In the little white screens of our devices, another world run by fandoms exists. A Dr. Seuss’s Whoville-esque community, these stans conceal themselves behind celebrity icons but not their voices. They are heard and they want to be heard, and today they’re showing force. 

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In the community of fandoms, “stan” is the word most commonly used. It is a portmanteau of “stalker” and “fan”, but the word has evolved and holds more nuances apart from such disturbing connotation (Yonder, 2020). Today, the word “stan” carries in itself a variety of positive undertones: a devotion, fondness, or support for celebrities. Depending on the user, stanning can be a form of escapism, a source of entertainment, a respite, a hobby frequently visited, but for some, it is a warfield of defenders and haters. 

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 For user Airen, stan twitter is a fun universe where she didn’t stay long. She had to quit despite the parasocial relationship she had created with her mutual friends and with the boyband group BTS. After eight months in the community, Airen realized that the found family she thought she made was as susceptible to toxicity as her real-life situation. What would start as playful taps of mocking turns into threads of cyberbullying and even of doxxing. So in choosing one battle out of the two, Airen decided to leave the community.

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The stan community such as the kpop fandom is built on the foundation of shared passion and/or ideology which can be used to attain domination among other fandoms and communities outside the screen (Yonder, 2020). Stans are rapidly growing and slowly making imprints in news, politics, and academic discourse. However, similar to our actual communities, fandoms have flaws more intricate than we make it out to be.