#but idk if im completely sold on them ykwim?

[and-make-it-double]

js watched the update vid and how we feeling fellas?

[calumhoodgoss]

re: post about calum and fans.

genuine question on a purely ideological level do you think a kind of fandom who WOULD exploit someone for content is ethical? bc i go back and forth between being like 'if u don't respect someone as a basic human being that's the only criteria for not being a real fan'

like imo that's probably less of a fan and more starting to veer into like. predator territory? maybe that's a bit extreme. either that or the way I do fandom is basically like unreciprocated friendship idk. but there's always aspects of fandom, here and there, where i struggle to reconcile that these people would actually respect basic things like consent if it's their fave as much as they would with irl people

maybe we have different definitions for 'exploit' in this context tho?

ooo great question, i think the answer is very grey tbh.

no i dont think an exploitative fandom is ethical at all; what do we consider exploitation though? everyones got different definitions and boundaries extrapolating out to what each individual celebrity and individual fan alike deems appropriate. there's definitely a societal norm/general agreement of whats ok to some degree, but again, this changes drastically from fandom to fandom and even further from generation to generation (a la tabloit and paparazzi culture that was completely normal to the majority in the 2000s that we all agree is egregious in hind sight). so like no exploiting someone for content is not good but also what does it even mean to do that ykwim haha

for instance people have accused me and this blog for exploiting the boys and brandy for content. i dont personally think thats whats occuring here as i (and most of the anons) dont go fishing in their personal lives for any information. we strictly discuss public knowledge here so i dont think thats exploitation since the celebrity them selves has chosen to distribute that content. but others think analysis and theorising on said content is taking it too far. so 🫠🫠

im not sure if i would call all exploitation predatory as i know much of that kind of boundary crossing is done by younger people with underdeveloped judgement. does that make their actions any less hurtful or impactful? absolutely not. but i think predation implies motive and i dont think many of those fans are consciously trying to impact these people. i think they just have a lot of cognitive dissonance between them and the people theyre affecting whilst also having insane positive reinforcement from their peers suffering the same immature lack of judgement. for example, how 1D fans hacked into that airport footage way back when. was that exploitative and inappropriate and also illegal? - obviously. were they intending to harm the boys? probably not. they were just immature and got wrapped up in a group mentality. dont get me wrong STILL VERY SCARY AND BAD BEHAVIOUR but i think the motive is far more innocent.

tbh i honestly think a lot of these issues are to blame on celebrities marketing and pr teams. with boy bands for instance, the industry literally INTENTIONALLY markets them in a way that makes fans feel they have a unique connection to the celebrities and also a CHANCE with them. this is literally sold to us. they know that if you feel you have a chance with that person you are far more likely to stay invested and consuming. add on all the content centred around their personal lives, their dating lives, products marketed to give you exclusive information or insights into - not their music - but THEM. and then sell all that to adolescent girls. its bred a culture of fans feeling they have a right to knowledge about this person. to feeling like there isnt really a boundary there - because thats what the execs WANT you to think so you keep. on. consuming. think back to any exclusive 5sos, 1D, backstreet boys, etc etc. interview or book which weve all bought at one point or another excited for a new look into our faves lives only to find that its full of the same 10 garbage facts that any fan whos even vaguely familiar with the band already knows - did you know theyre actually AuSTraliAn?? did you know they met in highschool!! and that luke had a YouTube channel??!!!! like yes. yes i knew that actually. so that culture for thirst of information on the individuals is literally designed, constructed, packaged and sold to us intentionally to make us keep digging and its fucked up!!!

obviously, each fan needs to come to a point where they decide what is ok and not ok behaviour. even if something is sold to you, youre still a sentient intentional being with free will so the responsibility of your actions falls on you alone. but, thats the same for any life judgement/choice literally ever and unfortunately... a LOT of people are fucking dumb and have not a single ounce of intro or retrospective capabilities. so they'll just keep doing the actions and patterns sold to them by companies who just saw them as consumer cash cows and never stop to actually think about how their actions are affecting other people.

ok sorry for literally writing an essay out of nowhere HAHAH i just think this topic is interesting

***i dont think this is the case for all exploitative fans though- this is a boy band specific opinion. there is a lot of overlap with other celebs but there are certainly other nuances for different gendered/types of celebs that i havent discussed here as for this theyre irrelevant