Self-identity disclosure in TV Fandom. Analysing the comments posted by Spanish female fans and community managers

textabstractDigital age brings to television fiction viewers a variety of spaces where they can disclose their self-identity and emotions generated by the texts consumed. Methodology. This article analyses 7,849 comments posted by female fans and community managers on 122 sites (forums and social networks) dedicated to the Spanish TV fiction. The 22,301 items generated from the comments analysed explore the emotions aroused by television fiction, such as joy, enthusiasm, sadness, anger, disappointment and nostalgia. Conclusions and discussion. The research confirms the potential of TV fiction to encourage self-reflection on the self-identity of fans. It also identifies forums as the platforms that encourage deeper debates about TV series, despite the popularity of social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. Finally, community managers’ comments, which focus on the promotion of TV programmes, disregard the strengthening of the feeling of collective identity.