Stan Twitter: Eminem's Legacy of Obsession

The term "stan" in its modern sense comes from the year 2000, when the rapper Eminem released a song called "Stan," featuring British singer Dido. In the song, Stan is a fan so obsessed with Eminem that his behavior becomes dangerous and unhinged. The word entered popular culture and, by 2017, was added to the Oxford English Dictionary as “an overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity.” Originally a noun, “stan” later evolved and began to be used as a verb, so fans could say “I stan” to express their admiration or intense support for someone or something.

Stan Twitter describes a large, interconnected online subculture within Twitter where users gather around fandoms focused on celebrities, music, television shows, movies, video games, and internet personalities. According to The Atlantic, Stan Twitter is considered one of the major “tribes” of the platform, and Polygon has described it as “an overarching collection of various fandoms.” While Stan Twitter is essentially synonymous with “fandom Twitter,” it is distinguished by its unique slang, meme culture, and the often-intense devotion of its members.

Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and the K-pop group BTS have been cited by Vanity Fair as examples of artists with extremely fanatic fanbases on Stan Twitter. These fanbases have played a significant role in propelling the popularity of music videos for these artists, often organizing mass streaming campaigns and coordinated online events to boost chart performance and social media visibility.

Many of the most visible accounts in Stan Twitter are run by teenagers. The Fader notes that these teen-run stan accounts have a distinct, personal style, setting them apart from more anonymous, corporate-feeling fan pages. Fans are often known by a specific nickname, and in some cases, artists themselves name their fanbases. For example, fans of Nicki Minaj are known as the Barbz, while Beyoncé fans are called the Beyhive.

Pop Crave, Pop Base, and Film Updates are Twitter accounts recognized as aggregators and news outlets within Stan Twitter. These accounts have hundreds of thousands to millions of followers and serve as hubs for breaking news, rumors, and updates about celebrities and entertainment. For example, Pop Crave has been described by Vox as one of the first outlets to call the results of major events, including political elections, before traditional media sources.

A core part of Stan Twitter culture is its extensive meme-sharing, with many memes possessing an insular, in-joke quality. One meme highlighted by Polygon is “Stan Twitter, do you know this song?” This meme involves users posting an all-caps question along with a music clip, such as a 90s TV theme, anime opening, or a one-hit wonder, inviting others in the community to reminisce and share nostalgia. The meme’s design taps into collective childhood memories and a shared sense of belonging.

Stan Twitter has developed a specialized vocabulary, much of which is rooted in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Black LGBTQ+ ballroom culture. Common terms include “tea” (meaning gossip or truth), “wig” (an expression of being shocked or impressed, derived from the phrase “wig snatched”), “fancam” (a short video clip of a celebrity used for replies or to boost a trend), “keysmash” (random keyboard mashing to express excitement or disbelief), “cancelled,” “moots” (mutual followers), “ijbol” (I Just Burst Out Laughing), “tw” (trigger warning), “cw” (content warning), “oomf” (one of my followers), “naur” (no), and “skinny legend” (a term of praise or irony). Katy Perry helped popularize the term “wig” when she used it on American Idol, and her comment quickly turned into an internet meme, appearing throughout Stan Twitter.

Some of these terms and memes have migrated onto other platforms, shaping broader internet culture. For instance, the terminology and humor of Stan Twitter have influenced TikTok’s “#floptok” community and the creation of Floptropica, a fictional nation with a satirical history developed by users. Floptropica memes often involve designating random real-life figures as the nation’s leaders or heroes, amplifying the absurdist, communal creativity.

Stan Twitter members sometimes contrast themselves with “locals,” a term used pejoratively for users outside their subculture. The Verge defines “locals” as people who enjoy mainstream, popular things and lack the deep, insider knowledge or in-jokes that characterize stan communities. Polygon elaborates that “local Twitter” represents the platform’s general population, while Stan Twitter is comprised of tightly-knit groups bonded over niche interests. The cultural divide is so pronounced that memes and jokes often “die” or lose their humor once they’ve been discovered by locals.

Stan Twitter is not just an outlet for entertainment and fandom but has also become a powerful force in political activism and digital protest. In 2020, K-pop stan accounts received widespread media attention for their role in American politics. During the Democratic presidential primaries, Nicki Minaj’s Barbz supported Bernie Sanders using the hashtag #Barbz4Bernie. During the George Floyd protests, K-pop stans flooded hashtags opposing Black Lives Matter, such as #AllLivesMatter and #WhiteLivesMatter, with fancams and memes. This effectively drowned out the intended use of these hashtags and shifted the conversation away from anti-Black rhetoric.

The Dallas Police Department, during the same period, asked citizens to submit videos of protesters through their iWatch Dallas app. Instead, the app was overwhelmed by K-pop stans spamming it with fancams, which rendered the app ineffective for its intended use. TikTok users and K-pop fans also took credit for interfering with a Tulsa rally for President Trump in June 2020 by reserving large numbers of tickets online without planning to attend. This resulted in a far smaller turnout than expected. U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged their contribution, tweeting, “KPop allies, we see and appreciate your contributions in the fight for justice too.”

Stan Twitter’s political activism is not limited to the United States. During the 2022 Philippine presidential election, K-pop fans organized voter education campaigns, food pantries, and social media campaigns to support then-Vice President Leni Robredo. They used hashtags and posts to counteract negative messaging against her candidacy and to mobilize their peers for civic engagement.

Despite the positives, Stan Twitter has frequently been criticized for toxic behavior. Alessia Cara, a Canadian singer, spoke out against the “toxicity” of Stan Twitter, calling attention to the hurtful side of stan culture. She described how, while the community can be connective and supportive, it can also devolve into harassment and abuse.

Several celebrities have deactivated or taken breaks from social media due to harassment campaigns led by stans. In 2016, Normani, then a member of Fifth Harmony, quit Twitter temporarily after facing racist abuse from the stans of her bandmate Camila Cabello. In 2017, American rapper Cupcakke was forced off Twitter by death threats from BTS stans after she made a sexual comment about BTS member Jungkook. The threats and harassment were so persistent that she decided to leave the platform.

Millie Bobby Brown, the young actress known for her role in Stranger Things, also deactivated her Twitter account due to a meme that originated within Stan Twitter. The meme falsely attributed homophobic and violent statements to her, circulating widely and being used as a form of online bullying. Critics of the meme noted the harm it caused to Brown, who was a minor at the time.

Sometimes, stans turn on the very celebrities they claim to support. Entertainment Weekly quoted Jordan Miller, who ran the prominent Britney Spears fansite BreatheHeavy.com, as saying, “[Stans] will eat their own.” This dynamic can lead to situations where artists ask their fans not to attack others. Singer Bebe Rexha once had to publicly ask her fans not to insult her father after he criticized aspects of one of her music videos.

Media outlets have also found themselves targeted by Stan Twitter. In December 2017, NBC Chicago aired a video of BTS while reporting on the death of Jonghyun, a founding member of Shinee. This mistake sparked a campaign from fans of both BTS and Shinee, trending the hashtag #NBCChicagoApologize. The station apologized both on television and on social media the following day.

Another incident occurred in June 2019 on the Australian program 20 to One. The presenters made jokes comparing BTS’s popularity to the explosion of a North Korean nuclear bomb. BTS stans demanded an apology, trending #ChannelNineApologize until the network issued a public statement the next day apologizing for the broadcast.

Wanna Thompson, a blogger, received hate mail and death threats from Nicki Minaj’s Barbz in 2018 after she suggested Minaj should release more mature music. Thompson described the abuse as coming from people with other faces in their profile pictures, hurling insults across platforms. Nicki Minaj responded to the controversy by pointing to songs in her discography that she considered mature, including “Pills n Potions,” “Bed of Lies,” and “All Things Go.”

Nicole Curran, wife of Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, was harassed and received death threats from the Beyhive after a video went viral of her leaning past Beyoncé to speak to Jay-Z during a game. Beyoncé’s publicist addressed the incident on Instagram, asking the Beyhive to show love to others and reminding them that hate was not what their idol would want.

The band Yellowcard was another target, facing backlash from Juice Wrld’s fans after suing the late rapper for $15 million, alleging his hit “Lucid Dreams” copied the melody from their song “Holly Wood Died.” The situation escalated after Juice Wrld’s death, when Yellowcard extended a lawsuit deadline into February 2020, and stans responded with the hashtag #FuckYellowcard.

Stan Twitter has even spun real-world political events into meme fodder. In April 2020, when there were rumors about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, many Twitter users started “stanning” his sister, Kim Yo-jong, and posting fancams of her. While some claimed these posts were jokes, others and several media outlets criticized the trend as trivializing a serious political situation, even in jest.

Stan Twitter’s language and culture have become so influential that its glossary of terms is referenced in mainstream publications. For example, “wig,” “tea,” and “skinny legend” have all been broken down and explained by outlets like Cosmopolitan and The Daily Dot. The New York Times has covered the spread of terms like “ijbol,” which means “I just burst out laughing,” as Stan Twitter slang migrates into broader youth culture.

The community’s use of AAVE and LGBTQ+ slang has sparked ongoing discussions about cultural appropriation. Insider and USA Today have published pieces analyzing how much of the most common stan and VSCO girl slang has roots in Black and queer communities. The term “wig,” for example, can be traced to Black LGBTQ ballroom culture of the 1980s, where “wig snatched” symbolized shock or amazement.

Stan communities on Twitter have been known to create their own digital spaces and in-jokes, sometimes leading to the development of elaborate fictional settings. Floptropica, for instance, is a community-invented nation with its own lore, and The Guardian called it “a beautiful testament to the power of the digital hivemind and it’s so ridiculously stupid.” Floptropica memes involve assigning real-world people as unwitting figureheads or leaders, showing the playful and absurd side of stan humor.

Stan Twitter’s influence goes beyond entertainment and activism. During the Writers Guild of America strike, fans of popular TV shows organized online to show support for striking writers, rallying behind hashtags and trending fancams to keep public attention on the cause. Mashable reported on the power of these fan-driven campaigns to spotlight labor issues and amplify voices that might otherwise be overlooked.

One recurring theme within Stan Twitter is the double-edged sword of community power. While the group’s devotion can amplify artists and support social causes, it can also spiral into mob behavior, targeting individuals with coordinated attacks. The BBC and NME have documented examples of online bullying, noting patterns of mob-handed aggression and, at times, even fans turning against the celebrities they idolize if they feel betrayed or disappointed.

Stan Twitter’s reach and tactics have reshaped the dynamics of celebrity-fan relationships, internet activism, and digital communication. The Barbz, the Beyhive, and the BTS Army each have their own histories, tactics, and reputations for online organizing and trend manipulation. In 2020 and 2021, these fanbases have demonstrated the capacity to sway conversations, flood platforms with content, and make or break the reputations of both public figures and private individuals within hours.

Stan Twitter’s vernacular, memes, and practices have created a distinct subcultural identity that continues to evolve, absorbing influences from new artists, shifting social issues, and online trends. The insular nature of its jokes, the rapid mobilization around causes, and the ability to launch or derail a media narrative have made Stan Twitter one of the most powerful, unpredictable forces on social media.

In June 2019, Nicole Curran received death threats and was hounded off Instagram by the Beyhive after a brief courtside exchange with Jay-Z during a Warriors game, prompting Beyoncé’s publicist to issue a public plea for empathy and restraint.