Cult Status
Discover more from Fan of the Fans
Welcome to Fan of the Fans, where fandom meets business, community, and pop culture.
This week, a few major events happened.
First, the Apple Event 2023 (also referred to as the iPhone 15 event) featured a slew of fans clamoring for the latest updates and news.
One major highlight came in the form of a sustainability campaign, featuring Octavia Spencer as Mother Nature. And boy, the crowd was divided.
Some marketing experts loved the skit, showcasing that sustainability doesn’t have to be boring, while others claimed it was greenwashing. With Apple’s well-known devoted fan base, it’s easy to confuse the division between fanboys and the general population, but is that the case here?
On social media, it’s nearly impossible to avoid fights, and so when someone disagrees with you, especially when cult brands are concerned, it’s easy to dismiss one side due to their fandom, even if their feelings are genuine. Would love to know your thoughts. Is this a fanboy love thing or a general appreciation for trying to make sustainability messaging fun?
The Apple fanboys are a very loud contingent of the internet, and it seems that even they don’t always love everything that happens. Not only will they proudly self-identify as a fanboy, but it’s included in every negative thing they say. “I’m an Apple fanboy, but…” even when discussing the new ad. In fact, it seems the division isn’t so easily fan vs. nonfan, but fan against fan. Apple Insider, a source for all Apple news, shared their take on the spot; the comments opened up a sea of different thoughts.
This begs the question, is the Apple cult fading and opening up to more criticism from fans, OR is Apple no longer connecting to its fan base?
Sound off in the comments.
Second, we had the VMAs and Taylor Swift being the biggest fangirl ever.
The past few years have been difficult for millennials like me, where it seems we’ve not really been forgotten so much as pushed to the back like an embarrassment to make way for the youths to come in and take the stage. Like with every generation that grows up, you get to the point where the game becomes, “how many of these artists do I even know?”
This night, however, felt like a celebration of all things millennial. NSYNC is back, and Taylor Swift is vibing. This is where things get interesting.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Taylor Swift has been lifting up the economy, going all over during her 3-hour long shows on her Eras Tour. She finally gets a night where she gets to dance and sing in the audience, and here come the haters.
Because if you’re big enough for fans, you’re big enough for haters, I guess. It also means that people think they know a celebrity because they follow their content, listen to their music, or go see the latest movie they’re in. We need to talk about parasocial relationships. These parasocial relationships exist as one-sided relationships between fans and celebrities, where the fans feel like they are friends with the star. They understand them, know them, and realize what they want. It can start off as harmless fun and spiral into unhealthy behaviors. It can also be utilized and nurtured by celebrities to strengthen this bond, thus strengthening a celebrity's popularity.
With this perceived knowledge of a celebrity, it lends itself to people making assertions without real context and this can be done by fans and haters.
This video brings up two major pillars of fandom.
Your biggest fans will come after your haters and will defend you without you even needing to ask.
For everyone who makes their love of you their entire personality, you’ll have others who do the same about hating you.
Fandom is a two-sided coin. If you can drive an incredible amount of passion, that emotion can manifest differently, and it isn’t always love. Yes, people in the spotlight get an inordinate amount of attention compared to us normies, but they also get an inordinate amount of hate.
This level of fandom does more than get people to create TikToks and fan clubs. It’s enough to make it a part of your career. If you’ve ever wanted to make Taylor Swift a part of your job, this might be perfect for you.
As we continue to dive into fandoms and how they operate in business, community, and pop culture, it’s important to remember the intense emotion woven into fandoms and how it can be incredibly powerful, for better or worse.
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. What did you think about the Apple Mother Nature skit? Do you wish you were partying with Taylor at the VMAs?
See you next week with more stories about the power of fandoms.
CG
Cult Status
Think about critical feedback of Apple... I don't think it's a sign that their fanbase is shrinking or getting less passionate. To me, vocal anger and outcry is actually a sign of still having an extremely strong level of loyalty and attachment. As you said in the Taylor Swift section - when fans love you and feel like they know you, they can become very vicious in either defending or attacking you.
Vocal criticism still means some level of care, effort, and passion. And I also find that when people feel very strongly about a brand (as people do with Apple), that brand love comes with some degree of entitlement. People feel like because they love the brand, that brand owes something back to them. So when the brand might do something they don't agree with or that doesn't comply with their expectations... it creates anger. Just like one would get upset if their partner suddenly stopped showing up for dinner with no explanation. An expectation was made, a relationship (although mostly perceived in the case of fans) was established, a status quo was maintained. When expectations are suddenly broken, it feels like a kind of betrayal.
This week has definitely been an amplified whirlwind for millennial fandom in particular. I’d love to have a deeper dive together on the power (and danger) of parasocial relationships. Particularly in music where I see the line blur a little bit more because of the nature of access to share a physical space with artists. Something I try to keep my finger on the pulse of a lot.