Every celebrity has their fans. Whether they number the millions the world over or consist of a closet full of hopeful roadies, you'll always find some somewhere. These are the people who obsessively pore over Google for the very latest news, erect online shrines and excitedly re-Tweet even the most boring updates of their idols. In their eyes, even the most morally dubious celebrity can do no wrong.
Now, I like their passion. I like their sheer dedication and their crazy optimism. It's fun to get wrapped up in something, and feel inspired by someone. I do get this, though I would be loathe to ever call myself a 'fan' of someone (too many negative connotations). But what I really don't like is when innocent fandom becomes mixed up with a personal agenda, which is something I've seen for myself recently.
Picture the scene, if you will: A hardcore fan of a certain celebrity discovers that their idol has an official Facebook fan page - and praise be, the celeb actually posts on this with some regularity. As time goes on, this fan's presence becomes much more dominant. They begin issuing other members with their own 'house rules,' force other posts down the Wall so their updates - no matter how inane or irrelevant - are always sat at the top of the chain, and drop devastating hints that other fans just don't know their favourite celeb as well as they do. If anyone else dares to produce a new image or titbit of news, this is seized upon and re-posted as this person's own discovery (this results in a whole page-full of duplicated content). But because this individual is so utterly sweet to the celebrity in question, and has been hanging around for such a long time, this behaviour - and the subsequent prickly atmosphere - goes totally unchallenged.
Not only is this pretty depressing to watch in action, it also goes against the collaborative core of Facebook, which naturally facilitates multi-way conversations. There may be a sound psychological explanation as to why some 'fans' become this way and others don't, but you can bet it's all linked to a clichéd insecurity somewhere. It's interesting, though - how simply having access to online channels can be so transformative in allowing you to exert a control or power you wouldn't normally be able to in your 'every day' life. It makes me wonder how this particular individual gets through the day without being able to delete something that they don't like.
The above isn't particularly uncommon (across Facebook or any other public online platform), and it doesn't sit up there with world hunger on the grand scheme of Problems We Have. But it does bug the hell out of me.