Stan and Cancel Culture: The Cesspool of Twitter

Emma Liu (ISB 12)

Emma is a staff writer and editor at Buddy!. When she isn’t writing, Emma can be found wasting her time alternating between the same three social media platforms.

In her newest article, Emma investigates the structural elements that underly Stan Twitter, illuminating the sinister future it foreshadows

As people are now on their devices more so than ever, Stan Twitter has become absolutely feral. Though the communities are often small and isolated, this dark side of Twitter has always had a knack for pushing "#__isoverparty" onto the trending tab. For someone who only uses social media for direct messaging (wild!), the activity may appear mostly inane: the product of hormonal teenagers and makeup-loving 40-year-olds with too much time on their hands. But peeling back the facade of harmlessness, we reveal a core that is deeply corrupted and aims to poison further.

We reveal a core that is deeply corrupted and aims to poison further.

Stan Twitter and its complement Cancel Culture signal negative consequences for large creators and no-name participants alike. For those with the blue check-marks next to their usernames, the scrutiny of some hundred obsessive fans forebodes serious mental health consequences. In the worst cases, the cyberbullying and death threats that come with being Canceled can seriously undermine one's mental health. Earlier this year, the host of Love Island, Caroline Flack, committed suicide after being relentlessly attacked on the internet for alleged assault, to which she pleaded not guilty. In the "best" cases, platonic friends are forced into contrived relationships and scenarios for fans to obsess over. The "Celebrities & Real People" category on popular fanfiction site Archiveofourown boasts nearly 540K total stories despite repeated statements of discomfort from content creators. 

Still, creators make up a tiny proportion of the population affected by fan culture on Twitter. In a strictly utilitarian view, the impacts of stan culture are far more significant for the millions of young fans. As they obsess over other— frankly— regular people, they are pushed to do things they would not otherwise do in real life. YouTubers with over a handful of millions of subscribers, especially those with younger audiences, can expect to have their property intruded at least once. More appallingly, pleas for privacy on social media are often met with backlash: as content creators are scolded to "just accept it as part of the job," since "they wouldn't be where they are now without the loyal fanbase." Although stalking is a rare occurrence, the day-to-day interactions on social media platforms are still greatly concerning. Feeling a deep, personal need to defend their idols, Stans unquestioningly swarm to Cancel any nay-sayers. Medium writer Haaniyah Angus tweeted a reaction image to a poorly conceived Instagram story by Ariana Grande. Quickly later, her account was reported by hordes of Grande's Stans and permanently suspended by Twitter. In a public statement later, Angus effectively sums up the ramifications of Stan Twitter's seemingly more harmless activity: "I don't like getting mad over followers [...] but imagine I lost out on hundreds of contacts, exposure, opportunities etc from one account being suspended. And over what? A meme?"

(From Twitter)

For those alarmed by the recent developments of fan culture, you aren't alone. The way that fans are engaging with their creators' content is changing drastically. The typical behavior of Stan culture now would seem bizarre if it occurred ten or twenty years ago. Could you imagine losing a job just because you didn't like the new Britney Spears song? Though a myriad of factors like increased and premature exposure to the internet may contribute to these recent developments, one culprit stands out the most: Twitter's structure as a social media platform.

As with most social media platforms, Twitter veils the user in a sense of pseudo-anonymity. Though you can probably unearth the identity behind an account with enough digging, it's typically tricky to discern who a user is with just the cursory glance that the fast-paced platform provides. Creating a new account, a person is then at liberty to present their cyber-self however they please to. For a Stan, this may mean a new avenue to immerse themselves into worshipping and promoting their favorite creators. They can now reshape their identity by picking and choosing only those parts that revolve around their idols. The obsession is then furthered as Stans form tightly-knit communities after easily picking each other out in the crowd— the matching profile pictures and usernames a glaring tell. Just as fans are now more incentivized to follow their idols religiously, the social obstacles that come with Cancelling nay-sayers are also removed due to the pseudo-anonymity provided by Twitter's mechanics. Free from accountability, Stans are thus at liberty to throw out whatever Tweet they please to bring down any that threaten the status of their idols. 

Free from accountability, Stans are thus at liberty to throw out whatever Tweet they please to bring down any that threaten the status of their idols. 

The nature of content on Twitter also establish an illusion of sincerity and authenticity. As a Tweet is much less demanding than other types of content (e.g., a Youtube video), content creators are given the opportunity to publish far less polished content to a broad audience. Though this may be great news for a new creator trying to grow an audience, it's also a particularly potent vehicle in the perpetuation of Stan culture. As the standard, no-name Twitter fan look at Tweets like these:

(From Twitter)

They begin to feel a (entirely illusory) personal connection with their creators: any threat to their creator begins to feel like a personal threat to the Stan. This strange, one-sided obsession is only furthered with the loss of the creator-consumer dynamic. On platforms like Youtube, there is a clear relationship between YouTuber and viewer: the YouTuber is the active producer of content and the viewer its passive consumer. As much as it empowers the creator, it also sets a divide between her and the consumer. Yet on Twitter, this divide is non-existent: an average Twitter user is more than able to make the same Tweets that his or her favorite creator does. As the dynamic is leveled, fans much more readily accept their idols as members of their community and come to their defense whenever necessary. 

But why does this matter? Why should you care about how a handful of teenage cyberbullies feel a little more brazen than usual? Kids will be kids, right? The polarization and sensationalization on Stan Twitter reveal a far more significant and sinister trend of how social media affects our daily lives. For the same reasons that structural elements of Twitter empower Stans to defend their creators ruthlessly, we see a rapid polarization of socio-political discussion and an increased engagement in ideologies. Whether for good or for worse, the Social Age will change the face of this planet.