#its not like online friendships are inherently unhealthy! having a community with people from around the world

[paradox-media]

Fandom and its Mentality

If you’re a fan of anything in 2020, chances are you know what a fandom is. You know the ones, their twitter handles will include their faves name in some way shape or form, followed by a colour or a body part and their icons will never be a picture of themselves, (myself included – mines a picture of Oscar Isaac right now.) They’re usually everywhere on your feed whether you follow any of them or not and will probably tell you to “STAN LOONA” under your tweets for no reason. Not every fan is the same though, there are casual ones out there that just lurk in the distant shadows and simply buy their merchandise and go. It’s not inherently a bad thing to be either type of these fans, but there is definitely a stigma that surrounds fandom and fans alike.

If you’ve picked this magazine up, the chances are that you like K-pop or are at least interested in some way and if not then hi, welcome, it’s a bit of a mess in here. But fandom isn’t just for K-pop fans, if you’ve been around on the internet for the last few years you’ll have seen the Star Wars fandom explode in popularity with the release of the new trilogy and subsequently The Mandalorian to match – those who ship ‘Reylo’ and those who don’t (FinnPoe for life – looking at you, Disney, give Oscar Isaac what he wants).

The concept is the same, though, and most of the time it’s two sides of the same coin and you either think that fandom and fans are okay or you think they’re crazy and honestly I can see both sides. Let people enjoy what they want! If someone wants to create an account that solely features pictures of Jonghyun from SHINee every single day then do it – so long as you’re not being disrespectful then you post those pictures. I’ll probably follow you myself if you do. The issue lies when people begin to forget who they are and are being consumed by their fandom and thing that they enjoy, and those who become rude towards those who are or aren’t fans are usually singled out pretty quickly.

“You haven’t streamed this song enough you’re not a true fan,” “You don’t own all of their albums? Fake fan,” “Ew you like x group? Flops.” Can’t we just let people enjoy whatever artist they like in their own time? Surely we can, right? There are people out there that can’t afford to buy every single album from every single group that they like and that’s okay! Monetary value doesn’t equate to how much or how little you like and enjoy someone’s work. Of course you’re going to have people out there who don’t like the same groups or even genres as you, and if you think that maybe they’ll like a song absolutely tell them about it, but don’t be rude.

Telling someone to “STAN LOONA” underneath a tweet about something serious like politics, bereavement or bad news is just going to make larger communities hate not only your fandom but also the group you stan as a result. We’re working hard enough as it is to remove stigmas revolving around K-pop as a genre and the fans and you’re not exactly helping, I’m just saying. All people are ‘gonna think is “wow, ‘gonna stay as far away from that as possible” and, congratulations, you’ve helped to give your fandom a bad name.

When asked “What do you think of fandoms and their mentality?” one fan had this to say: “Fandoms can be positive in many ways – online fandoms can create friendships, make people feel that their passions and interests are relevant and important and are often fun and safe spaces. However, they can also create a negative mentality – fandoms fight [between themselves] and wherever there is any sort of online presence there will be jealousy, bullying and a means of competition.” B, 20, South London. Another fan had a similar opinion: “Fandom spaces can be extremely powerful. Fandom creates a network of people all with one thing in common wherein everyone can feel supported in their love for that one thing. This support and understanding can create spaces for people to share things about themselves, [the] things they create and form friendships.

I think the problem within fandoms, such as obsession, jealousy and malicious behaviour all come from a place of insecurity; a place where people think they are owed something else – be it attention, love or recognition – from others within the fandom, other existing fandoms or even the thing they celebrate in the first place.” L, 20, South London.

On a more serious note, these spaces online are extremely important to those who may not be able to get out and socialise as much as they would like. Different disabilities, social anxiety or financial issues are just a few examples of obstacles that may stop someone from going out to socialise and social media helps these people to connect with others. Now when this magazine is released, we’ll hopefully be through the worst of the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) virus that’s been sweeping through the country (thanks, Boris.) And as shitty as its been with pasta and toilet roll being sold out in your local Sainabury’s, social distancing during this pandemic has only proven just how vital social media can become when faced with the inability to go outside and socialise face to face. Despite all of the negative connotations that mainstream popular media likes to portray of social media and online friendships, they can be extremely helpful and positive.

I mean come on now, we’re not living in the early noughties anymore, it’s very very unlikely that the person on the other end of the conversation is not who they say they are (please still be careful though – you truly never do know.)

Music and pop culture fandoms are not the only ones to exist online – technically if you’re a football fan you’re a part of a fandom as unusual as that sounds (those unhealthy stereotypes of young teenage girls being the only ones in fandoms really shows). It’s not quite the same, I’m sure there isn’t a Archive Of Our Own account out there dedicated to Jurgen Klopp but never say never, that’s a niche that probably doesn’t need to be filled but would be funny as fuck if it was.

Regardless of what you think about fandoms and whether or not you believe in the stereotypes you have to admit – they’re pretty fucking cool. Millions of people brought together under one shared interest, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation or ethnicity in THIS economy? That’s pretty special. Count me in.