Fandom Project

The Wide World of Fandoms

~ By Kaira Carter ~

For me, fandoms were the right of passage I had to overcome to reach adulthood, and it was a crazy experience.

Up until I reached middle school, I didn't have much in terms of interests. I was that kid who would sit and read in my room or play with stuffed animals for hours on end. My childhood was an endless wave of playing pretend.

The only reason why I could maintain this lifestyle was because I was mostly homeschooled before I went into middle school. I could go for weeks without engaging with another human being outside my household or engaging with technology. I was more content with the simpler things in life: books, toys, and cozy bubble baths.

...And then the real world caught up with me.

The moment I entered public school, it was an instant crash course in media and culture. Suddenly, I couldn't become a "socially acceptable" human without understanding my peers' interests. I researched popular video games and TV shows to get a leg up on my culturally-versed classmates.

Within six months, I knew about Pokemon, Digimon, Sonic, DC Comics, Marvel, Beyblades, Super Mario Bros, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Star Trek, and Warrior Cats. Everything a sixth grader needs to survive at the geeky lunch table. In other words, I learned how to relate to others through their interests. Their fandoms.

Fandoms are communities of people who enjoy a certain piece of media or have a collective hobby. These communities can be about anything! TV Dramas, anime, video games, comic books, music artists, music genres, YouTubers, lifestyles, books... So long as there's an engaging subject, there will inevitably be a fandom for it.

While fandoms are a great place to build a community and find friends with similar interests, it is also a place where interests turn into obsession. Obsession turns to possessiveness for the subject in question. Possession turns into intolerance for others and their ideas. Obsession, possession, and intolerance are what fundamentally create toxic fandoms on the Internet: digital spaces where people go to fight over who is the best character, what the creators should have done differently, which characters should be shipped with whom, etc. Opposing viewpoints can become dangerous and put a target on peoples' backs. Cyberbullying, theft, slander, and even threats are not uncommon in toxic fandoms.

Toxic fandoms, in turn, have given all fandoms a bad reputation. People outside of the communities learn to stereotype certain fans as a way of dehumanizing them. Dedicated fans turn into a strange, misunderstood group of outcasts. Whether a fandom is toxic or not, all of these communities risk facing scorn from people who may not understand what a fandom is supposed to be. At times, fandoms can feel like a battle zone from all sides. It's hard to find acceptance, to be confident in yourself, and to love what you love.

What people need to understand about fandoms going into them is that they can't take control of everything. We can all express opinions and bring creative ideas to life; but once we start to take ownership of someone else's work or accuse someone else of being lesser for having interests, we fall prey to the black hole known as obsession.

In this project, I will talk about my experience with three fandoms and how they have shaped me over the years. Using my experiences, I will touch on issues that could have been avoided, how to resolve issues, and what warning signs to watch out for. For those looking to join an online community, you should be able to walk away from this knowing how to find the right people to talk to, and what you can do to make your community a place everyone can enjoy.