#WWSD: What would SZA do?
What SZA Stans Discuss Online
When SZA Stans from all across the globe decide to come together and reside on the interwebs of social media to celebrate their spiritual mother Miss. Solana ‘SZA’, it seems like they find common ground on @szalooks on Instagram. The trending hashtag, #WWSD: ‘What would SZA do?’, seems to be the blueprint for the communities’ shared ideas and beliefs. Let’s break it down, what truly brings these SZA stans together?
Kumbaya
On many of SZA’s Instagram fan pages, she is most definitely their top priority. Their belief system is built on the ideals that anything SZA produces is basically pure gold. Her fans repost all of her musical projects, posts she makes, and pretty much anything else she says or does. The reposts that seem to receive the most engagement, have to be when the creators of SZA’s Stan pages choose to ask their audience’s opinions on SZA related content.
Above, @Szalooks reposted a clip from SZA’s ‘Good Days’ music video with the caption asking their audience, ‘What’s your favorite lyric from ‘Good Days’?. Not only does this ensure excitement and engagement from their audience, but it also emphasizes their sense of community. When their followers choose to comment on their favorite lyric from ‘Good Days’, they could meet other fellow SZA stans that enjoy that lyric as well. The stans also seem to really resonate with the idea of being brought into the conversation regarding SZA’s musical collaborations. I’ve stumbled across many posts that posed the question of who SZA stan’s feel like she should collaborate with on her next song or album. “Would you be here for SZA collabs with Jhene Aiko, Summer Walker, Kehlani, and Ari Lennox? #FemaleUnityInRnB” @Szalooks asks, in which the top comment responds, “Yes. I love Kehlani, Ari Lennox, and Summer Walker. But if Sza and Jhene collabed I will cry omg yes”. As you can see, SZA’s stans are not only dedicated to her style choices, but they enjoy being a part of a bigger conversation. Declaring that they would literally start crying if she chose to write a song with the musical artist of their choice. Can’t get any more excited than that! One last thing that really seems to get the crowd hyped up, is when the queen herself decides to get in on it. I notice whenever SZA decides to grace them with a few likes, comments, or reposts, it receives a ton of engagement and community excitement!
Off with their heads
After doing my research on any divisions within the larger SZA Stan community, I have come to the conclusion that they have a rather stable foundation of unity. Not many things seemed to be a deciding factor in regards to their division. However, I did notice an uproar of Instagram comments from her stans after a clip of SZA’s CBS This Morning interview was posted on social media. Her stans quickly went to the comments to express their dismay towards the interviewer for not giving public recognition to the Tik Toker that popularized SZA’s unreleased song ‘Shirt’. But even with that public displeasure, their ideals lean more towards group cohesion rather than division. They choose to focus on making their disagreements a means for solidarity. Choosing to attack the source of their disagreements, rather than each other.
