Social media has changed the way fans interact with their favorite artists and with one another. Before the days of Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook, the only ways fans could reach out to their favorite artist was by writing a letter, and the only way to meet other fans was to attend a concert or other organized event. Now, all fans have to do is send out a tweet about their favorite artist and hundreds (or even thousands) of other people can see that tweet and send their own reply.
Unfortunately, social media can also be a breeding ground for bullying, harassment, and just generally unpleasant behavior. It's a lot easier to make a snide remark when you're hiding behind your computer screen than it would be to make that same mean comment to someone's face. Because of this, online fandoms sometimes get a bad rap for being "toxic" – a word which the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines as "extremely harsh, malicious, or harmful." The Bachelor fandom, for instance, has developed a reputation for being toxic.
With the ever-increasing importance of online fandoms, and the prevalence of toxicity within these fandoms, WordTips wanted to find out who the kindest and most positive online fan-bases were. Here is what they found.
9 The WordTips Methodology
According to the study from WordTips, they "conducted a sentiment analysis study to identify the negative and positive words used by 186 of Twitter’s most passionate fanbases." To find the fanbases, they "curated a long list of fanbases and their idols from sources, including USA Today, Newsweek, Forbes, and Business Insider, identifying one Twitter account representing each idol. Using Twitter API, [they] found 1,000 tweets from at least 100 unique followers of each of these accounts and analyzed tweets using the NRC lexicon to find out the percentage of positive and negative words. [They] then ranked the fanbases by the number of positive or negative words per 1,000 words used."
8 Ed Sheeran And His "Sheerios"
Ed Sheeran's fans – who call themselves "Sheerios" – come in as the eighth most positive online fandom according to the WordTips study. Ed Sheeran's fans just beat out the fans of Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Shakira, and Alicia Keys for the eighth spot on this list.
7 Katy Perry And Her "KatyCats"
Katy Perry's fans – who call themselves "KatyCats" – come in as the seventh most positive online fandom according to the WordTips study.
6 Justin Bieber And His "Beliebers"
Justin Bieber's fans – who call themselves "Beliebers" – come in as the sixth most positive online fandom according to the WordTips study.
5 Shawn Mendes And His "Mendes Army"
Shawn Mendes's fans – who call themselves the "Mendes Army" – come in as the fifth most positive online fandom according to the WordTips study. These days, the term "army" is most often associated with BTS fans, but Shawn Mendes's fans use the term too, and Mendes once even joked that the BTS Army "stole" the name from his fans. He was quick to clarify that he was only goofing around, and that he was happy to share the term "army" with BTS.
WordTips found that Shawn Mendes's fans use 307 positive words in every 1000 total words, which makes his fans the fifth most positive online fandom in music according to the study.
4 Zayn Malik And His "Zquad"
Zayn Malik's fans – who call themselves the "Zquad" – come in as the fourth most positive online fandom according to the WordTips study. WordTips found that Zayn's fans use 309 positive words in every 1000 total words, which makes his fans the fourth most positive online fandom in music according to the study.
3 Taylor Swift And Her "Swifties"
Taylor Swift's fans – who call themselves "Swifties" – come in as the third most positive online fandom according to the WordTips study. WordTips found that Taylor Swift's fans use 315 positive words in every 1000 total words, which ties her fans with Daddy Yankee's fans as the second most positive online fandom in music according to the study.
Swifties have a reputation for being very vocal online, whether they're criticizing one of Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriends or crafting intricate theories about her music.
WordTips theorizes that Swifites might be extra positive these days because of how much new music their idol has given them; Taylor Swift has released four studio albums in the past couple years.
2 Daddy Yankee And His Fans
Daddy Yankee's fans come in as the second most positive online fandom according to the WordTips study. His fandom doesn't seem to have one unified nickname, although some fans refer to themselves as the DY Army. WordTips found that Daddy Yankee's fans use 315 positive words in every 1000 total words, which ties his fans with Swifties as the second most positive online fandom in music according to the study.
1 One Direction And Their "Directioners"
Coming first are One Direction fans, who call themselves "Directioners." WordTips found that Directioners use 322 positive words in every 1000 total words, making them the most positive online fandom in music according to the study.
It is important to remember, however, that this is just one study and that it uses a very particular methodology. "Positive" is a subjective term, and so there will never and can never be one conclusive way to truly determine the most positive fandoms. Furthermore, no fandom is a singular entity. Every fandom is made up of a unique collection of individuals who have different personalities, opinions, and methods of communication. In addition, WordTips is also very clear that "no fanbase is 100% good or evil" and that "a fanbase is definitely no reflection on the artist... that they stan."
Thus, while these results are fascinating, they are not the be all end all. There is positivity and negativity in every fandom, and every individual fan is different.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGikqKukYr2wv8itoK%2BdXaS7rbXNnmSfmZ6XrrSx0makrquZmHqwusRmm6KqlZjBqrvNZquasZykv26%2F1qKdrWc%3D