Beyoncé. Cristiano Ronaldo. Selena Gomez. Cardi B. Lady Gaga. Justin Bieber. Miley Cyrus.
These people don’t need much of an introduction. They’re all considered some of the most famous people in the world. How do we know? It could be the huge pay checks they make each year in earnings, it might be the fact they’re considered the best at what they do or it could be the millions upon millions of adoring fans that hang on their every word.
Modern celebrity is a funny old thing. The currency of fame has decidedly tilted towards social media and how big your following is. While becoming uber-famous has different pipelines, one thing is for sure – every top tier celeb stays in the zeitgeist thanks to the support of fans.
Fans keep their names in the news cycle, fans keep them trending, fans keep buying whatever they’re selling. Ultimately, the fans are a huge cog in the wheel that keeps these celebs famous and cashed up. At the top of the fan food chain you’ll find stan accounts. They’re the (often) faceless worker bees who go hammer and tongs to keep the internet abreast of their favourite celebs’ every move. Little attention is paid to uncovering who exactly is firing off Tweets, fancams on TikTok or edits on Instagram. They’re just kind of there. A part of the anatomy of what makes a person famous. Sure, sometimes they’re the butt of the joke but lately the needle has been starting to shift, bringing them into the spotlight.
Have the stan accounts become the main character?
If you’ve been anywhere on the internet over the past few weeks, the conversation has been decidedly pointed towards the brewing relationship between singer Taylor Swift and NFL player Travis Kelce. After Taylor was spotted watching Travis at one of his games, a Swiftie stan account ‘The Eras Tour’ shared an image on X which sent the online world into a spiral.
“Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch!” read the caption alongside a picture of Taylor sitting in front of a plate of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch.
🚨| Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch! pic.twitter.com/rpAOP2HFtT
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) September 24, 2023
It was so pure in making sure not to incorrectly identify the sauces present on her plate that it instantly became a meme and garnering over 30 million impressions. In fact Heinz have just released their very own special edition sauce: Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch Sauce which will no doubt go on to sell like hotcakes around the world. All off the back of one Tweet from a stan account.
Seemingly Ranch (Heinz's Version) https://t.co/dB2queHbSe pic.twitter.com/QQdn6zRf65
— Heinz (@HeinzUK) September 26, 2023
The person behind the account (who would like to remain anonymous) has inadvertently become the conversation rather than the conversation starter. They’ve even started to reap the benefits of flying as close to the sun as the very celebs they stan.
SEEMINGLY RANCH QUEEN COLLECTING HER BAG MHMM MHMMMMM pic.twitter.com/BcoDBf3GvW
— swiftie wins (@swifferwins) October 3, 2023
Elsewhere, a Timothée Chalamet stan account has been having quite a month. The person behind Club Chalamet broke usual protocol for stan accounts when they began injecting incredibly spirited commentary into the conversation when Timothée and (seemingly) girlfriend Kylie Jenner went public with their relationship. Through a series of Tweets and Instagram posts, Club Chalamet began to gain traction for their very obvious disdain for the couple.
And suddenly everyone’s attention shifted from Timothée and Kylie to Club Chalamet. They snatched the spotlight real quick.
The internet’s fascination with Club Chalamet knew no bounds. Quickly they uncovered that the person running the account is a 57-year-old woman named Simone Cromer who Tweeted that she almost took a job in the Twin Towers before 9/11.
why was clubchalamet almost at the twin towers on 9/11 like i want an autobiography on her life
— hot pink bitch named breakfast (@parispoetics) September 11, 2023
It’s an interesting turn in the fanbase narrative as stan culture has often been associated with some pretty negative behaviours. You might recall back in 2017 radio host Ash London was on the receiving end of some pretty foul behaviour from One Direction stans after she made some comments about Louis Tomlinson. I myself had a run in with Billie Eilish stans back in 2019 when they mistakenly thought I had announced her retirement from music. Stan culture quickly became pretty toxic in the late 2010s and fanbases were called out for their overzealous online behaviour.
In this latest turn in the wild, ever-changing stan vortex, it’s nice to see things moving away from death threats and into a space where light-hearted quips about chicken and sauce are celebrated. Sure there are still the insidious sides of stan culture lurking on the internet but those areas are getting less attention.
While it might seem rather hilarious that these stan accounts are now experiencing virality of their own, it’s further confirmation of the power they hold. Now that the pendulum is swinging towards them you must wonder if they’re keen to commoditise their huge reach and take a slice of the pie for themselves. But maybe that would take away from the true essence of why they run these accounts. Maybe the driving force is simply because they’re fans and it has never been about making money.
Either way, if I was The Eras Tour I’d be on the phone to Heinz toot suite and asking to collect some royalties. It’s (seemingly) the least they deserve.
The post We’ve Been Seeing Some Wholesome Stan Account Activity Lately And We’re Loving This Energy appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
