Toxic Fandom: What Is It?
Fandom fosters a sense of community. But what happens when it turns toxic?
In recent years, journalists, news organizations, and others have used the term “toxic fandom” to describe admirers of popular culture who act in ways that are seen as inappropriate and unpleasant.
These actions might include posting vehemently critical comments about the reboot of a particular work of pop culture, abusing other fans or those who worked on its production, or engaging in antisocial acts like issuing rape or murder threats or doxing (sharing someone else’s personal information).
Most harmful fandom actions occur on online forums or social media, particularly Twitter. However, they can also be observed at fan gatherings and conventions.
Fandom and Identity
While it’s common to refer to bullies as “toxic” fans, it’s crucial to be careful when characterizing the phenomena of toxic fandom. For instance, there is a world of difference between the group of fans that pushed for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” star Kelly Marie Tran to be the first Disney princess to have a partner and others who hounded her with racist and sexist insults until she deleted her social media accounts. However, the psychological mechanisms that drove each group to participate in its particular behavior were the same.
Many People Take on a Fan Identity
Taking up a fan identity is the beginning of fandom. A fan’s actions convey an essence they have chosen for themselves when they act on their fandom, which may be a solid way to define oneself. Because of fans’ intense emotional attachment to their favorite fan object, they may think of it as an extension of themselves.
Fandom Fosters a Sense of Community
Rarely do people engage in fandom alone. Admirers frequently develop relationships with both their preferred fan object and other fans of the same fan object. Studies show that even when fans aren’t in direct contact with other fans, they still consider themselves part of the community.
According to Henri Tajfel, a social psychologist, people develop strong attachments to their social groupings. Fans become socially involved in a fan community and become personally invested in a fan object.
Fan Entitlement
It’s common to dismiss as toxic fans those who declare that a reboot or remake of a particular intellectual property work would “ruin their youth.” For instance, the response was fast and vicious when filmmaker Paul Feig rebooted “Ghostbusters” in 2016 with a cast of female comedians as the protagonists. Some fans even engaged in online bullying and hostile behavior toward Feig and the model.
A fan’s reaction, however, will probably be less about entitlement and more about the danger to their identity if they perceive their fan object as a part of their self-concept. Fans who assert that a remake or reboot of a work of popular culture will “ruin their youth” have a relationship to the fan object that goes beyond their current fan identity and dates back to their formative years, forming a link between the fan object and their history and memories.
Racism and Misogyny in Fandom
The Gamergate controversy from 2014, in which a former lover of a game creator claimed the designer had slept with a journalist in return for a favorable review of her future game, is possibly the clearest example of this behavior. It speaks to the worst side of toxic fandom. Male videogame enthusiasts reacted angrily to this by harassing and threatening the alleged creator and female gamers in general.
The same impulses for personal and social identity are at the heart of male gamers’ desire to defend the videogame space. Still, it is also a response to their feelings of disempowerment as women and other marginalized groups who previously received little attention in gaming culture have not only joined its ranks but also pushed into its mainstream.
Instead of embracing gaming’s diversity, many fans felt the need to uphold the industry’s current status as a white, cis-male arena to maintain this aspect of their extended selves. This prompted them to make efforts to reclaim their privilege and drive the newcomers back to the edges, frequently by abusing and threatening them on social media.
The Prognosis for Toxic Fandom
Unfortunately, the critically important concerns like diversity and representation have caused fandom, like many other areas of America and other societies today, to become more divisive. As a result, some fans will probably continue to disparage and agitate anybody who promotes inclusivity, including other fans and media producers, mockingly labeling them as “SJWs” or “social justice warriors.”
However, it’s essential to remember that although bad actors tend to scream the loudest on social media and the news coverage of these bad actors amplifies their negative behavior further, most fans are not toxic.
Fan communities are places of true acceptance, social support, and belonging, and most fans are friendly, honest, and giving. Even though this aspect of fandom gets less attention, for the majority of individuals who are passionate about a particular part of popular culture, it makes fandom valuable and a force for good.
