How Many Casual Fans Read The Dirt Sheets?

[Lockard 23]

We're always lead to believe that the vast majority of casual fans don't bother reading the dirt sheets or surfing through message boards or forums, but I wonder how accurate this is. Just a thought that occurred to me, but how exactly does an entire arena have signs about Jericho the night he debuts unless they've read about it on the internet? Or the way the entire arena was chanting Brock Lesnar's name the night after WM28, which shows that just about everyone in that arena clearly knew there was speculation that Brock was in town and possibly making an appearance. Or many other examples I could give.

Not that it would really make much difference, just a thought. I'd like to know where the apparent (to me, anyway) myth comes from that the casual don't read dirt sheets. Extending the logic to Hollywood, should we also be led to believe that casual movie goers don't buy the gossip magazines or watch the shows associated with celebrity gossip? Because that would be a stupid assumption, given how interested a lot of people clearly are in the personal lives of celebrities. Why should it be any different when it comes to gossip in wrestling?

 

[Crayo]

Chants can be contagious. If you see a group of hardcore fans as a casual chanting Brock Lesnar's name, you will probably join in. Plus that RAW in Miamia after WM was a very smarky crowd. Casuals inevitably read dirt sheets, but if they are constant readers then surely they are no longer casuals? I think the term casuals is regarding watchers of the product who don't watch it weekly, and don't really know the ins and outs perhaps.

 

[Lockard 23]

I don't think reading the dirt sheets would automatically make them hardcore fans, which would be the opposite of being a casual fan. People just love reading about gossip.

 

[Stopspot]

In my opinion, the difference between a smark and a mark is the emotional/intellectual investment in the product. I have no problem seeing a mark reading a dirtsheet now and then or watching the show weekly. But he or she isn't as invested emotionally and intellectually in the workings of the business as a smark. He or she doesn't spend hours on a webforum discussing it with others, laying forth hypothetical scenarios or discussing who deserves a push or not. A mark is more accepting of what he or she sees.

This is all just my opinion of course.

 

[Crayo]

In my opinion, the difference between a smark and a mark is the emotional/intellectual investment in the product. I have no problem seeing a mark reading a dirtsheet now and then or watching the show weekly. But he or she isn't as invested emotionally and intellectually in the workings of the business as a smark. He or she doesn't spend hours on a webforum discussing it with others, laying forth hypothetical scenarios or discussing who deserves a push or not. A mark is more accepting of what he or she sees.

This is all just my opinion of course.

Doesn't really have much thread relevance dude, lol.

I mean with social media now'adays, you don't need to read the dirt-sheets. You can like their Faceobook page found on one of your hardcore wrestling fans likes, and find out about all the news that way. The same applies for Twitter with retweets and such. It doesn't have to be "Oh I'm a casual fan but I'm going on PWInsider".

 

[Leo C]

I suppose one sign here or there may be put up by smark fans, and the chants are quite contagious, as Crayo said.