Have you heard of Stan Twitter? No?
Then you better dive into it or you’ll be missing out.
You see, It’s where you’ll find and interact with the most enthusiastic, most dedicated fans of just about anything anime stans, music stans, movie stans, you name it!
What’s even better is that they are also subdivided into more specific stans like Attack on Titan stans, Taylor Swift stans (who call themselves Swifties), K-pop stans, and more.
I bet that if you’re an artist of any kind, you’d want to have stans of your own.
Table of Contents
WHAT IS A STAN?
You keep on reading stan, stan, stan, but you don’t really know what it means.
Is this just another term for the word “fan” or is it a combination of the word “fan” and “stalker”?
Let me clear it up for you.
Stan, though being a combination of the words “fan” and “stalker” is a plausible origin, was a term that was coined due to Eminem’s song titled Stan.
The song was released in the year 2000 and was an allegory about a male fan who went mad after his idol ignored his fan mails.
Since then the term “stan” has become synonymous to the words obsessed and overzealous. So the combination origin wasn’t really far off, huh?
However, stans in this year and age are very different from 20 years ago.
Being labeled a stan today has become a shining badge for fans dedicated enough to spend money and go all out for their favorites on the internet and outside of it.
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WHERE CAN THEY BE FOUND?
Stans are actually found almost on every social media platform you can think of Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, to name a few. But the bulk of stans are, of course, on Twitter.
Actually, most contents posted on Facebook and Instagram are just screenshots of stans’ tweets.
Moreover, stans from these four platforms get most of their news, updates, and what-nots from Twitter stans.
And If I may add my personal opinion on this, I dare say that Twitter stans are the most dedicated.
You see, voting events happen and most of these are not shared on other social media platforms. Most of these voting events only stay on Twitter.
This just means that Twitter stans are more dedicated to winning these events to show their support to their idol, compared to Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and TikTok stans.
Additionally, stans on TikTok and Reddit are more on fun videos and discussions, respectively.
So if you’re wondering how many stans you have, then don’t rely on Facebook or Instagram. Check out Twitter, search your name, and see for yourself.
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WHY ARE MOST OF THEM ON TWITTER?
Why are you on twitter? If you aren’t, then you should be.
The platform is, I must say, the most flexible out of the above mentioned ones.
If you want to share photos or videos, then you can do it. You want to just tweet what’s on your mind? Then go ahead, no will be stopping you, aside from the word limit that’ll compel you to make another tweet under the original one.
This is what makes the platform more appealing, because users are not shoved with long ass takes by other users they follow.
Instead, they are cut into bite-sized tweets that would either entice you to read more or just scroll up or down.
They also don’t have the edit button, so your last resort if you’re being harassed for your tweets would be to delete.
But the best thing with Twitter is that many celebrities, musicians and actors or actresses, are on it.
They don’t only have an account on the platform, though. They actively use their account to communicate with fans or stans and promote whatever they’re doing.
And that’s why stans love being on Twitter.
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WHAT DO THEY TALK ABOUT?
There are a lot of things they talk about, especially when their faves are releasing something or are currently on a project.
But if you’re talking about music stans in general, those who don’t really have a band or musician they fancy but are more of fans of a genre or the music itself, then they sure talk nonstop.
They don’t have any hiatus phase like other stans do since albums and songs are released everyday and they are present for any music they deem good, based on their preferences.
Most music stans talk about the songs they like from a certain artist. They’re less likely to create drama compared to stans of a specific musician or band. They talk about good old nostalgic songs as well as new songs through #NewMusicFriday.
#NewMusicFriday is where music stans share their first impression, recommend, and discover new released songs from different artists around the globe. This hashtag is a great help to stans who’re looking for new music or those who’re having second thoughts of listening to a newly released song.
Aside from that, they talk about underrated and overrated songs, award show outfits, award wins, and performances too.
If you dive more into stan Twitter, though, you get to see avid fan bases that talk about theories to song lyrics and music videos as well as fan wars between fandoms on who’s the better singer and more.
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WHY ARE THEY ENOUGH?
In the past we had fans then casual listeners, now we have stans, fans, and casual listeners.
And if I were to choose, I would definitely prefer to have more stans, than more fans or casual listeners.
Why?
Because with stans, they are already listeners and fans of your music. What makes them better is that they’re dedicated to you. They are willing to do anything to show their support.
They genuinely love their favorite musicians and genuinely want for them to succeed. And to help achieve that success, most stans help in promoting their fave artists through their accounts.
And that’s what makes them enough, because they do not only show their support through buying your albums and complimenting your music. They also show their support through their free promotion of you.
Additionally, they also defend you freely from antis tainting your name on the internet, which can sometimes go unnoticed unless it has become too big for you to handle.
CONCLUSION
Reading through all that, I’m pretty sure you’re beginning to understand how stans have become an important part of any musician’s success.
They are not just your average fan, they are your fans, your promoters, and your defenders.
In conclusion, your stans are enough. 1000 dedicated followers is enough. If you’ve got haters, then I say ignore them. Your stans’ love and support will be enough. Remember that you won’t ever get to please everybody.
A warning though, stans can also be very toxic so it’s best to monitor them and discipline them too. Don’t let them go astray, and tell them when they’re being too mean or rude or toxic.
Genuine stans would appreciate you opposing them, because this shows your true self. Moreover, stans affect your image too.
So if you’ve got lots of toxic stans, other music stans might not want to listen to or dive into your discography due to the image your fandom has.
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James Hill is a veteran of the music industry. He first worked at Warner Reprise Records then later joined Interscope/ Geffen Records where he managed producers and songwriters and got his first platinum record for Keyshia Cole’s The Way It Is. He is now helping indie artists with branding and manufacturing through his company Unified Manufacturing, a CD/DVD, custom vinyl records and merch company in LA.
