The Toxic Imaginary World of Fandom
Fan culture has never been more extreme than it is today.
It’s not enough to enjoy a creator’s work anymore—you have to pay for their Patreon, follow their Instagram, buy their albums, like, comment, and subscribe to their channel, and obsess over every minute detail of their personal life. Gone are the days of tabloids you could walk past or yellow journalism you could ignore. In 2023, you are bombarded at every turn with the sensationalized lives of your favorite celebrities.
And it’s dangerous.
Fans have created parasocial relationships with their celebrity of choice; meaning a relationship that entirely existes in one’s imagination about someone they don’t actually know. Because of Instagram (and other similar platforms) we are inundated with everything about a celebrity. We know what they had for breakfast, what brands they wear to the gym, how their shih tzu is doing, what city they live in, and every second of their creative process.
We grow a sense of familiarity, of comfort, of even friendship with these people. We memorize their favorite drinks and count down to their birthdays. We copy their haircuts and hate their ex’s. In short, we treat them like our closest friends.
So why is this so bad?
What’s the danger in loving people because of their craft, their personality, or their content?
First off, this compulsive need to consume all their posts and buy all their merch is just as dangerous as any addiction. If we can’t help but click on their story when it pops up or crash websites when their tickets become available or drop wads of cash on their latest sticker, then we have lost control of our impulses.
We have become salivating sycophants.
Secondly, it creates unrealistic and often extreme expectations, that, when they’re not met, can lead to chaos. Recently, an Instagram and TikTok mega star Olivia Dunne, a gymnast for LSU who has garnered a rabid fanbase in her collegiate career, accidentally created quite a commotion at the opening meet against University of Utah.
Thousands of roaring, foaming, exploding fans packed into the stands and refused to leave afterwards, flooding and fortifying the exits screaming “We want Livvy!” in a raucous mob. The tumult grew so barbaric that Olivia had to be whisked out the back.
All of this because fans created a relationship that didn’t exist and built expectations that were equally imaginary.
Thirdly, and most importantly, obsession with parasocial relationships inhibits our ability to focus on the people that really matter. As cultish kids constantly and carnivorously crave more connection to their icons, they ignore or weaken family ties, friendships, and potential relationships all around them. Gen Z youth report higher and higher feelings of social isolation and depression, yet they seek attention and affection from fabricated relationships that can never fulfill them like the real ones do, driving them towards more loneliness and unmet expectations.
