Fandom
what it means
Not just an audience — a fandom produces things. Fan fiction, art, analysis, archives and conventions all come out of fandoms rather than from the source material.
A community organised around shared enthusiasm for a piece of media, artist or franchise.
the origin story
The word dates to the early 20th century in sports and science fiction contexts; online fandom structures developed from 1970s zines through to modern platforms.
Fandom has been a major driver of internet infrastructure — mailing lists, LiveJournal, archives, tagging systems. The Archive of Our Own, built and run by fans, won a Hugo Award in 2019, which is a reasonable indicator of how substantial the output can be.
in the wild
There are 90,000 stories about this show.
Big fandom.
Someone's mapped the entire timeline in a spreadsheet.
That's fandom for you.
how to use it
- Describing organised fan communities
- Media and internet culture conversations
- Discussing fan-created work
- As a synonym for "audience"
- Dismissively about the work fans produce
- Professionally without context
related terms
receipts
Community feedback
keep scrolling
Glow-Down
The opposite of a glow-up — appearing to have declined rather than improved.
Slept On
Underrated — overlooked despite being genuinely good.
Hot Girl Summer
A season spent being confident, unbothered and out enjoying yourself.
Cheat Code
A trick or advantage that makes something much easier than it should be.