(This is Part 1 of  a 3 part series on “The Anatomy of a Stan”)

Whether it’s music stans, television stans, sports stans, or any other kind of stan – including those people who don’t even know what the fuck a “stan” is,(its a hardcore fan ala Eminem’s song) there are five core social activities going on in fan communities. Stans are drawn to standom in part so they can participate in these activities, understanding them helps you to better engage them!

1.  Sharing feeling
2. Creating social identities
3. Collecting intelligence
4. Sharing interpretations
5. Creating for each other

Sharing Feeling

When good ass music works, it makes us feel, and when we feel, it’s human nature to want to share those emotions with others. These emotions may not always be good. While it’s great to be able to share excitement about an upcoming album or share the news that you just copped dope seats for a concert with people who will really understand what you feel…it’s also important for people to be able to share their disappointment, anger, grief and even hate. 

The most important part is connecting with others who UNDERSTAND what you feel and who can AMPLIFY or MITIGATE it.

Creating Social Identities

We also use music standom to define who we are relative to other people — to display which tribe we belong to. We use communicative tools — including merchandise, posters, slang in conversations, bumper stickers and friends links — to connect ourselves to other cats who share our musical taste, and to set ourselves apart from those squares who don’t.

Some people also seek to define themselves within those specific stan communities. Being a particularly devoted or accomplished stan is one way to gain status within some tribes. This is something YOU can actively feed. 

Collecting Intelligence

Stans also enjoy the scholarly work of collecting details – usually more details than those involved with creating music could even think of. Fans collect and pool: 

- Set lists

- Discographies

- Concert chronologies

- Bootlegs

The fan label Purple Chick recently issued 83 cd set of 96 hours documenting the Beatles’ complete Let It Be sessions. This is work professional archivists are paid to do, but stans do it for fuckin fun.

When it’s shared, stans can build much richer connections to music and each other.

Sharing Interpretations

Stans also spend hella energy pooling their interpretations, sometimes shaping consensus, and other times dividing into camps over issues such as which album is best, who’s got better lyrics or whether signing with a major label represents selling out.

Stans often interpret lyrics, as can be seen here. They also informally (and sometimes formally), review recordings, concerts and ongoing events — including some that artists might consider private and prefer be left alone. 

Creating for Eachother

Some stans are also driven to create for each other, and more stans than that appreciate being able to engage stan-created materials. A recent form of music fan creativity is the home-made music video.

Stans also create for one another by performing covers of a artist/bands material, making mix tapes and playlists, performing cover songs, creating remixes, artworks, custom avatars, bootleg shirts and writing fan fiction.

Stay tuned for Part 2: “The 5 ways the Internet Empowers Your Stans”