The term “fan” was originally used to describe sports fans during the nineteenth century and was later adopted by science fiction enthusiasts in the 1920s. The term “fan,” however, is used for describing a type of person who is enthusiastic, or fanatic about a certain subject. Popular fan culture, nicknamed “fandoms,” have become an integral part of society in many countries, and have connected people sharing a common interest through online communities where they can freely discuss fan related topics. Popular fandoms today include Directioners, Beliebers, and VIPs. People who are part of fandoms usually show their devotion by participating in fan conventions such as Comicon, writing fan mail, creating fan art, or by promoting their interests to others. Being a fan also comes with the responsibility of changing one’s lifestyle in order to accommodate time and energy into the fandom. Fan culture also offers people the chance to feel passionate about something or someone in order to satisfy the emotional needs they lack from their daily life.
A fan in today’s world is usually characterized as the result of the “star system” portrayed in society due to mass media where media figures’ lives are constantly emphasized on a day to day basis. The internet and society are obsessed with news concerning celebrities, and knowing about their personal life. Today’s social media keeps fans constantly updated about celebrities, giving fans the illusion that they know everything about that celebrity and that they are connected somehow. This type of mass media has made the difference between appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior of fans less noticeable (Lewis 11). These types of fans, the pathological fans, are also classified as the “o...
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...ther fans online it is not uncommon to come across conflicting fans. In the fandom of One direction, a very large and powerful fandom, there would be conflicts concerning if one is was a “true fan,” and if they were not fans of the boy group since their beginning days starting from the X-factor than they were not a true fan.
The force of a fandom is very powerful when dealing with large fandoms. One should refrain from offending fans because if one offends a fan or insults their interest then they will defend their fandom by all means. Fans tend to be very loyal and endearing when it come to their fandom. “Although they were stereotyped as brainwashed consumers, the fans were far from passive- when they screamed they were celebrating themselves, their freedom, their youth, their power. Screaming didn’t drown out the performance: it was the performance” (Lynskey 5)
was obvious that he fans were having a great time at the show, judging by their antics, so I
Sport fans, sometimes also called sport devotees, followers, or supporters, are persons who are enthusiastically devoted to a particular athlete, team or sport. They may show their enthusiasm by often attending sporting events or watch on television, being members of a fan club, follow sport news through newspapers, online websites, and creating fanzines. Their disposition is often such that they will experience a game or event by living through their favored players or teams. These behaviors manifest itself in different ways. To enable better understanding of these behavioral patterns, we have to classify these sports fans into groups based on their devotion to teams: fair-weather fans, bandwagon and the super-fans.
Artists and fans alike have been at the forefront of the music-scene revolution, and both have benefited in a number of ways. While major record labels try to find new ways to return to the years of massive profit, many artists have found new ways to connect with fans on a more personal level as well as new ways to get their music heard. Fans are discovering the perks of following artists that aren't controlled by four-record deals and corporate input. The music landscape is changing. This is a good thing.
Celebrity worship is a term given to those who obsess over one or more celebrity. Jake Halpern's "The Popular Crowd," discusses how loneliness increases the likelihood of someone worshiping celebrities. Worshiping of celebrities is not necessarily bad, it can be helpful for those who have a social need that they need satisfied. However, this worshiping can sometimes lead to stalking and violence towards celebrities. Once this happens celebrities are put in danger. Some celebrities receive phone calls, letters, emails, and more from stalkers. They might not feel like this is a sign of danger, but it is. In order for celebrities to remain safe, they need to be educated about dangers that come with having fans.
For those who are not familiar with what fanfiction is, it essentially refers to fan-authored texts written around characters, scenarios or elements from pre-existing sources, usually television shows or films, although the list can include such varied sources as bands, cartoon, books, poems or games. It used to be the exclusive preserve of zines or mailing lists, but with the advent of the internet, fanfiction has become easy to find and easy to publish. The internet has essentially brought a show like Buffy to a point that it took Star Trek years to build up to. For example, if you were to type in the words 'Buffy' and 'Fanfiction' in the Google search engine, you would come up with about 77,000 hits. With the advent of internet access to fan-authored works, it has become much easier for fanfiction authors and readers to conceal their identities. However, it still functions as a community, complete with mailing lists, fanfiction challenges and internet zines. There is no longer a neat divide between the producers and consumers from years ago. Now fans can be both.
What is a baseball fan? The word "fan" is an abbreviation of the word "fanatic," meaning "insane." In the case of baseball fans, the term is very appropriate. They behave insanely, they are insane about baseball trivia, and they are insanely loyal.
In today’s day and age we live in a society obsessed with celebrity culture. This however, is not a new addiction; our society’s fascination with celebrity culture has been around for decades. Through the years, we’ve seen fandom come in various forms, shapes and sizes. From the groupies of the 60s, to the more recent digital-followers, one thing common among all fans is the pedestal on which they’ve put their favorite celebrity. Some people would argue that fans are not only the most important part of a celebrity’s life, but fans are quintessential in their success. Fans admire them, follow their every move: physical or electronic, and purchase anything and everything that might bring them in looking/feeling more like their desired celebrity. Many experts even believe that fan and fan-clubs often resemble religions. One can easily note the similarities between fans and a religious cult; from worshipping to organizing conventions and event recruiting new followers. To some it might even sound like a disorder, and Dr. Lynn McCutcheon after her intense research, was the first one to coin the term: (CWS) Celebrity Worship Syndrome. According to Psychology Today, CWS can be described as a mental-disorder where an individual becomes completely obsessed with the details of the personal life of a celebrity (Griffiths). A celebrity, as defined by Mark Griffiths, can be any person who is present in the ‘public eye’, including Politicians, authors, and journalists, but according to Dr. McCutcheon research they are more likely to be someone from the world of television, film and/or pop music. Continuing on Justin Bieber’s ad campaign, this paper examines the peculiar relationship between consumers and God-like celebrity figures. It showcase...
There are two types of Korean music fans: Kpopers or K-pop fans and Sasaeng Fans. These two separate groups share many similarities; however, their differences are what separate them completely on the sane to psychotic meter. Kpopers, or K-pop fans for short, is a person who likes and listens to Korean Music. The “pop” in those words does not mean that said person limits themselves to only pop style music; it is just a term used to group all of them together. A Sasaeng fan (사생팬) are overly obsessed K-pop fans. The word sasaeng is a shortened form of the word sasaenghal (사생활) which means “privacy”. So sasaeng fan literal means “privacy fan”. Though Sasaeng’s are technically not considered “fans” at all, they are still called as such.
The celebrity gossip industry has affected our assumptions about entertainment. Usually, we assume that entertainment is just for fun, entertainment is only a reflection of our culture, and entertainment is a personal choice. Nowadays, entertainment is not just for fun. Celebrities entertain us in many ways, but sometimes we do not enjoy what they do yet we still watch them. For instance, many teen idols have had meltdowns. Although it is not fun to...
Research on what it means for people to be a sports fan; what do sports mean in
The term “fandom” is thought to have first come into use in 1903, which is when Merriam-Webster’s dictionary first found evidence of the term being used, though its meaning has since evolved. The fandom of 2014 is very different to the fandom of 1903, and this is because of the fact that as the world evolved, so did the meaning of the word “fandom”. Social media is the main reason for the fact that fandom is used to refer to many different areas of interest. Sites such as “Tumblr” and “Twitter” have allowed fans to form a global community with those who share ...
Every weekend hundreds of thousands of sports fans pack the stadiums of their favorite team and ruthlessly engage in fandom. Some fans tailgate before the game and casually support their team by sporting a jersey and team colors, while others may dress up in absurd outfits, like one Raiders fan who has dressed up in a gorilla suit for the last 16 years. From wicked costumes and body paint, to inappropriate jeers at opposing fans, Eric Simmons was determined to reach a conclusion as to why humans are so entrenched by sports. Simmons does not try to push the world in a certain direction, rather, he utilizes real-life examples, rhetorical questions, and studies and statistics to inform the reader on why fans have developed an intense love for
Long before stories were recorded on paper they were told through word of mouth. As the story was shared, it also changed. Storytellers could make any changes to the story that they saw fit without being punished. This same concept holds true with fan fiction. Fan fiction is a story written by a fan of a book, movie, comic, or television show depicting a mixture of characters, plotlines and settings that appear in the original work. Like folklore, fan fiction follows a basic storyline with concrete elements while reflecting the beliefs of the person telling the story (Schaffner 616). While the two share many similarities such as strong educational implications, the difference between fan fiction and its ancient predecessor lies in the medium that is used to transmit it and the emergence of new legal systems that are harsh on using the ideas of other people to further your own. Even though it may violate the United States copyright law, fan fiction is a great tool to teach young people to love writing.
The choice of research being studied must be relevant to the subject under consideration (Patton,1987).The word fan first became popular in reference to enthusiasts of baseball. It originally comes from the Latin word fanaticus, meaning “insanely but divinely inspired”. Dunning, Murphy, and Williams (1986) noted that fandom “has come to form one of the principal media of collective identification in modern society and one of the principal sources of meaning in life for many people.” Understanding fandom is of essential importance as this study also aims to understand certain behavioral patterns of sports fans.