Anti-fandom is big business

@drjess21

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9.9K

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SoundTikTok sound · original sound - drjess21

Why it worked

The video taps into a current and highly debated topic (fandom vs. anti-fandom) with a provocative thesis, using academic research to lend credibility. The creator's personal connection and preemptive defense against negative comments also likely generated engagement.

Summary

The speaker argues that "anti-fandom" is a more powerful driver of modern politics and media engagement than traditional fandom. They explain that while fandom can be passionate, anti-fandom is fueled by hate, which is a more potent force for building communities and driving attention in the current media landscape. The speaker references research and books that explore these concepts, particularly in relation to political figures and media consumption.

Structure

1Introduction to anti-fandom as a business
2Distinction between fandom and anti-fandom as indicators of political anger
3Explanation of how hate fuels anti-fandom and political movements
4Comparison of fandom and anti-fandom as drivers of media engagement
5Recommendation of resources for further learning
6Concluding remarks on the role of anti-fandom in the current media ecosystem

Product placement

The video shows images of academic articles and book covers related to fandom and anti-fandom studies, including "Beyond antifandoms: Cheerleading, textual hate and new media ethics" and "ANTI-FANDOM: DISLIKE AND HATE IN THE DIGITAL AGE". It also shows the cover of "ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO CLICK: How Metrics Are Transforming the Work of Journalists".

Original caption

To be clear, this video is not saying there is anything wrong with fandom. I’m a fan of many things myself. What it is saying is that anti-fandom and fandom exist on the same spectrum, and at any given time, one is more powerful for journalism and social media than the other. Hating can be good, and haters often get legitimate critiques dismissed through the word. But I’ve been noticing online in the last year is for anti fandom to go beyond legitimate critiques and to be a driver of misinformation and polarization. Echo chambers exist for fandom and pop culture too. #celebrity #popculture #fandom #antifandom #fans

More from @drjess21

More breakout videos from this creator.

Transcript

I think it's time to talk about how anti-fandom is actually a bigger indicator of our current political anger, misinformation and polarizing moment than fandom. To be clear, this video is not saying all fandom is bad! Some crosses the line, but we also need joy and shouldn't police others' joy. I already regret making this video because I know what my comments are about to look like. My name is Jess, I'm a social media researcher and teacher specializing in pop culture on the internet and I teach in an entertainment and media department. And many people are already running to my comments to be like, "anti-fandom is a big indicator of politics and polarization." I never said it wasn't, I just said it's time to add something else to the conversation. Researchers like myself have known for decades that fandom and politics and partisanship overlap quite strongly. And that is because we can see the highly passionate and affective drives of fandom in modern politics. Many researchers used this to help explain the rise of Donald Trump in American politics because people enacted fannish and fan behaviors toward him. Yes, on the leftist side of the spectrum, the K-hive, Bernie Bros, those are fannish attachments to a figure. But using fandom to explain the rise of authoritarian figures like Donald Trump and how they drive success from their base misses a key element, and that is hate. Because Donald Trump's supporters don't just love Donald Trump, they hate Democrats, they hate trans people, they hate gay people, they hate immigrants, and they hate women. And their hate for those things drives them to love somebody who is emblematic to them of those things. Yes, researchers have critiqued and discussed that to compare literal harmful killing practices to fandom. I highly recommend this article and these books if you want to know more about those discussions. So I think more so than anti-fandom is anti-fandom is the driving force of our time. Because as a researcher who's also written about snark subreddits, I know that hate is in a more powerful driver of community content and media engagement. Then join and politics, celebrities, subreddits, media journalism, they're all part of this modern ecosystem that is competing for attention. In my work, I also look at how journalism functions, the same logic as content creators. People wanna be first, people wanna be right. With metrics and they want views. I recommend this book for more information on that. While there was a time fandom meant big business and metrics for media engagement, we are now in a place where anti-fandom is big business for media engagement, clicks and views. We'll swing back, we always do. Anyway, any time I make a video about any fans or anti-fans or anybody in pop culture, TikTok has to put anti-bullying protection on my videos because y'all can never be normal. So I will block anybody who is engaging in bad faith because I'm not in the mood these days. But for those who are here in good faith, let me know what questions and comments you have down below.