A brief overview of what is currently trending on X in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
#WorldMentalHealthDay: Today is World Mental Health Day. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Remember to take care of yourself!
Florida: X users are sharing the terrifying effects of Hurricane Milton as the storm continues through the state.
#AgathaAllAlong: Spoiler alert: the ending of last night’s episode has left fans feeling shocked.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
The Outsized Power of Toxic Fandoms
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What It Is: Within every fandom, there are diehards — those who mean well, and those who would rather gatekeep and never see their favorite movie, TV show, artist, or book series evolve or grow in popularity. The latter, known as toxic fandoms, are small subsets of fans who are super vocal on social and utilize their platforms to deter more casual fans and derail the marketing and programming decisions of Hollywood’s biggest studios.
Variety published an article this week detailing the toxic fandom ordeals that studios behind beloved IPs such as Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Bridgerton, and Lord of the Rings have dealt with. This goes beyond good-faith discontent with a piece of art and often involves “review bombing” and widespread social backlash before release. These campaigns are often rooted in racist, sexist responses to content becoming more diverse or inclusive. This results in a poisoning of the well for any would-be fans, cancellations, or, in some cases, entire rewrites to appease this small but vocal group, leaving most fans unhappy and creators to suffer personal attacks.
The Brand Takeaway: Toxic fandoms have recently exploded due to the proliferation of social media and now touch almost every part of entertainment, from film studios to the parasocial fans of artists like Chappell Roan. As long as there are passionate fans, there will be toxic ones. Creators and brands can fight against this by exploring new creative territories, building wholly new fandoms, and proactively campaigning against expected backlash with confidence in what they’ve created.
Of course, when brands get involved with any IP that has a toxic fandom, they risk becoming the focus of this backlash, so brands should consider the breadth of the audience involved in any partnership endeavors to make sure they are prepared to respond accordingly. Consider how to counteract bad-faith trolls with positivity, and always speak more directly to the core audiences who are less volatile — those who are way more representative of the fandom at large.
Four must-click links that crossed our feeds today.
Beis released their limited-edition Wicked collection today and you will truly be defying gravity traveling with these pieces 🩷💚
Would you try Dua Lipa’s Diet Coke recipe with pickle juice and jalapeños?
As the election draws near, major political accounts are offering chances to enter to win concert tickets and airfare to artists like Sabrina Carpenter or Taylor Swift by checking voter registration status.
Lonely Planet - Netflix, 10.10
Mr. Crocket - Hulu, 10.10
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story - Theaters, 10.11
Bad Genius - Theaters, 10.11
The Gift Of Love - Jennifer Hudson
Shawn - Shawn Mendes
Dance Of Love - Tucker Zimmerman
Encuentros - Becky G.
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