- At New Statesman, Elizabeth Minkel discussed tension between fans and content creators. “[M]aybe it’s best to think of fan/creator relations through the lens of ‘mutually assured destruction’, in the sense that ‘they’re allowing me to do what I want, so I’ll enable them through what they want’. Just because we can see each other – and just because we can potentially even talk to each other – doesn’t mean it’s actually a good deal to directly engage with each other…social media continues to transform the way we communicate…it’s not the historical barriers in place, but perhaps instead the ones we continue to erect, out of mutual respect, that help to keep making television worth getting invested in.”
- The Columbia Chronicle looked instead at fan vs. fan. “In 2006, Grieve and a colleague conducted a study to measure how fans view opposing teams and found that when the home team lost, fans were more likely to deem visiting fans unfriendly, rude and untrustworthy than when the home team won. Fans sometimes take their negative attitudes toward rival groups too far, Grieve said, adding that some are emotionally attached to a team simply because they enjoy the confrontational nature of fandom rather than the camaraderie and socialization benefits.”
- Lizzie Yin wrote in The Global Times about how she was an anti-fan. ” I’ll admit that I once used to like some of my targets. From my perspective, many of the anti-fans out there have a history like me. They used to like somebody or some band, then they grew out of it, and felt embarrassed or ashamed of that past history, since they later found those people ‘uncool.’ Exactly like the fans, the anti-fans also spend a great amount of time, energy and resources in hating somebody, passionately.”
- At Geek Tyrant, Mick Joest complained about tests of fannishness. “[G]eeks have evolved into something well beyond the current umbrella we share. Table-top gamers may have no interest in Firefly, and the Browncoats could not give a flip less about Manga readers. PC gamers may log 100s of hours in DOTA and never watch an actual episode of the original Star Trek, and that’s completely fine. It doesn’t make you more or less of geek to have your hands in multiple cookie jars of fandom, and it’s that kind of pissing contest of ‘who’s more popular’ that drove many people into the less mainstream interests we share today. ”
What examples of fandom love & hate have you seen? Write about them on Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.
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