The findings from the research support many of the positive claims about participatory culture and affinity spaces, but also reinforce some of the skepticism and counterarguments presented by other scholars. The findings shows that a number of key terms emerge across the discourses of developers, readers, writers and mediators. These terms are: “passion”, “sharing” and “conflict”.

 

The key terms express a shared understanding of what counts as literacy in social media environments. They also reflect a new understanding of identity and authority. Indeed, the notion of cultural expertise is defined in an interesting way within participatory culture. This understanding of expertise empowers and challenges both 'regular' and 'professional' users of social media to rely on other things other than institutional hierarchy to gain authority.