Fan (person)

A fan (also called a fanatic, aficionado, or enthusiast) is someone with a strong interest or admiration for a particular subject—like a celebrity, sport, team, genre, politician, book, TV show, movie, video game, or entertainer. All the fans of a given thing make up its fanbase or fandom. Fans express their enthusiasm in many ways: promoting what they like, joining fan clubs, attending or organizing conventions, writing fan mail, or doing creative work such as making fanzines, fan fiction, memes, fan art, or fan games. Very intense fans are sometimes called "stans."

The word "fan" comes from "fanatic," which entered English around 1550 meaning "marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion." That term traces back to the Modern Latin *fanaticus*, meaning "insanely but divinely inspired," and originally referred to a temple or sacred place (Latin *fanum*). The modern sense of "extremely zealous" dates from about 1647, and the noun form from 1650. Meanwhile, "fancy" (meaning an intense liking, first recorded in 1545) has a different origin but a similar, if milder, connotation. In mid-19th-century American English, "the fancy" came to mean avid sports enthusiasts. One theory, cited in the *Dickson Baseball Dictionary*, says it was shortened from "the fancy" (used for followers of boxing from the early 1700s to the 1800s) to "fance" then to "fans." Another account, from *The Great American Baseball Scrapbook*, credits Chris von der Ahe, owner of the Saint Louis Brown Stockings in 1882, who sold cheap 25-cent tickets to draw crowds to buy his beer and called the enthusiastic patrons "fans."

"Supporter" is an older synonym for "fan," still common in British English for sports teams, though "fan" is now widespread across the English-speaking world, including the UK. In the United States, "supporter" is also used for fans of politicians, political parties, or controversial issues.

Fans often have such strong interest that they may change their lifestyles to accommodate it. They seek external involvement—attending conventions, posting online, displaying team banners—and often want to acquire material objects related to their interest, like a famous slugger's baseball or a musician's used guitar pick. Many also desire social interaction with other fans, through casual conversation, email, chat rooms, mailing lists, or in-person meetings like fan club gatherings and conventions. Fans can be grouped by their level of involvement or fanaticism. The complexity of a subject seems to increase the likelihood of it inspiring fandom, as complexity allows for longer engagement and creates a stronger sense of belonging through the mental effort invested.

Fan culture includes various types. Celebrity fans may have a crush on a movie star, pop star, athlete, or other celebrity (as with teen idols). Groupies, for example, follow a band or musician on tour. Devotion can range from a simple crush to a delusional belief in a special relationship with the star, which in extreme cases leads to celebrity worship syndrome or stalking. This can even turn to hatred and violent attacks, as in the 1989 murder of Rebecca Schaeffer by a stalking fan. This relates to parasocial interaction, where audiences form one-sided relationships with media figures. Not all fans have a crush; some want friendship or respect an idol's relationship, and some idolize celebrity couples. Gaming fans, or "gamers," focus on non-sport games like role-playing, board, miniature wargames, collectible card, or video games. Music fans may focus on a genre rather than a specific musician. Trade journals like *Rolling Stone* were created by music fans. Notable examples include groupie Cynthia Plaster Caster, who made plaster casts of rock stars' penises, and Pamela Des Barres, author of *I'm With The Band*. In the 1960s, the intense frenzy around the Beatles was called Beatlemania.