Logging into Twitter, you’ll find a community of people around the ages of 13 to 20+ that have a celebrity as their profile picture. Those people, referred to as “stans,” have cultivated an online environment considered distinctive to people who aren’t a part of the culture. Instead of using a laughing emoji to express themselves they would say “sksksk” and use words like “sis,” “skinny,” and “wig.” Just like any other culture, there are good and bad parts, but recently the bad seems to be overshining the good.
“Cancel” culture is a part of “stan” Twitter and it’s nothing good. People on Twitter will dismiss someone for doing something that majority of them believe is problematic. An example of someone being cancelled that makes sense is Jeffree Star, a white makeup artist and guru that said extremely racist things against black people in his 20s. But, “stan” twitter seemed to have lost track in who is actually problematic and what behavior should and shouldn’t be “cancelled.”
For example, Ariana Grande will express her opinion about something that concerns her, tell her side to a story, feel emotions, or even defend herself and all of Twitter will be at her throat, claiming it’s for attention or that what she said was out of line. She has done a few things that can be seen as problematic, like using Japanese culture as an aesthetic and licking a donut (I guess), but when people deem her as a problematic celebrity for making a harmless joke about Kanye West and Drake’s beef and then automatically apologizing or because she’s headlining Manchester Pride this year but when she headlined Pride back in 2015 no one said a thing, that’s when it draws a line. Grande is now constantly saying sorry after showing any form of emotion, probably worried that people will just assume the worst because of a hate bandwagon behind her that has no legitimate reason to be that way.
Another aspect of “stan” Twitter that is an issue is how they tend to bully celebrities for no good reason and sometimes even make them get off social media. An example being Alessia Cara, who got told she was a “flop” constantly, that she wasn’t a good artist, and plenty of bad jokes about her career. Cara hasn’t done a thing besides make music and perform her songs but “stan” Twitter liked to make fun of her, which all caused her to break down on stage a day after complaining about all of the hate she gets daily.
After Lady Gaga won her first Oscar recently for the song “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, I saw tweets claiming that she needed this movie to resurrect her career, which completely takes away the fact that she is talented. People place her against Beyoncé and Rihanna, saying they’re more talented than her and don’t need a movie to continue being relevant. Gaga hasn’t done anything wrong besides live her dream, why does she deserve constant bullying after receiving a huge achievement?
One last issue that bothers me about “stan” Twitter is how much fat shaming, slut shaming, and just pure hatred that people will spew at an artist just because they see them as competition against their favorite artist. A few accounts that are fans of Taylor Swift that I’ve seen constantly attack Ariana Grande for being in the number one, two and three spot on the charts, claiming she doesn’t deserve it and putting out unnecessary hate just because another woman that isn’t Taylor is succeeding, instead of congratulating her for her achievements or keeping quiet. “Stan” Twitter will pit women against each other just to keep their bias that they have toward their favorite artist, some saying very vile things out of anger, thinking that they’ve done something to defend them from someone who doesn’t feel the same way about the artist.
“Stan” Twitter doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of loving your favorite artist and being supportive by buying their music, going to shows and voting on award shows without attacking other artists and their fans. They need to learn how to mind their business and like who they like instead of attacking someone they claim to not like.
Twitter is a really toxic place to step into at this point since people “cancel” many of the wrong people and allow some of the bad ones to slip under the radar and continue to have a career. People are still fans of people like Chris Brown and R. Kelly, but will tell Demi Lovato she’s problematic for laughing at a harmless joke that everyone else laughed at. These morals don’t make any sense. People need to be more open-minded and educated before deciding what their opinion on a celebrity is.