Tell me who your idol is and I’ll tell you what kind of fan you are. Of course we should not generalize because there are good apples as there are rotten apples. But fan behavior reflects back to the idol, something that many fans fail to realize.

I can count with my one hand the fandoms that I’ve been active in but being a fangirl has made me see a lot of fan behavior. No single fandom is perfect nor free from the rotten ones. And there are degrees of bad behavior. Some are tolerable while there are those that may prompt you to call the psychiatric department of a hospital for help.

Seriously, it’s difficult to come up with something like a Fan GMRC Manual because fangirling/fanboying for the most part is spontaneous. But just as there are social mores (I never thought I’d use this term again after university, and in a post about fangirling at that; my Media & Sociology professor would be so proud), shouldn’t there be fandom mores too?

Here are some unacceptable behavior that I can think of:

• Auctioning or reselling tickets at 100x the amount you paid for them will not only get you kicked out of a fan club, it is also in poor taste. How can you milk money from your fellow fans and off your idols?
• Scamming your fellow fans by selling nom-existent items on the Internet is criminal behavior.
• Selling subbed videos that were free from fan communities in the first place is very cheap. Shame on you.
• Igniting fandom wars is inappropriate and totally unnecessary. Focus on your fandom instead of wasting energy on discrediting rivals.
• Creating rivalry among your idols, in case of a group, is not only malicious but bad for your bias. The mere fact that your bias is in a group and has been since only indicates that is his/her choice otherwise he/she could have gone solo. So the least you can do is support.
• Stalking your idols is, I don’t even have to say it, sick. And stalking them up to their homes, then posting pictures later, is disgusting. They have their own lives, give them space. Isn’t it enough that they work hard to give you dramas, films, music, concerts, albums etc. that you can enjoy? Must you rob them of what little is left of their privacy too?
• Sailing your ship in every YouTube video and forum that are not even related to your OTP is desperate. Sure, ship and let ship but please know your limits and your place.
• Bringing non-related banners and fan signs to concerts is totally disrespectful, especially when you shove them on the face of the performers.
• Cheering/screaming someone else’s name in a concert where that person is not even performing is an outright insult to the performers.
• Flaming celebrities you don’t like on social media is downright uncivilized. Not raised by your parents well, were you?

Unfortunately, there are just some who don’t care.

It’s a free world, misbehave all you want but don’t get butthurt when you get a lot of hate for it. And remember, it reflects not only on you but on your fandom. Don’t care? Most probably your idols that you put on the pedestal don’t care either or worse, are probably ashamed of you.

Anyone has something to add to the list?

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