A Newbie's Guide To 'Big Brother 17' And Internet Fan Culture

"Big Brother" isn't the show where people stop being nice and start being real. It's more like the show where people stop being nice and stop being real.

It's two weeks in and "Big Brother 17" has already thrown out the old playbook. This season of the reality show, in addition to locking 15 or so people in the "Big Brother" house for 98 days, has added a bunch of surprises for the contestants. "Big Brother 17" features its first transgender player and is the second season to have a set of twins play -- unbeknownst to the other players.

The basics of "Big Brother" are pretty easy to follow. The reality show casts a number of contestants -- or "house guests" as the game calls them -- and sequesters them in the "Big Brother" house for the length of the show -- or until they are "evicted," meaning they are voted out of the house.

Each week, house guests compete to win food, luxuries and to be named Head of Household. Another competition is held for house guests to get a Power of the Veto, which protects them from eviction. The reigning Head of Household also gets to nominate the "Have Nots," the guests who are given the less desirable rooms and are allowed only "slob" to eat.

After weeks of competition, the final nine house guests get to vote for the winner, who will receive $500,000. Not too shabby.

"Big Brother" is currently in its 17th (!) season, and there’s still an audience out there for the series. The premiere this past Sunday was the highest-rated non-sports show that day, and episodes last week were viewed by 5.8 million viewers. While that’s roughly a third of what "NCIS: New Orleans" averaged last season, "Big Brother" airs during the summer, which typically brings lower viewership. CBS airs "Big Brother" three times a week and the season premiere episodes were the second-, third- and eighth-most-watched shows in the influential 18-42 demographic and the episodes ranked sixth, ninth and 17th overall that week.

In addition to the three hourly episodes a week, "Big Brother" offers access to live video feeds and member-only chat rooms through CBS All Access. This is in addition to fan-made blogs and sites such as the Big Brother Network, Joker's Wild, Hamster Watch and endless speculation on social media.

It's the online interactions that help keep Big Brother popular, said Candice D. Roberts, who is currently teaching class on Internet fandom at Drexel University. Roberts points out that, because "Big Brother" is a reality show, fans have an unlimited way to engage with the show, which isn't the same for fictional shows like "Game of Thrones" or "Scandal."

"Because ["Game of Thrones"] is fictional, the canon of a fictional text is going to be a bit more limited," she said. "There’s a finite amount of text that the fans can engage with."

Because "Big Brother" is a reality show, anything about the house guests -- including social media sites and biographical information -- can become part of show for dedicated fans, Roberts said. Sometimes, information from the past presents an unwanted surprise when fans find unflattering information out about a house guest. Some participants were even forced by producers to clean up their social media profiles before appearing on the show.

As fans have gotten involved in the game, there's even an inner circle where some people who are dubbed "super fans." These dedicated viewers have applied and ultimately got on the show. Super fan Ian Terry even went on to win Season 14.

But how do you become a super fan?

"A super fan is someone who knows the game, knows the history, knows the competition and the language, and what "Big Brother" is," Roberts said. "If you compare it to sports fandoms, it would be like knowing the records -- wins and loses."

In "Big Brother," this involves knowing who won what seasons and what strategies were used to win the game. For newbies looking to get involved, Roberts said veterans in the chats will often give advice on what seasons new viewers should watch first.

Additionally, fans can learn the language and abbreviations for the show. Knowing that HOH means held of household or that POV means Power of Veto are needed to engage with dedicated fans, but can also help causal viewers of the show as well.

"Big Brother" airs on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday nights on CBS. Or, if you're angling to be a super fan, the live feeds are on 24/7.