By Sophie Kilbride
Opinion Editor
As social media continues to open direct access to celebrities, fans have more entry points than ever into the private lives of their favorite famous personalities.
Whereas the worlds of fans and artists were relatively self-contained a decade ago and existed in a bubble, a new nebulous player has entered the game: social media.
According to The Guardian, “When fans now kiss an artist or tweet abuse at them online, it is no longer about an interaction between fan and artist in which a fan wants to feel seen by the artist…It is about being seen online, and sharing for all the world to see. Like everyone else, fans increasingly see themselves as public narrators and knowing participants in the online discourse.”
With this added accessibility comes new issues celebrities and fans must learn to navigate together, and, thus far, fans have failed on their end of the bargain.
In a series of TikToks, pop singer Chappell Roan took a steadfast stand against problematic patterns occurring within modern fanbases.
“It’s weird how people think that you know a person just because you see them online and you listen to the art they make,” Roan said in a video posted to her TikTok on Aug. 19.
Roan shared several disturbing stories of extremely scary fan interactions she has had since the viral success of her album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.” She calls out stalking, abuse, and harassment as behaviors that have become normalized aspects of fandom culture.
“If you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from your car window? Would you harass her in public?” Roan said.
Instead of sympathy and comfort, Roan was met with a severe storm of mockery and hatred from people who claim to be her fans. For passionate fans, drawing the line between enthusiasm and bad manners can be challenging, but respecting people’s boundaries is the easiest way to ensure safety on both ends.
While dangerous behavior from fans is often dismissed as overexcitement, they should listen to limits set by celebrities on the kinds of action deemed socially acceptable. Simply being a fan does not give one an excuse to abandon basic respect.Indie musician Phoebe Bridgers has been vocal about setting boundaries with her fans.
“I, at one of the lowest points of my life, saw people who claim to love me f—ing dehumanize me and shame me, and f—ing bully me on the way to my dad’s wake,” Bridgers said in a 2023 interview with Them.
For fans, it is essential to remember that public figures are human too. While celebrities want to share their work with others, that does not entitle the rest of the world to a complete view of their personal lives.
Roan catalyzed a complicated conversation despite knowing it would be a difficult pill for fans to swallow. Since she has come forward, several other prominent stars, such as Billie Eilish, have voiced similar experiences regarding toxic fan etiquette.
“I wish no one knew anything about my sexuality or anything about my dating life. Ever, ever, ever,” Eilish said in an Oct. 8 interview with Vogue regarding recent fan speculation into her sexuality due to lyrics on her new album “Hit Me Hard and Soft.”
Eilish explains that social media has often had negative effects on her mental health throughout her music career. Even those who consider themselves fans are prone to invading her privacy and writing hurtful messages online.
According to Vogue, “[Eilish] has also set an intention to stay offline when she gets that all-too-common itch to plummet into a bottomless pit of handheld despair. Eilish deleted the social media apps from her phone at the start of the summer and replaced them with games.”
While some celebrities are beginning to draw lines on disrespectful and creepy fan behavior, public responses to their boundaries have mainly been negative.
These conversations might be challenging for fans to hear, but their difficulty makes engaging with and listening to this discourse all the more important.
Generation Z has consistently demonstrated its capability as a facilitator of change; young fanbases can make these changes, they just need to treat everyone with respect regardless of how famous one might be.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo Caption: Chappell Roan jump started hard conversations on her TikTok about toxic fan behavior.