The advent of social interactions over digital may seem like old news now, but they have their not-so-distant origins in web 1.0 pioneer AOL and web 2.0 innovator Myspace. Early platforms mimicked and enabled ‘in real life’ personal relationships, from direct messaging to a personalised page acting like a digital decorated locker. Facebook changed the dynamic with the creation of ‘groups’, allowing people to meet one another entirely online and interact there exclusively. Thus rose a new type of fan community, wherein members might never meet each other in person, but could still share and bond over an (often extreme) appreciation for their favourite things.
TikTok has taken this community-building aspect and memeified it, changing the whole concept of where fandom comes from, and how it perpetuates.
Take two recent examples. Netflix has recently sued Barlow and Bear, the creators of a musical on TikTok, for copyright infringement. The musical was based on a Netflix show, Bridgerton, and was largely created by fans together over the social platform. What started out as normal fan behaviour (fanfiction is increasingly part and parcel of fandom, with those who love the storylines and music feeling inspired to create more – sometimes to commercial success, and sometimes not) escalated, however. Because the TikTok algorithm was so effective at presenting the newly written musical to potential fans, it became hugely popular virtually overnight, to the point where its creators began to monetise their popularity with merch and ticketed shows. This brought it directly into competition with Netflix, and the original show, for the same fans and spend. TikTok took fan behaviour and gave it wings so powerful, its creations can fly all the way to the Grammy’s…and back to the courthouse.
A more innocuous example is that of the Gentleminions trend. ‘Minions: The Rise Of Gru’ debuted in theatres at an optimal time; the young viewers who had watched the original film in 2015 were now older, and many were finishing school (often the cue for some nostalgia).
The trend went viral on TikTok, aided by music artist / sound composer Yeats, whose brand was already associated with irreverent suit wearing and “taste”, creating a backing sound (a remix of minion noises and a song) used on every video. Universal itself backed the sound’s creation for the movie trailer, blending the grassroots cultural trend with a deliberate top-down marketing push. It became so popular that certain theatres banned formal dress for fear of the mess the crowds occasionally brought with them.
This sort of mass mobilisation of teenagers, spending money on tickets and bananas, and temporarily ruling the virtual airwaves, is the epitome of what fan behaviour can look like through the power of TikTok. The social content platform is so good at not only connecting fans, but perpetuating trends, and giving fans the tools to really build and act on their fandom – that, when it goes right, the box office can rake in extra millions. When it goes wrong, lawsuits can emerge. Creator tools are giving rise to new forms of content and empowering all different types of creators. But they are also amplifying fandom, and fan behaviours, to an unprecedented degree.