Fans exert more influence on popular culture than ever before, or so it seems. Katherine Larsen and Lynn Zubernis, authors of Fangasm, aren’t buying it.

Drawing on their work Devon Maloney observes that “creating a relationship in which producers give fans what they think they want—has become a massive, incredibly lucrative business.”

“‘It’s profitable for [the producers], which is why things like Comic-Con have gotten out of hand,’ says Larsen. ‘It’s become this big selling festival of consumerism: Come buy our products, we’ll give you sneak peeks, things to take home with you. It’s not because they’re so into the fans. They’re into the fans’ buying power.’”

Zubernis argues that the intimacy of producers and fans is mostly constructed: “[The relationship] seems a lot more reciprocal and closer than it is, which is an artifact of the way social media, especially Twitter, makes fans feel. I always stay on Twitter when a Supernatural episode is airing, and the actors and the writers and directors are usually on [Twitter], and I see what it does to fans when somebody answers their tweet. There’s a need, I think, to feel like, ‘They’re listening to me; I’m important.’ That’s a normal psychological response, but it’s not actually true; it’s wishful thinking. It’s a constructed intimacy that’s not really intimate at all.”