Thinking About Parasocial Fandoms
Aug. 1st, 2021 03:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anorthiteThe other day middle brother and I were talking about horrifying teenage trends on tiktok, mainly to shock and befuddle my dad. As usual we arrived at similar places on the internet via vastly diverging routes (a la interest in Das Rheingold via the Wagner tuba vs. via Nietzsche) but were able to identify some of the current *weird* internet trends as shifting/manifestation subculture (modern evangelical prosperity gospel for the spiritual not religious generation), true crime/investigative subculture (another can of worms for another day), narrative fandom culture (Harry Potter, Marvel, anime, SNAPEWIVES), and commercial/parasocial fandom culture (kpop, pop music, youtubers). Qualification that pretty much all of these groups are commercial to a degree.
Queen of creating an innocuous-feeling parasocial relationship, Lorde, whose trade is in generalities except for stray details and specifics which she plucks directly from *your* life, recently brought up an Annie Dillard quote (The Writing Life) in an interview that I find interesting: "how we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing." When we spend time engaging in fandom, what exactly IS it that we are doing? What is it that I am spending all this time on?
Of course there are many other neighborhoods of the internet that could be as revealing in different ways as those named above, but what stands out to me about them is the inherent nature of fandom as the feeling of possession of something that ultimately can't be materially or meaningfully transferred to the "fan" or participant: divine control over one's reality and the universe, the lives, tragedies, and perspectives of others, an author's intellectual property, the true "nature" or personality of a person viewed at a remove from oneself. The great power of the fourth category, the parasocial fandoms, is that the object of the fandom is neither static nor unwilling, but plays an active role in participating in the fan/artist relationship (ALSO another can of worms for another day).
Because I have to, let me qualify MY experience in this sort of fandom, which has been largely positive, and contrast that with the accounts most likely to spout insane garbage that fly past me as I am online. The problem with parasocial artist fandoms, as we can see, is that they have no root in reality; both the artist and the fan are taking part in simultaneous myth-making and interpretation of the other. The solution to this problem in my experience is to identify yourself more with a community, with a particular suburb of similarly-minded fans, rather than with the object of your fandom. If we partake in fandom as "talking about a subject with other people who have similar interests" it becomes relatively harmless, as opposed to participation where the relationship with the community is more abstract than the relationship, or perceived relationship, with the artist. In other words, the craziest fans and nonsense is always more likely to emanate from a 1500 follwer 1600 following account who draws their peers from the follow tags and interacts with others only in the superficial world of "bestie"dom. In a parasocial fandom, if you're not limited or appealing to the perspectives and opinions of people around you who you actually "know" to some extent, the only check on your views and beliefs is the artist or idol themselves, who benefit far more from worshipful delusion and even uncomfortably close identification than they do from moderation, critique, or detachment. You spend your time on a relationship that will always remain fan-idol speculative fiction.
"Fandom is only right when you do it MY way," I preach again from my very favourite pulpit. In honesty, though, I wonder how people can be expected to self-regulate when they have no real peers on the internet, but are simply awash in a sea of performative controversy, overwrought fandom-speak, and enforced conformity, especially those who are very young. If there's any lesson I've learned from the internet, it is that it's always at its best when mimicking some kind of real-life social setup that, but for the improbabilities of logistics and time zones, might be replicable to some degree in real life. Fandom without this kind of supporting structure has no real life bearing, and its result is tunnel vision towards a relationship that cannot achieve much meaningful reality at all.
Queen of creating an innocuous-feeling parasocial relationship, Lorde, whose trade is in generalities except for stray details and specifics which she plucks directly from *your* life, recently brought up an Annie Dillard quote (The Writing Life) in an interview that I find interesting: "how we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing." When we spend time engaging in fandom, what exactly IS it that we are doing? What is it that I am spending all this time on?
Of course there are many other neighborhoods of the internet that could be as revealing in different ways as those named above, but what stands out to me about them is the inherent nature of fandom as the feeling of possession of something that ultimately can't be materially or meaningfully transferred to the "fan" or participant: divine control over one's reality and the universe, the lives, tragedies, and perspectives of others, an author's intellectual property, the true "nature" or personality of a person viewed at a remove from oneself. The great power of the fourth category, the parasocial fandoms, is that the object of the fandom is neither static nor unwilling, but plays an active role in participating in the fan/artist relationship (ALSO another can of worms for another day).
Because I have to, let me qualify MY experience in this sort of fandom, which has been largely positive, and contrast that with the accounts most likely to spout insane garbage that fly past me as I am online. The problem with parasocial artist fandoms, as we can see, is that they have no root in reality; both the artist and the fan are taking part in simultaneous myth-making and interpretation of the other. The solution to this problem in my experience is to identify yourself more with a community, with a particular suburb of similarly-minded fans, rather than with the object of your fandom. If we partake in fandom as "talking about a subject with other people who have similar interests" it becomes relatively harmless, as opposed to participation where the relationship with the community is more abstract than the relationship, or perceived relationship, with the artist. In other words, the craziest fans and nonsense is always more likely to emanate from a 1500 follwer 1600 following account who draws their peers from the follow tags and interacts with others only in the superficial world of "bestie"dom. In a parasocial fandom, if you're not limited or appealing to the perspectives and opinions of people around you who you actually "know" to some extent, the only check on your views and beliefs is the artist or idol themselves, who benefit far more from worshipful delusion and even uncomfortably close identification than they do from moderation, critique, or detachment. You spend your time on a relationship that will always remain fan-idol speculative fiction.
"Fandom is only right when you do it MY way," I preach again from my very favourite pulpit. In honesty, though, I wonder how people can be expected to self-regulate when they have no real peers on the internet, but are simply awash in a sea of performative controversy, overwrought fandom-speak, and enforced conformity, especially those who are very young. If there's any lesson I've learned from the internet, it is that it's always at its best when mimicking some kind of real-life social setup that, but for the improbabilities of logistics and time zones, might be replicable to some degree in real life. Fandom without this kind of supporting structure has no real life bearing, and its result is tunnel vision towards a relationship that cannot achieve much meaningful reality at all.
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