How to be in a Fandom: Part 1

 Hi everyone, and today I'm going to try something new for this blog. Something humorous, which can help you find out something crucial to your identity. How to tell if you are in a fandom, and what to do now that you are part of the Fandom.

But firstly, for those not as Internet savvy: what is a Fandom? According to Wikipedia, it is:

A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices, differentiating fandom-affiliated people from those with only a casual interest. 

A fandom can grow around any area of human interest or activity. The subject of fan interest can be narrowly defined, focused on something like an individual celebrity, or encompassing entire hobbies, genres or fashions.

I would add onto this definition by explaining it further, in fantasy terms. Imagine that the world is made up of many, many kingdoms, and you have to move into one of them. Forever. Which would you feel most comfortable with staying in forever? That is a question you, and only you, can answer. Hopefully, my list of guidelines on how to find out whether you are part of a particular Fandom will help. With each step, I shall include my own experience on how I found out my main Fandom and how I'm currently sustaining my love for it. But shh, that is a surprise! 

Also, be aware that each step will get its own post because it's a long process. Long, but worth it.

So, without any further ado, let's get started!

1.) REMEMBER THAT ANYTHING CAN BE A FANDOM. 

It doesn't matter what the source material is. Anything can be a fandom. It could be a movie, a TV series, reality TV, a movie series, a book, a book series, a sporting event, a celebrity, music, or a combination of all of these. The list goes on. So at first, consider the source material that you suspect is going to be your main fandom. Are there always new details to discover? If so, it's probably a Fandom. For example, a fork is not a fandom because nothing new can be discovered about a fork. There can't be new stories created from a fork. It's an inanimate object. However, if you can consume lots of content and there are lots of new ideas to be explored, then it's a Fandom. 

For instance, my main fandom is....the Harry Potter Fandom (or I'm a Potterhead). At the tender age of 11 (which is when I started reading the books), I had no idea of what a Fandom was. I just knew that I liked it a lot and wanted to express it everywhere (especially after my first re-read). At the age of 14, I discovered the Harry Potter wikia. A wikia is like an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, depending on new information coming out on the particular Fandom. Finding out a whole set of pages dedicated to my favourite thing ever was heaven to me! 

So what I suggest is doing a little research. Even if there is no wikia, check out if there are any Facebook groups and join them. If not, create one yourself! Have fun with it! It's your Fandom after all.


Hope you liked the first part of this series. Have a good day and happy hunting!



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