Standoms and Parasocial Relationships

**Keywords**: Stan, Standom, Parasocial Relationship, Dream

There have been fans of creative artists for hundreds if not thousands of years. It used to be mainly just talented artists or musicians, but now with the invention of the internet and social media, it easier then ever for people to gain a large following. As with any fandom, whether it be of a musician or a social media influencer, there are always fans who take things beyond a reasonable level. These fans have been called many things over the years, but most recently they have been called stans. This page looks into the positives and negatives of stan culture as well as parasocial relationships.

## Terminology

* Stan
	+ Stan can be used either as a noun or as a verb. In its noun form, stan means a fan that is overly obsessive/passionate of a celebrity. The term originates as a combination of stalker and fan with the addition of Eminem's song "Stan", which describes an overzealous fan that writes letter to Eminem and then drives off a bridge when he doesn't reply (Khorma). In its verb form, stan means to be overly obsessive/passionate of a celebrity.
	+ Stan vs Fan
		- A question that may arise is what is the difference between a stan and a fan? And while there isn't a definitive consensus, the general distinction comes down to the obsessive part. For example, a fan of a musical artist that goes to their live shows, follows their social media, and buys their merch/music isn't neccesarily a stan, unless they are solely focused/dependent on the artist. Some signs to maybe look out for would be if someone`s entire personality is based around an artist or if they need that artist for their happiness. While this behavior doesn`t automatically make someone a stan, parasocial relationships can have a big part to play in someone becoming a stan. Finally, a sign of crossing over into stan culture can be if a person is extremely protective of an artist, to the point of potentially being hostile towards people they see as being against the artist.
* Stan Twitter
	+ Subset of Twitter which consists of a community of people that Stan a certain celerity or musical group. A popular community on Stan Twitter is K-Pop stans.
* Standom
	+ Combination of stan and fandom. Slang for a stan community.
* Parasocial Relationship
	+ A parasocial relationship/interaction is a one-sided bond where people view another person (most commonly a media personality) as a friend even though that person does not know them.

## Positives and Negatives of Stan Culture

### Positives

Most of the positives of stan communities stem from the positives of fandoms in general. One of the biggest positives of a stan community is that it can be a place for people who share a common interest to come together and form relationships and an identity together. These communities can serve as an outpouring of creativity through things like fanfiction, fanart, animations, and other diverse artistic creations. The person that the community is centered around can also experience benefits from these communities as well. A benefit of having a stan community from the creator`s perspective is that these communities can be a great way to drum up money and support and can even boost a relatively unknown creator/artist into the mainstream (BBC).

### Negatives

Stan communities are generally seen as negative, despite the potential for them to be positive. One of the biggest negatives is that stans can be very hostile towards those they see as against the person they stan, or if they do something that goes against the general consensus. Stans often employ "cancel culture" as a weapon against these people (Roos). While stans are generally accepting of people in their community that agree with the general ideals, going against these ideals, could potentially lead to being ostracized from the community. Also, stans run the risk of forming unhealthy parasocial relationships. Although a smaller issue, problems can arise with NSFW artwork. How much of a problem NSFW artwork is depends on the community and the context, but in general some negatives are that the creator or the creator's friends may be uncomfortable with that kind of artwork being made of them, especially if that community includes children, who should not see that content. Also, creating a large amount of NSFW artwork runs the danger of turning a parasocial relationship from a friendship to something more sexual, which can be harmful.

### Field Manual

So, what are some ways individuals can recognize/try to rectify negative stan behaviors? As said in the Stan vs Fan section, a good indicator of someone becoming a stan is if they are becoming more obsessive and or protective/defensive of an artist. Another good indicator is if their personality, whether that be online and/or in real life, is centered around a single content creator. The best way to help combat against negative stan may be a more internal review, whether that be a self-check, within a community, or between a person and a friend. While people certainly can try to help someone they do not know with being less toxic, they run a greater risk of getting pushback from the person themselves and/or their community. That being said, no matter what route a person takes to fix the problem, they should expect some pushback since it is not easy to change people's minds. Some things to help a friend who is being a toxic stan would be to tell them that their actions are harmful towards themselves and others, and that their relationship with the content creator is not healthy. It may also help to tell them that their actions harm the reputation of the person they are stanning. Finally, the content creator themselves has a large influence on how positive or negative their community is. A big thing for content creators to help their community would be to set specific boundaries for their fans of what they are and are not comfortable with. This is helpful because as the content creator, a lot of stans' are done more or less in that individuals name. If the content creator can portray toxicity as something they do not appreciate, a stan may be more likely to change how they act in order to keep their approval. This may not change their stan behavior, but it may help them realize the error of their ways and channel these habits in more positive ways. While this does not fix the root of the problem, the last way to deal with negative/toxic stans would be to simply ignore and/or avoid those people.

## Positives and Negatives of Parasocial Relationships

### Positives

Parasocial relationships are a very human experience and can have benefits. They can be very important to the formation of identity because they give people someone to relate to (Bond). By having someone to relate to who is not judgmental, people can become confident in who they are. In my personal experience, the more confident I am in my identity, the easier it is to find people who are similar to me and the easier it is for me to make and maintain those relationships. Another positive of parasocial relationships is that they are often interconnected with role models. Parasocial relationships most often form with people they look up to and/or relate to, so the person they have a parasocial relationship can also serve as a positive role model. That can help one's growth as a person and it can help better oneself. Finally, parasocial relationships can serve as a good steppingstone for making other relationships. They can give a person the tools and skills they need in order to have a healthy relationship. For example, a parasocial relationship can give someone more social confidence to talk to other people by having someone to practice with that does not respond negatively. Another big way parasocial relationships act as a steppingstone is by providing a platform to meet other people with similar interests, which calls back to the positives of stan communities.

### Negatives

Overall, the negatives of parasocial relationships are similar to the negatives of stanning. Like stanning, a negative parasocial relationship runs the risk of turning into an obsessive relationship. An obsessive relationship can harm the other relationships a person might have as well as their mental health. One of the biggest negatives of parasocial relationships is that they can take the place of other relationships. Also, the one-sided nature of these relationships means they are ultimately unfruitful. If someone bases their happiness on a parasocial relationship, they are setting themselves up for failure because the other person can never put in the same effort into the relationship. Even if the person does respond to a message or gives their autograph, they do not really know that person. Ultimately, if someone only has a parasocial relationship and makes no effort to form other relationships, they will be left unfulfilled and drained.

### Field Manual

Similar to the previous Field Manual, a good way to combat against negative parasocial relationships would be to check oneself and/or one`s friends and make sure to avoid becoming obsessive and yet still make efforts to find and form other relationships. A good way to use parasocial relationships to form other relationships would be to join a community. By focusing on forming relationships with people in the community rather than just the parasocial relationship, one has a greater chance of having healthy and fulfilling relationships. Finally, regardless of whether someone is a content creator or just your average joe, it is important to be a positive influence. Being a positive influence on the people who may be in a parasocial or any other relationship will help someone better themselves, as well as other people. It can be helpful for the formation and growth of communities because being a positive influence on the community makes it easier for the people in the community to become positive influences themselves.

## Case Studies

### Dream

Dream is a very popular Minecraft YouTuber. His community has the same successes and problems as stan communities in general. One of the biggest positives of his community is the SFW artwork and animations it creates, but the community also has a problem with NSFW artwork. While dream himself is fine with the art, some of his friends who art is drawn of are minors. Another problem is Dream's younger community and the amount of stans that send sexually charged tweets. Another negative of his community is that his stans tend to be more hostile towards people they don't like, or they see as against dream. Another interesting thing about Dream`s community is that there are a lot of people in a parasocial relationship with him. A big factor in this is that Dream is pretty involved with his fanbase. For example, on April 14th, 2021, he sent out a phone number that his fans could use to interact with him. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it has lead to his fans seeing Dream more as a friend than a content creator that produces entertainment. Creators have a large part to play in how positive or negative their stan community is.

### Beatlemania

Beatlemania refers to the fervor of Beatle fans across mainly Britain and the United States in the 1960s. The Beatles starting off were a relatively unknown band, but after a few hit songs such as "Please Please Me", "She Loves You", and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" were thrust into the spotlight (Dorian). A lot of the Beatles fans, especially teenage girls, were crazy about the Beatles, much like the stans of today. Fans would do things like try to crowd the Beatles or get their autographs. Sometimes, police would even have to set up barricades to keep people from storming the Beatles or the stage. A lot of the behavior exhibited by the most fervent fans was very similar to the stans of today. Even though stan is a new term, it is interesting to see that the behavior of stans has been exhibited by people since long before the days of the internet.

## Further Reading

More information about the positive and negative effects of digital media: Mental Health in Digital Media

More information about polarization, which is related to this topic: Polarization

Dream`s Twitter

Further Reading on Beatlemania and other past fandoms.

Interesting study about parasocial relationships among LGBTQ youth.

## Works Cited

“Why Do We Become Obsessed with Celebs?” BBC Bitesize, BBC, 5 Sept. 2019,   www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zjgv6v4.

Gleason , Tracy R, et al. “Parasocial Interactions and Relationships in Early Adolescence .” Frontiers in Psychology , 23 Feb. 2017, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00255.

Bond, Bradley J. “Parasocial Relationships with Media Personae: Why They Matter and How They Differ Among Heterosexual, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents.” Media Psychology, vol. 21, no. 3, 2018, pp. 457–485., doi:10.1080/15213269.2017.1416295.

Chen, Chih-Ping. “Forming Digital Self and Parasocial Relationships on YouTube.” Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 16, no. 1, 2014, pp. 232–254., doi:10.1177/1469540514521081.

Roos, Hailey. With(Stan)Ding Cancel Culture: Stan Twitter and Reactionary Fandoms, Muhlenberg College, 10 Apr. 2020, sal.muhlenberg.edu:8080/librarydspace/bitstream/10718/3398/1/RoosHonorsThesis%20-%20Hailey%20Roos.pdf.

Zaidi, Fatima. “OPINION: Stan Culture Is a New Way to Obsess.” The DePaulia, 8 Mar. 2020, depauliaonline.com/47112/opinions/opinion-stan-culture-is-a-new-way-to-obsess/.

Rinaudo, Matthew, director. Investigating the Mizkif STAN Community. YouTube, YouTube, 12 Apr. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOnLgRDIJI8.

Zunera Malik & Sham Haidar (2020) Online community development through social interaction — K-Pop stan twitter as a community of practice, Interactive Learning Environments, DOI: 10.1080/10494820.2020.1805773

Khorma, Celina. “Here's a Glossary of All the Stan Culture Terms You Should Know by Now.” Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan, 24 June 2019, www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a28139206/stan-culture-glossary-definitions/.

“Stan.” Edited by Merriam Webster, Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, 2021, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stan.

Lynskey, Dorian. “Beatlemania: 'the Screamers' and Other Tales of Fandom.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 Sept. 2013, www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/29/beatlemania-screamers-fandom-teenagers-hysteria.