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My biggest concern with Stan culture, and especially regarding what I've seen of dream stans, is that it's a culture that often refuses to listen to outside voices and resorts to bubble conformity to keep some sort of mental sanity.
Especially in a well-established age of the Internet, social media in particular, having proven time and time again to damage (often irreparably) minds of the impressionable youth, stan culture is easily as far as one can go in terms of ruining themselves.
Hyperfixations and unhealthy fantasizing combined with kids who often have pre-established mental problems/traumas is a problem that absolutely needs some form of addressing and goes way beyond someone just "liking a YouTuber". This is a trap almost everyone in the fandom-
-refuses to address; the sheer dependence on internet people that you don't even know in person might hold a temporary band-aid, but it doesn't help genuine problems (invasive thoughts, hyperfixation, emotional dependency, sexual/romantic fantasy, etc)-
-that warrant serious need to be addressed, whether it be self-help, reaching out to close ones, seeking a doctor, or taking therapy sessions- all completely valid and viable options that fill a void "funny block people online" can't.
The overall response from Dream stans, as far as I can tell, is general stubbornness and refusal to address any criticism, a problem that I suspect is a symptom of a larger "cult of personality" issue- when you are in a state of mind where you absolutely CANNOT-
-take any form of criticism or hold a stable conversation in order to defend someone you pretty much worship, then that is an undeniable problem that starts not only with the surroindings and environment that have molded and shaped your impressionable mind-
-but also starts with mental illnesses that may be more deeply rooted than you realize.
Although I'd like to also address Dream's horrendous response to his stan culture (not even from Jawsh, but as a whole the past several months), in how it mostly just inflates his ego as a creator (especially turning a blind eye to the incessant shipping and sexual comments),
my focus on this thread would rather be on the mental ramifications of an environment that social media such as Twitter has created, as it's a topic I take great interest in. Not only is the consequences of social media an underlying zeitgeist that runs amongst the current youth,
but it's also one that I see seldom addressed by those who severely need help with it from the most, especially as I'm someone who has been hit pretty hard by it as well.
It's an addiction on the same level as nicotine. As harsh as it sounds, it's the reality.
It's an addiction on the same level as nicotine. As harsh as it sounds, it's the reality.
