Exploring the World of Stans
Stan culture is a term used to describe the intense, often obsessive, devotion some fans have for their favorite celebrities or public figures. The word “stan” originates from the 2000 Eminem song of the same name, in which the character “Stan” was a fan who took his admiration for the rapper to unhealthy extremes. Today, the word has a broader meaning and is used to refer to passionate fans who deeply support and defend their idols, sometimes to the point of obsession.
In stan culture, extreme fans, often called “stans,” form tight knit communities online, particularly on platforms like X (formally Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok. These fans create and share content, promote their idol’s work, and rally in support during big moments, like music releases or award shows. However, stan culture can sometimes lead stans to negative behaviors, such as cyberbullying or harassment of others who criticize or compete with their favorite celebrities.
Examples of stan culture can be seen in fan bases for pop stars like Taylor Swift, BTS, Beyoncé, or Harry Styles. These fans are known for their dedication, often trending hashtags, organizing streaming parties to boost sales, and even defending their idols against negative press.
The phenomenon isn’t limited to just music. There are stans for actors, athletes, and even political figures. While many stans express their love in positive, creative ways, some cross the line into harmful behavior, such as doxxing (sharing personal information) or organizing coordinated hate campaigns.
For those unfamiliar, stan culture can seem intense or confusing, but it’s a reflection of how deeply people are able to connect with public figures in the age of the internet. It can bring fans together but also shows the darker side of fandoms when boundaries are crossed.
Due to the rise of social media in the 2000s and 2010s, the presence of stalker-fans or “stans” has been normalized on various platforms including Instagram, Tumblr, and especially X, formally known as Twitter. The stans on these platforms name themselves after the artist they support (Ex. Swifties for Taylor Swift, BeyHive for Beyoncé, Harries for Harry Styles), make fan pages and group chats, fiercely fight against criticism towards their favorite artist, and discuss anything and everything related to the pop culture world. Although fans have existed as long as celebrities and media have, the nature of 21st century stans who primarily use social media to communicate is vastly different. While on the surface, a group of people coming together to support another person may not seem inherently harmful, there are various flaws, some incredibly dangerous, in how the current stan world operates.
PROS:
That is not to say, stan culture has no benefits. Many stans find community and are able to connect deeply with others who feel the same care they have for a certain celebrity. Engaging in stan culture allows people to make connections that sometimes evolve into real-life friendships. In addition, like many other forms of entertainment, stan culture allows stans to escape from the various, everyday struggles of their lives when they immerse themselves into a fandom.
Stans have also been known to mobilize for political causes. In 2020, many stans on Twitter came together to support the Black Lives Matter movement after the murder of George Floyd, and specifically large amounts of K-Pop (Korean-pop) stans drowned out racist hashtags on Twitter with fan cams of their favorite artists and other unrelated content. Furthermore, when the biggest K-Pop group BTS donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter on June 1, 2020, their stans were able to match that amount in about a day. Overall, stans on social media tend to advocate for marginalized groups and utilize their influence to condemn any public figure who proves themselves to be prejudiced.
Notwithstanding the dark side of stan culture, stans often engage in humorous interactions and have fun when communicating with other stans. They utilize memes, reaction gifs, and inside jokes to discuss artists and media and have a very specific brand of vulgar humor that further allows people in the community to feel a sense of belonging. Many famous memes were started or popularized on Stan Twitter.
CONS:
While stan culture is not entirely bad, the negative side to stan culture is overwhelming.
Stans claim to be entirely devoted to supporting the celebrities they love, but often, these celebrities are hurt by the erratic behavior of their stans.
In August 2024, pop star Chappell Roan posted a video on TikTok in which she detailed the harm of invasive fans.
“I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That doesn’t make it okay. That doesn’t make it normal,” she said in one video.
Roan has also revealed that she needed to hire security due to having a stalker. Other celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Tyler the Creator, Doja Cat, and Taylor Swift have also dealt with invasive fans and expressed their want for boundaries with their supporters.
Although stans have utilized their power in the past to criticize public figures who have taken part in problematic behaviors, sometimes their criticism turns into blatant hate. For example, due to receiving major backlash on social media over tweets about the renewal of her ABC television show “Fresh off the Boat,” actress Constance Wu attempted suicide.
Stans often engage in “cancel culture.” Once a person is deemed to be “immoral” or “bad” by Stan Twitter, they are almost never offered the opportunity to be redeemed. This lack of empathy and refusal to allow people to change can become very toxic. Doxxing, death threats, and other forms of harassment directed towards supposedly disagreeable people are common in the world of stans. Simply expressing your dislike of a certain artist can lead one to receive major hate online from stans of said artist due to the “all or nothing” mentality some stans have in their support for a celebrity.
Furthermore, numerous stans have been accused of taking part in cultural appropriation. Many stans use African American Vernacular English (AAVE) with phrases like “chile,” or “purr,” and pass it off as stan language without acknowledging the influence of Black culture in popular media. For Black people, using AAVE is a real part of their identity; it is not something that they adopt for humorous reasons or to fit in on Stan Twitter as many non-Black stans do.
Finally, engaging in stan culture often also hurts the stan themself. Stans devote hours and hours of their life to supporting people who do not know them, which is not inherently useful. An addiction to social media is very much connected with being a stan, and stans may choose to live vicariously through the life of their favorite celebrity online rather than take steps to improve the conditions of their own life. The parasocial relationships stans develop with celebrities, in which the stan has a one-sided relationship with a celebrity and gives much of their time and energy to the celebrity, can be extremely unhealthy. Parasocial relationships provide an illusion of being close to someone who does know you and cannot care for you on a deep level, and it can be incredibly painful for that illusion to be broken.
“Please get a therapist. I’m not saying this to be mean, I’m genuinely worried.”
“It’s a disorder when you have an obsession with looking like a celebrity.”
“There’s something wrong with you. Get help.”
These scathing comments reflect the visceral, negative reactions directed toward a certain enclave of celebrity fanbases: stans who alter their appearance to better resemble their idol.
Paige Niemann — the creator receiving backlash in the above comments — bears an uncanny resemblance to Ariana Grande. Simply looking like a celebrity is innocuous, but Niemann has been accused of copying Grande’s mannerisms, her outfits, and even her facial structure via plastic surgery.
Niemann was only 15 years old when she went viral for looking like Grande. Consequently, as a minor, Niemann found herself directly in the crosshairs of the most vicious Grande stans on Twitter; her own extreme take on supporting Grande incensed an entire other subset of the fandom.
Unfortunately, Niemann’s story is a mere microcosm of the myriad of instances in which stans take their devotion “too far.” The advent of social media has only exacerbated this parasocialism — the concept of feeling a personal connection with a celebrity solely through the consumption of their media. Parasocial behavior makes some stans feel an overwhelming urge to step in and defend their favorite star, driving them to go as far as to send death threats to critics. And for others, this parasocial relationship manifests as an urge to look exactly like that famous person.
Some stans even entangle themselves with a celebrity’s personal life, becoming infatuated with their romances. This often comes in the form of “shipping,” which refers to the fervent support of an existing, public romantic relationship and even the desire for a romantic link between two people or characters who are otherwise not romantically paired. For instance, though Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez ended their relationship a decade ago, fans continue to ship the two as “Jelena,” undermining their respective partners. Stans may even encroach on a celebrity’s privacy when it comes to their sexuality, continuously probing until they make a statement about their orientation.
It’s important to consider that the word “stan” itself is a portmanteau of “stalker” and “fan.” The very definition of a stan insinuates an obsession — that a stan’s support exceeds the bounds of normalcy and enters fanatical territory. While stan culture is not always harmful, it’s important to consider the ramifications of too much dedication to an icon.
The parasocial relationship between a celebrity and their fanbase can result in, or be accredited to, poor mental health. The term parasocial relationship was first coined in the 1950s by Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl during the rise of radio shows and television. It is defined as a one-sided relationship in which a fan feels close to someone they only know through the media. Usually, these bonds result from feelings of loneliness. When fans constantly consume media with the celebrity, they form attachments, just as they would from interacting with a friend.
Celebrity adoration is more common in teenagers, especially with the introduction of social media. Teenagers are in a sensitive developmental period in which their identity begins to form. In this phase of their life, they look up to celebrities and try to model after them. With this adoration comes comparison and reason to pick out their own flaws. Those who compare themselves to celebrities may struggle with disordered eating or have an interest in pursuing cosmetic surgery. These insecurities can lead to anxiety and depression.
Due to social media, people have constant access to their idol’s everyday life. NYU Langone psychologist Dr. Yamalis Diaz accredits celebrity attachment to dopamine release. Each time a fan sees a new post on social media, “happy hormones” are released and reinforced in the brain. However, after a concert, where fans feel high levels of adrenaline and dopamine, they feel a sense of hopelessness afterward known as “post-concert depression”.
It is normal and healthy for children to see celebrities as role models or for people to consume media and discuss their favorite celebrities with friends. However, this is only the first level of the Celebrity Attitude Scale proposed by psychology professor Dr. Lynn E. McCutcheon and his colleagues. The next level, the intense-personal level of celebrity worship, is where people become obsessive and compulsive over a celebrity. Here the admiration becomes unhealthy. People in this category often score high for neuroticism. Finally, the three to five percent of fans who fall into the highest level, or the borderline-pathological level, are unable to control their emotions and activities revolving around their favorite celebrity. These fans tend to score high for psychoticism. While parasocial relationships are overall associated with poor mental health, intense-personal and borderline-pathological levels of celebrity worship are particularly related to obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
Some fans take their obsession further and stalk their celebrity idol. Psychologist Maria M. Wong suggests that stalking is driven by thrill-seeking, anger, parasocial attachment, or deeper mental health issues. People with social issues or little sense of identity compensate by learning about their idols. In pursuit of retrieving more information, these fans turn to stalking. Stalking has severe emotional consequences on celebrities, leaving them feeling violated and unsafe.
While admiring a celebrity is healthy, the line between admiration and obsession is thin. When admiration becomes worship, the emotional toll is evident in both the celebrities and their fans.
The best way to engage as a fan in stan culture is to keep things positive and respectful. While it’s fun to share your love for your favorite celebrity, it’s important to remember that everyone has different opinions, and not everyone will feel the same way about your idol. Healthy fandom is about celebrating the work and talent of the person you admire without tearing others down or crossing personal boundaries.
Being part of a fan community can be a great way to make friends, share creative content, and support your favorite artist or public figure. Whether you’re streaming music, attending concerts, or participating in online discussions, staying kind and respectful helps keep the experience enjoyable for everyone. Fans should also be mindful of the fine line between support and obsession—recognizing that celebrities are real people who deserve privacy and respect is essential.
At its core, stan culture can be a fun and exciting way to connect with others who share your passions. By focusing on positive engagement and steering clear of harmful behaviors, you can ensure your fan experience remains a healthy and enjoyable part of your life. Supporting someone you admire is great, but it’s important to keep things in perspective, be considerate of others, and remember that balance is key.