. We are told that this is to help protect younger users’ identities. This, coupled with the overall child-likeness of the site, leads me to believe that the Pottermore community consists of mainly younger users. After reviewing the Pottermore twitter page, where they consistently update followers on news and events regarding Pottermore, it seems as though the most common characteristic of re-tweeters and followers is a younger demographic. The Pottermore Facebook page also confirms this. Aside from age, there is little else than can be narrowed down to define Pottermore users.
Because of the limited interaction between Pottermore members that is allowed on the site itself, I’ve looked more to Pottermore’s Twitter and Facebook account to get a better feel of how Pottermore users actually interact. It’s a pretty big help that Pottermore consistently sends out updates. From what I’ve read, this is what I’ve determined:
1. Everyone’s a Critic
It’s something that’s pretty common among popular games. The user is never satisfied. The amount of posts regarding lag-time in gameplay, lack of updates and new features, and even criticism on J. K. Rowling’s new exploits, are numerous. The good thing about this is that not everyone is exactly badmouthing Pottermore. There seems to be more support than not among its social networking profiles. I guess they’re bound to have at least a few bad eggs.
2. Sportsmanship
I’m not really sure what the video-game equivalent of this term is, so we’re just sticking to that. Dueling is almost like tennis anyways … just with like…spells… Anyways. Again, another common feature of video-gamers is the fact that they always want to help, or get help — or maybe they just like bragging about how good they are. Among the library of tweets and posts, it seems as though Pottermore users take advantage of social networking to get help in their endeavors.
Unlike online games such as WOW, Pottermore users are are not defined by their individual guilds or achievements. Rather, Pottermore users are divided into four very large groups, which may aid in the support structure observed within Facebook and Twitter discussions.
3. Progress is Key
There is less concern for actual story analysis (when compared with discussion focus on websites such as Mugglenet.com). Pottermore users seem to be more concerned with the actual game, and their status within it, than have casual talks about the who’s and what’s of the wizarding world. This could be attributed to the fact that Pottermore’s posts usually revolve around game updates — but even in more open-ended posts such as “LIKE this if you’re enjoying the new chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!” the conversation tends to keep to more technical comments. All users concern themselves with is pushing forward and unlocking all the new features of Pottermore, than whatever it is that they’ve discovered.
Another explanation behind this characteristic can reside in the fact that Harry Potter has already been around for so long. Past forums have already discussed what there is to discuss. The books and movies have already been analyzed for years. It may be difficult to come up with new insights to contribute to the greater conversation. Instead, Pottermore users push ahead. They do not concern themselves with the stories of the past. Instead, they want more, and more, and more. They want new information to keep coming. They want another stage to the game to be unlocked. They want to level up. They want to earn points. They want to keep moving forward.
4. Creative Expression
Another form of interaction between Pottermore users is the ability to post fan-art that corresponds with either a key moment, place, or object found within the game. This seems to be one of the more rewarding part of the website, in my opinion, when considering the imaginative qualities the books truly had. Users share post their drawings on Pottermore, letting the world see the various takes on what we’ve imagined the HP world to look like. Sadly, it’s not the most popular activity on the site, but some people do have some pretty sweet drawings up.
5. Potter Addiction
According to Jeffrey Michael Rudski, Carli Segal, and Eli Kallen, the reaction of Harry Potter fans to the end of the movie series reflected similar characteristics to that of drug rehabilitation. The diffusement of Pottermore through the younger generation shows how they have yet to grow out of the series, or are unable to “break” their addiction . Their full study can be found in the Addiction Research and Theory journal.