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Twitter has gained enormous popularity in the past few years. The social media site is known for voicing opinions on various things from pop culture to pressing world issues.
What has made twitter such a widespread social media site in the past few years is the community of Stan Twitter. Stan Twitter is a whole sub-community on Twitter which is primarily based on people who support a certain celebrity, movie, tv-show, book, artists. According to Urban Dictionary,
Stan Twitter: A section of Twitter that is comprised of cult-like-fandoms that worship popular artists or artist groups. This section consists of fans engaging socially to online individuals, discussing topics relating to their faves, fan girling/boying over updates on their faves, and a competitive battle ground amongst the different fandoms.
Firstly, Stan is derived from Eminem's single, 'Stan' which is used to describe someone who is extremely obsessed with something which in this case is mostly a person or a group of people. There is no doubt though that the One direction stans are the blueprint of Stan Twitter. Ever since the boyband was formed in 2010, they had a massive fan following, with most of the fans using the social media platform to interact with the boys and with each other and this community can be credited for the boyband's cosmic success.
The Community
Let's begin with who the community comprises of. If you log onto Twitter on any given day, you will find at least one of the trending topics to be related to either BTS or One Direction. Yes, these two fandoms dominate the Stan Twitter community and unfortunately most of the time, there's always a fan war between the two.
These two fandoms are known as the BTS Army and the Directioners. Apart from two of the world's biggest boybands, there is a large population of Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Little Mix, Blackpink, 5SOS, and Justin Bieber stans to name a few. You might've seen these Twitter stans under Donald Trump's tweets with replies of “Stan One Direction” attached with a video consisting of clips of the artist with music, also known as fancams.
Now, Stan Twitter can be very overwhelming at first with the whole “Cancel Culture” being invented here and once you're part of the community, there's no escape. It's basically the wild side of the internet and also known as the most dramatic place where you can be so much as cancelled for hating on mayonnaise!
Cancel Culture
This extremely popular term which was born on Twitter has caused a frenzy all over the world. You can even see the infamous magazine sites like Cosmopolitan referencing this term while talking about pop culture. Cancel Culture in basic terminology is when you call out a person or group of people for doing something controversial or wrong.
And you will usually see a trending hashtag of the artist with "#blankisoverparty" For example, Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star who are part of the YouTube community, were cancelled for their Racism, Pedophilia, and lying about the previous James- Tati drama. Hence, the hashtag #ShaneDawsonisoverparty and #JeffreeStarisoverparty was trending worldwide for a few days.
The Language
It wouldn't be Stan Twitter without the unique language that is now used worldwide. Here is a glossary of words that you need to know to understand anything that's being said on Stan Twitter:
1. Tea
This is not your everyday piping hot herbal beverage. It is actually used to describe all the juicy details of the latest gossip.
Example: Have you heard the tea about James Charles and Tati Westbrook?
2. Shade
Shade usually means to throw a subtle and indirect diss towards someone.
Example: Was Taylor Swift's AMAs speech just shade towards Kanye West?
3. Dragged
Now, this could be the virtual version of the actual meaning of dragged. The slang is used to describe an instance where someone calls out another person harshly.
Example: OMG, Louis Tomlinson literally just dragged Naughty boy.
4. Iconic
The slang is probably the only word that actually adheres to its meaning; describing something that was extremely influential.
Example: No but Harry Styles being the first-ever solo male to feature on a Vogue cover, simply iconic.
5. Periodt.
Usually to finish a point with an extra little emphasis.
Example: Billie Eilish deserved all the Grammy's she got periodt.
6. Oomf
Literally stands for One of my friends.
Example: Oomf said she hates Ariana #cancelled
7. Spilled
When someone states an opinion that is agreed by another person
Example: We love Zayn Malik over here.
Bestie spilled.
8. Wbk
Again, literally stands for We Been Knew. Which is used to reply to someone who is stating an obvious fact.
Example: BTS is literally the best boyband in the world
Girl, wbk.
9. asdfghjkl (keyboard smashes)
Yes, this is counted as slang. It's used when someone is very excited about something or doesn't know what to say.
Example: hdsjkhfkjshdfs the new BLACKPINK single is so good.
10. Not me-
Usually used at the beginning of the sentence to explain something they did which could be slightly embarrassing.
Example: Not me blasting 5SOS' whole discography at 3 am.
11. Clapped layout
Layouts are a big thing on Stan Twitter. The layout usually comprises of the profile picture and the header. Your layout is considered clapped if the profile picture and header don't follow the same color scheme.
Example: The picture below is of a non-clapped layout because the color scheme of the header and profile picture match.
Side note: it is also very important to have your pronouns in your bio otherwise you're immediately cancelled.
All in all, Stan Twitter can be summed up as a hole which once you fall into, you will never be able to get out of. It is an opinionated, chaotic, and a savage side of the internet with the people being considered a breed of its own. However, being on Stan Twitter can be an experience of a lifetime as you get to make internet best friends with whom you can talk about your faves for as long as you want without being judged AND they could very much be your real life besties in the future! You could get a celebrity notice which is very rewarding!
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