Honestly it bums me out when people say individual fandom communities are awful because I think it's moreso the nature of the ragebait internet. Are the people in the fandom the problem, or are the systems/spaces through which they are forced to exist? In order to connect online freely fans have to be on sites like Twitter and Reddit and here where algorithms amplify discourse. I don't think online fanbases and fandoms would have this sort of reputation if this were not the case and circumstance.
But I suppose the reason it bums me out is that these attitudes just amplify and reinforce the hate and vitriol. It's not the fandoms that are the problems, at least not in isolation. Instead of focusing our energy at the corporations doing their damned best to control us at the expense of our community, emotional and mental health, and artistic impulse we are all distracted hating on random 14 year olds online. It's entirely misplaced and counter productive. Hating "crazy fans" is not helping anyone.
Let's be real, us fandom folks are nerds. There's not a lot of violence and toxicity at conventions- there's cringe, sure, but it's not a hostile environment. There's fanbases out there like football hooligans who literally beat the shit out of each other at events but it's fandoms for media that have a worse reputation somehow. And don't think it's lost on me how the most hated fandoms are often largely female (swifties, kpop, you know the drill).
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