Celebrities, from the moment they decide they want to be famous, expose their lives to the public. Being exposed to the public eye involves a lot of scrutiny and challenges; however, one of the most dangerous aspects is people who are excessively online in a manner that can be dangerous and mean.
I like to call myself the most chronically online person; however, not to the extent of some people. I know a lot of the latest trends, trending TikToks and celebrity drama, but I don’t make defending someone I do not know my whole personality.
The definition of a parasocial relationship is “one-sided relationships in which a person develops a strong sense of connection, intimacyor familiarity with someone they don’t know, most often celebrities or media personalities.” A fandom can bring a sense of community, and being a part of one is almost essential to growing up now. However, when a celebrity you like to follow turns into an obsession, it can be toxic, and the other fans, other celebrities and outsiders are caught in the crossfire.
One can observe this behavior when it comes to celebrities like Taylor Swift and the Swiftie fandom. Her fans often dig into her exes' personal lives and feel betrayed by someone they don’t know personally. After the release of Swift's “Midnights” and “The Tortured Poets Department,” fans were too quick to turn on actor Joe Alywn for breaking up with Swift.
One fan tweeted, “We all trusted you” in reference to lyrics Swift wrote, some thought maybe about Alywn. I can understand feeling upset about the lyrics; however, as fans, you will never know everything about the story, and you don’t know the person. In a personal sense, fans do not owe an artist any loyalty.
Another issue that arises with fandoms is when fans will attack and/or dox journalists for criticizing the artist and their music. Ariana Grande once went on X, tweeting about how music critics are “lost” and “purposeless.” However, these journalists do not have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people there to defend them. Often leading to hurtful comments thrown their way for months, simply for doing their job and sharing their opinion.
The fans within the fandom, however, are not immune to these hurtful comments either. In 2021, black K-pop fans were being doxxed for simply not liking another K-pop artist. In other fandoms, people commonly try to gatekeep artists or exclude certain fans for not being as passionate about the artist as they are.
Being in a fandom is not a bad thing, or something to be ashamed of, as a lot of pop culture is built on stan culture. However, it is not right or OK to hate on someone's ex when all you know as a fan is that they broke up.
I am not saying get rid of cancel culture, because there are terrible people out there who have a platform, but some fans go too far and will try to cancel someone for no reason. I am also not saying to stop not liking people, no, you can not like whoever you want.
Heck, my very first column was about being a hater.
However, there is a line to be drawn when it affects other people's lives and involves inserting yourself in a life that isn’t your own. These celebrities do not know you, and you do not know them, so stop being obsessed with their lives.
Cassie is a senior studying communications at Ohio University. Please note the views and opinions expressed in this column do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Cassie? Email her at cb086021@ohio.edu.
