By A new feature piece in Variety has gone into the phenomenon of toxic fandom and how good-faith debate or dissatisfaction can turn into a relentlessly negative, sometimes bigoted online campaigning against a work and/or its creatives.
With films, shows and games more dependent on franchises than ever before, appealing to fans is key. However every studio faces enthusiasm, apathy and even dissatisfaction with a work being hijacked by extreme elements deeply offended by the slightest alterations to canon and consciously taking measures to try and negatively campaign against it.
The backlash can be both reactive (eg. review bombing) or precursory (eg. casting announcements, negatively framed ‘leaks’). John Van Citters, a VP of “Star Trek” brand development since the 1990s, tells the outlet that most fans of any property are casual by nature.
The actual number of core fans are “very, very few”, and the toxic ones are just a tiny subset within that smaller group. What’s changed is that element now has a disproportionately loud voice. He explains:
“Those who come after things that they espouse to love with venom are a really, really tiny subset of that already smaller subset of fandom. It’s just much easier to see it now. I don’t know that it’s really that much broader than where things were in 1995 – it’s just that the bullhorn wasn’t there.”
Some studios don’t engage, but most are reportedly avoiding provoking fandoms in the first place with the organisation of ‘superfan’ focus groups to assess marketing materials. Studios have already reportedly altered some projects with the help of these.
Studios, with permission, are also taking over an actor’s social media accounts entirely when things get bad with threats of violence. For the full piece, going also into the best way for an actor to handle toxic fandom, head over to Variety.
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