Fandom Culture and What It Means

“Fandom culture” might seem confusing to a lot of people, but the gist of it is easy to understand: it is a place in which people share their ... Home BLOG MAGAZINE ABOUT SUBMIT SHOP Back ALLPOSTS Art&Music Beauty&Health Culture Family&Identity Fashion Film&TV Food&Drink Government&Politics History&Traditions Love&Relationships Religion Travel Back CURRENTISSUE ARCHIVES Back OURSTORY OURTEAM OUROPENINGS CONTACT FandomCultureandWhatItMeans Beingapartofafandomisanexperiencealotofpeoplemissouton,mostlybecausealotofpeoplehavelittleideaofwhatitreallymeans.Thetermfandomcanbederivedfromtheideaofbeingafanatic,orfan,ofsomething;mostoftenatelevisionshow,movieormoviefranchise,bookseries,celebrity,etc.Thepurposeofbeinginafandomistoconnectwithcontentrelatingtoaperson’sspecificinterestandthendiscussthiscontentwithotherfansonline.Thesefansareoftenalsocalled“stans.” Fansapartofafandomoftencausethefandom’sworktotrendonsocialnetworks.Theycanattendconventionstoshowcasetheirdedication,ortheycanpurchasemerchandisetointegratefancultureintotheirdailylives.Thesefansalsocreatefanart,fiction,magazines,videos,edits,products,andmoredevotedtotheirfandomandsharetheircreationswithotherfans. Therearealsomanydifferentplacestoexpressinterestinafandomandtakepart.FandomsexistoneverysocialmediasitelikeInstagram,Twitter,Tumblr,etc.Thereareblogscreatingcontenthourly,likeGIFs,memes,textposts,etc.Thefirststeppeoplehavetotaketojoinafandomisjustsupportwhattheyareinterestedin,andthen,iftheywantto,jointhefandomcultureonlinethroughafanaccount.Beingapartofafandommeansgoingbeyondacasualinterestinthecontent. Fandomculturecannotbeexplainedsimplyoreasily,buttherearesomebasicstobeingapartofanyfandom.Mostpeoplewhodonotpartakeinfandomculturemaynotknowthis,but“shipping”isgenerallyoneofthebiggestpartsofanyfandom. “Shipping”peopletogethermeanslikingtheirrelationshipandtakingaspecialinterestincreatingcontentorsupportingtherelationship.Whetheritbecelebritiesorfictionalcharacters,“shipping”isahugepartofalmosteveryfandom.Thisoftenleadsto“shipwars.”“Shipwars”causealotofcontroversyanddiscourseamongfans.ThebiggestormostcommonexamplesIcanofferareEdwardvs.JacobinTwilightorPeetavs.GaleinTheHungerGames.However,thisoccursinmanyfandomsandoftencanleadtomanydebatesorfull-fledgedarguments. Anotherpartoffandomculturethathasbeenintroducedmorerecentlyis“cancelculture.”“Cancelculture”istheideaof“cancelling”apublicfigureor,inotherwords,consideringacelebrityproblematicandthusrenderingthemirrelevant.Whilethispartoffandomculturemaybenecessarytocalloutmanyfamouspeopleontheactionstheytake,likesupportinginequalityordiscrimination,itcanbealittleoverwhelmingattimesbecausemanypeopleget“cancelled”overmistakestheyhaveowneduptoandapologizedfor,evenaftershowingthattheyhavechanged.However,thisisanimportantpartoffandomculture,asproblematicmediaandstatementsshouldbebroughttoattention. Ashardasitmaybetounderstand,beingpartofafandomhasbeenoneofthemostrewardingexperiencesinmylife.Growinguponlineandtakingpartinmanydifferentfandomsovertheyears,Ihaveearnedalot.Theinternetcanbeagreatteacher,andithasopenedmeuptoknowledgeaboutallgenders,sexualities,races,religions,andcountries.Fandomsoftengetintoheavydiscourseaboutthecharactersfromashowortherelationshipsinafilm.Thesediscussionshaveshownmealotaboutequalityandprivilege,aswellasabusiverelationshipsandmentalillness.Becauseofmytimeinafandomonline,IhavelearnedsomuchabouttheworldthatIhavenotparticularlylearnedfromanywhereelse.Itmaybeauniqueeducationalexperience,butIhavegainedalargeamountofknowledgeaboutdifferenttopicsthroughbeingapartofafandom. Ihavetalkedtomanypeoplewiththesameinterestsasme,whetheritbeashow,acelebrity,orsomethingelse.Thiscommunityoffanshelpsbringpeopletogetherandoftenmakesothersfeellessalonethroughasharedloveforsomething.Ihavetalkedtopeopleallovertheworldandformedfriendships,butitisimportanttonotethatIexerciseinternetsafetyanddonotgiveoutpersonalinformationonline.Thisprocesscanfeelalotlikeonlinedating,wherepeoplemustbecautiousofthepeopletheymeetbutatthesametime,itcanbeafulfillingexperienceandleadtomanyfriendships.Beingpartoffandomcultureislikebeingpartofanycommunity.Itissimilartoaclubforpeoplewiththesameinterest.Ithasshownmealotabouttheworldandgivenmeaplacetoexpressmyinterestinalotofdifferentmusic,literature,film,andtelevision.“Fandomculture”mightseemconfusingtoalotofpeople,butthegistofitiseasytounderstand:itisaplaceinwhichpeoplesharetheirloveforacertaintopicandgettoexpressthemselveswithoutjudgment. Film/TV,Books/LiteratureAvaniGoswamiSeptember24,2019Comment Facebook0 Twitter LinkedIn0 Reddit Tumblr Pinterest0 0Likes Previous KeepingYourselfSafeOnline Science/TechnologyPostsSeptember25,2019 Next HowToUnlearnOldHabits AdvicePostsSeptember24,2019