‘What do you think about …?’: The metaculture of fandom

Metaculture is a theory first posited by Greg Urban in 2001. Metaculture is culture about culture, according to Urban. Fandom is a community of individuals who share a love for a text or person and discuss that text or person. Many fandoms create their own subcultures surrounding the object of their fannish activities. In those discussions and activities, metaculture is created and becomes a central aspect of what makes a fandom. While all fandoms use and create metaculture similarly, the object of their fandom has a unique relationship with metaculture that is influential in the creation of and a part of that fandom. This article describes the relationship between fandom and metaculture generally as well as in the context of Hamilton: An American Musical, Glamberts and Ratatouille: The Tik-Tok Musical by drawing upon Urban, Henry Jenkins and Katherine Meizel, among others, to discuss how reality television, musical theatre and social media all interact with metaculture differently, influencing the creation and continuing existence of fandoms.