If the terms ‘oomf’, ‘moot’, and ‘skinny legend’ mean nothing to you, you’re probably what Stan Twitter would consider a ‘local’. You don’t spend hours a day tweeting from an account with a profile picture of a female pop star or K-Pop idol, you don’t know the pure sales figures from Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version), and you don’t understand why Nicki Minaj and Cardi B fans are locked in warfare.
Stan Twitter is an insular microcosm where X (formerly known as Twitter) users voice their passionate opinions on pop culture. The name ‘stan’ derives from an Eminem track, in which he raps about an obsessive, murderous fan, and has since become a badge of honour. Largely populated by the “chronically online,” Stan Twitter has spawned its own language, culture, and political landscape. Fandoms ruthlessly war with each other, supposedly on behalf of their favourite artists, in almost unintelligible dialogue. A fan may tweet “Ariana served,” eliciting the response: “at a restaurant where Doja was eating.” Translation: “Ariana Grande sang this song really well.” “No she didn’t, Doja Cat is a much better artist than her.”
Beyond the incessant hailstorm of petty jibes, the mob-like fanaticism and heated opinions of communities on Stan Twitter have led to serious instances of bullying. In 2018, hundreds of satirical memes painting the actress Millie Bobby Brown as violently homophobic led her to delete her account altogether. Unlike other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, most users on Stan Twitter keep their profiles anonymous, imbuing them with the covert yet aggressive power of a “keyboard warrior.” Stan Twitter relishes any opportunity to take a joke too far, but also revels in being offended: an explosive recipe for online harassment.
Despite its apparent lawlessness, fandoms within Stan Twitter possess impressive levels of structural cohesion. This is often channelled into active praxis concerning the chart sales of pop stars; the movement for #buyARTPOPoniTunes in 2021 sent Lady Gaga’s album rocketing to the top of the charts worldwide, 8 years after its release. Sometimes, however, fandoms direct their fervid attention to political causes. At the height of the George Floyd protests, K-Pop fans flooded hashtags which opposed the Black Lives Matter movement with images of K-Pop stars, drowning out the previous users.
Much of Stan Twitter’s activism, however, is performative. Much of its vernacular, such as ‘tea,’ ‘shade,’ and ‘wig snatched,’ originates from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), specifically from the black LGBTQ+ ballroom scene of 1980s New York. The slang is recklessly and pervasively appropriated with minimal consideration as to its origins. On Stan Twitter, AAVE is instead employed to demand apology videos from celebrities who are being accused of, for example, cultural appropriation.
Anyone obsessive enough can become a microcelebrity on Stan Twitter. Once it became apparent that cancel culture-esque criticism can ruin careers and social justice weaponised for followers, Stan Twitter became a high school of fake and mean Regina Georges. Born of a shared admiration for artists, the fandoms now sustain on a diet of negativity and breed a climate of intolerance. Insincere platitudes are the currency, harassment the name of the game, and apology videos the hard-won prize. If Elon Musk’s bizarre choices continue to lead Twitter (or X) to its downfall, we can only hope that Stan Twitter perishes with it.
“K-Pop-Dolls Boygroup BTS” by winfried-brumma is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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The problem with Stan Twitter
If the terms ‘oomf’, ‘moot’, and ‘skinny legend’ mean nothing to you, you’re probably what Stan Twitter would consider a ‘local’. You don’t spend hours a day tweeting from an account with a profile picture of a female pop star or K-Pop idol, you don’t know the pure sales figures from Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version), and you don’t understand why Nicki Minaj and Cardi B fans are locked in warfare.
Stan Twitter is an insular microcosm where X (formerly known as Twitter) users voice their passionate opinions on pop culture. The name ‘stan’ derives from an Eminem track, in which he raps about an obsessive, murderous fan, and has since become a badge of honour. Largely populated by the “chronically online,” Stan Twitter has spawned its own language, culture, and political landscape. Fandoms ruthlessly war with each other, supposedly on behalf of their favourite artists, in almost unintelligible dialogue. A fan may tweet “Ariana served,” eliciting the response: “at a restaurant where Doja was eating.” Translation: “Ariana Grande sang this song really well.” “No she didn’t, Doja Cat is a much better artist than her.”
Beyond the incessant hailstorm of petty jibes, the mob-like fanaticism and heated opinions of communities on Stan Twitter have led to serious instances of bullying. In 2018, hundreds of satirical memes painting the actress Millie Bobby Brown as violently homophobic led her to delete her account altogether. Unlike other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, most users on Stan Twitter keep their profiles anonymous, imbuing them with the covert yet aggressive power of a “keyboard warrior.” Stan Twitter relishes any opportunity to take a joke too far, but also revels in being offended: an explosive recipe for online harassment.
Despite its apparent lawlessness, fandoms within Stan Twitter possess impressive levels of structural cohesion. This is often channelled into active praxis concerning the chart sales of pop stars; the movement for #buyARTPOPoniTunes in 2021 sent Lady Gaga’s album rocketing to the top of the charts worldwide, 8 years after its release. Sometimes, however, fandoms direct their fervid attention to political causes. At the height of the George Floyd protests, K-Pop fans flooded hashtags which opposed the Black Lives Matter movement with images of K-Pop stars, drowning out the previous users.
Much of Stan Twitter’s activism, however, is performative. Much of its vernacular, such as ‘tea,’ ‘shade,’ and ‘wig snatched,’ originates from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), specifically from the black LGBTQ+ ballroom scene of 1980s New York. The slang is recklessly and pervasively appropriated with minimal consideration as to its origins. On Stan Twitter, AAVE is instead employed to demand apology videos from celebrities who are being accused of, for example, cultural appropriation.
Anyone obsessive enough can become a microcelebrity on Stan Twitter. Once it became apparent that cancel culture-esque criticism can ruin careers and social justice weaponised for followers, Stan Twitter became a high school of fake and mean Regina Georges. Born of a shared admiration for artists, the fandoms now sustain on a diet of negativity and breed a climate of intolerance. Insincere platitudes are the currency, harassment the name of the game, and apology videos the hard-won prize. If Elon Musk’s bizarre choices continue to lead Twitter (or X) to its downfall, we can only hope that Stan Twitter perishes with it.
“K-Pop-Dolls Boygroup BTS” by winfried-brumma is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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