What are Eminem fans called
As a long-time gamer and content creator focused on the gaming community, Eminem fans being called "Stans" immediately reminded me of the at times excessive fandom found in gaming circles. Much like music lovers obsessing over pop stars, gaming has spawned its fair share of overly-passionate superfans over the years.
Defining Gaming‘s "Stans"
So what exactly is a Stan? The term originates from Eminem‘s iconic 2000 song "Stan," which told the disturbing story of an obsessed fan named Stan who goes to frightening lengths to get Eminem‘s attention. This excessive dedication led "Stan" to become shorthand in pop culture for an extremely zealous or maniacal fan.
In the context of gaming, we can define Stans as:
Gaming fans demonstrating excessive admiration towards a game, studio, streaming personality or pro gamer, characterized by devotion bordering on worship and lack of boundaries.
You‘ll find gaming Stans displaying similar behaviors as described in Eminem‘s song:
- An overwhelming dedication to their chosen game or gaming figure
- Attack people who offer any criticism, even if constructive
- Religiously consume every piece of content and update related to their obsession
- Willingness to invest absurd amounts of time, energy and potentially money into their gaming passion
Levels of Gaming Fandom
Of course, fandom exists on a spectrum. Not all gaming superfans exhibit the extreme mania found in Stans. Here‘s one way to break down the levels of dedication found in modern gaming communities:
| Fan Level | Behaviors |
|---|---|
| Casual Player | Plays games occasionally for fun |
| Engaged Fan | Enjoys keeping up with gaming news and content |
| Highly Dedicated | Puts major time into playing, discusses frequently |
| Fanatic | Structures life around favorite game(s), deeply tied to identity |
| Stan | Obsessive superfan demonstrating nearly religious devotion and lack of boundaries |
As this illustrates, Stan culture occupies the most extreme space on the spectrum, differentiated by obsessiveness and lack of restraint.
The Evolution of Gaming "Stans"
Gaming has always fostered highly engaged fans. But in recent years, the explosive growth of streaming and online platforms has provided fertile ground for more intense superfans to connect and feed off each other‘s dedication.
Some statistics that quantify the rise of gaming stan culture:
- Gaming content on YouTube grew from 83.4 billion views (2017) to 356 billion views (2022)
- On Twitch, hours watched has nearly tripled from 9 billion (2017) to over 30 billion (2022)
- There are 2.5+ million gaming fan groups/communities on Facebook alone
Access to non-stop gaming content and direct connections with personalities has accelerated the intensity. And with this passion comes clashes. Stan culture has bred serious cyber-bullying and harassment issues in the gaming community, especially between warring factions supporting different games or streamers.
Some examples of the aggression emerging from gaming stan culture:
- DDoS attacks: Superfans overflowing servers to sabotage rivals‘ games
- Flame wars: Heated harassment battles between fandoms on forums & social
- Doxing: Publically revealing private info to intimidate detractors
- Swatting: Dispatching SWAT teams to gamers‘ homes as retaliation
These malicious behaviors reflect gaming fans taking stanning too far.
Is Gaming Stan Culture Healthy?
In my opinion as an industry expert, the current state of stan culture raises serious concerns about gaming‘s future. On one hand, passionate fans have helped gaming become a dominant entertainment force. But left unchecked, the worship and lack of boundaries found in stan communities risks normalizing bullying, extremism and entitlement.
Gaming companies, media outlets and influencers all need to lead here. Some ideas that could improve stan culture:
- Set community rules clearly banning harassment and extremism
- Moderate platforms and forums to quickly address abuse
- Use platforms to speak out against unhealthy stan activity
- Curb business practices exploiting stans‘ dedication (i.e. manipulative microtransactions)
The passionate energy from stans has helped fuel gaming‘s explosive rise. But obsessiveness left unchecked can breed negativity. With conscientious leadership, the industry can harness fans‘ dedication for good while curtailing harmful extremes. There are promising steps being taken, but work remains to build truly healthy, inclusive gaming communities.
