Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It

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News Media Commentary
Title: Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It
Commentator: Kaitlyn Tiffany
Date(s): June 14, 2022
Venue: print
Fandom: One Direction, etc.
External Links:
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Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It is a 2022 nonfiction book by journalist Kaitlyn Tiffany. It focuses on One Direction fandom as a case study of online fandom.

Some Topics Discussed

Fansplaining Interview

The author appeared on the Fansplaining podcast in July 2022 to talk about the book. Explaining why it focused on One Direction, she said,

One Direction made sense to write about both because it was something I already cared about, so I knew I would enjoy getting to think about it for a couple of years. [laughs] But also, the book’s not just about the internet. It’s also about the experience of fandom, and I think a lot of that stuff is very abstract, unless you’re presenting it through the lens of a specific experience, you know? Like, if I’m just saying, “Oh, fandom helps a person to understand their life,” it’s like, “What does that mean?”[1]

The discussion also included covering fandom as a journalist, journalists' perceptions of fandom, and her previous reporting on One Direction fandom and Larry Stylinson conspiracy theories. When asked about her bravery in reporting on fandom conspiracy theories, Tiffany commented that she had simply not thought about it in advance as she was "22 and just a loose cannon". She remarked that she now considered her previous coverage on Babygate to be somewhat cringey and that she wouldn't approach it the same way now. She had thought Babygate "goofy" at the time, but when researching the book she was surprised to learn how much pain Larry and Babygate had caused in the fandom. She gave a specific example of an incident a Black fan had told her about how upsetting it was when larries explained away Louis saying the N word in the infamous 2014 weed video as his management staging the video to force a false frat boy persona on him.[1]

It was just like, “Oh, I’m gonna write a quick blog post about this wild thing happening on Tumblr right now.” Whereas now, I think--I hope that it comes off in the book that I thought more carefully about, like, why does it matter that fandoms sometimes end up going down this conspiratorial route? And what does it do to the relationships within fandom, and how people relate to fandom afterwards? Versus just like, “Ah, yeah, this is wild! Like, clack clack clack.” You know?[1]

Tiffany noted that because of her previous reporting, larries were unwilling to be interviewed for the book:

All of the--you know, the antis, like...I don’t know if they love that term, but some of them are fine with it--like, the antis really wanted to talk about it, or people who, like, used to be Larries really wanted to talk about it, and the Larries were basically like, you know--well, one of them spoke to me. Most of them were like, [laughs] “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” ...

Yeah, so it’s hard, like, when only one side’s willing to talk. You’re kind of naturally sympathetic to them, and there’s no way to, like, get a rebuttal from the other side. It was--I don’t know. That part of the book was hard, too, because I didn’t--it’s not fair to be like, you know, “the Larries are the great villain of the internet who are, like, torturing everyone.” But it did seem like they caused some damage.[1]

Fan Reactions: Research Phase

2019

In September 2019 Tiffany put out a public call on twitter for One Direction fans to participate in interviews for the book she was writing. As of 2022, the tweet had 75 replies, 87 retweets, 72 quote tweets, and 366 likes.[2] Reactions were extremely mixed, with many fans filling in the Google form with their contact information[3], while many larries tweeted that they would not participate:

  • "I cannot stress this enough.....NO"[4]
  • "Maybe One Direction fans should write a book about you instead, titled 'Why are you this obsessed with us?'"[5]
  • "Weren’t you really horrible to us? So no thanks, keep it." [6]
  • "You're creepy. Move on from One Direction." [7]
  • "So you can keep writing your derogatory articles about us? No thanks, you can f*ck the right off." [8]
  • "if you’re a larrie please don’t participate in this, she wrote an article about how larries suffer from mental illness." [9]
  • "I swear if any of y’all participated I’ll kick your asses out of this fandom! We’re not here to feed this bitch so that she can twist the truth and make us to be the bad people here. We’re better than that, so don’t you dare." [10]
  • "How about you just leave us alone you weirdo" [11]
  • "If you actually had a brain, you'd be writing a book about the entertainment industry and their history of closeting artists and explain how the use BODY LANGUAGE, which speaks louder than words, can be used to decipher truth and stop worrying about stan twitter." [12]

Tiffany also posted a link to the google form on her tumblr account, where larries reacted similarly.[13]

for context, that person is a grown ass woman who is working on writing a book on one direction fans and who already wrote multiple articles calling larries crazy. They are, and have been following hundreds of larries for months on tumblr without their consents (including minors) so i’d encourage everyone to block them.

cuddlerlouis [14]

i’ll repeat what i said earlier in a tag post but just because tumblr is a public platform doesn’t mean that im okay with people following my blog to fetch data to write a book about a fandom im part of, especially if it’s to say how crazy i am. a fandom is for fans, not so called journalists that think we are some sort of freaks.

cuddlerlouis [15]

i’m literally so fucking tired of people using larries for hits and clicks while belittling us in the same breath. if you went to school and spent money on getting a degree to be a journalist or whatever the fuck else then comment on real things. stop talking about crazed girls on tumblr (which, by the way, is so inaccurate considering larries aren’t just girls) who have the audacity to believe that two members of a band are in a relationship. we literally mind our own fucking business in this corner of the internet so just let us exist here.

rosesau [16]

imagine having so much internalized misogyny and hate for young girls and their interests that you write book calling them paranoid and crazy under the guise of “they harass two men” despite the fact that those two men have shown continuous support to their fan base and continue to involve and showcase the artwork and talent of those paranoid crazy girls

rbbsbb [17]

I want to write an article called “Why Are You So Obsessed With Us” about the thirsty journalists that stalk our shit for their articles where they proceed to drag us, the media and TV shows who use us as clickbait, and the antis who aren’t even 1D fans who lurk on our blogs every day, send us asks, and make endless posts about us.

28nachos (lesbianslovelouis) [18]

if a fandom largely made up of lgbtq+ people says two celebrities are showing signs of queer coding, and they feel supported by it and by them, then please oh please do us a solid and shut the fuck up

alwaysyouinmyheart [19]

Some non-larries noticed the commotion and became interested in participating:

Larries are REALLY REALLY mad about this, so of course, I am REALLY REALLY interested in this.

louche-laid-back-glory [20]

this is so fucking funny. all larries CRAVE is attention, but they want to specifically exclude any criticism of their poor, faux-fandom behavior.

yessoupy (Shit Larries Say) [21]

2021

In June 2021, Tiffany had reached the fact-checking phase of the book and contacted everyone quoted in the book with requests to verify whether what she had written about them was accurate. 28nachos, a tumblr larrie, reacted publicly to Tiffany's email[22], which brought the book back to the fandom's attention.

Other Larries on tumblr talked about it:

I think she’s a pretty shitty person who has a clear dislike for Larries and has already referred to us as “conspiracy theorists” in an article she wrote about our fandom before. She seems pretty biased in her views of the situation, so I can’t imagine she’d write a balanced look at things. I dislike the idea of bringing fandom and fandom conversations out to the general public.

twopoppies [23]

A book actually reporting on this complex and somewhat unique fandom objectively from a place of interest and curiosity would be fascinating and totally worthwhile… but sadly this REALLY ain’t it. She has made it clear she has no intention of actually writing about the intricacies of this fandom, only in finding material to bolster her already decided upon thesis about the ‘clinical paranoia’ and conspiracy theorizing of young women online. Her entire premise is based on her own preconceived bias, and she came here to find things to support her premise rather than coming up with it based on what she saw (not to mention it’s totally dated at this point, she really missed the cultural moment on that) and she has no interest in hearing what we have to say, only in pathologizing to support the sensationalist brief she probably got a publishing advance for and finding things to pull out of context to make her already decided on points.

1ddiscourseoftheday [24]

Larries also spread the news on twitter:

  • "a anti larry journalist wants to make a book that basically drags larries. she has researched the biggest larry blogs on tumblr and wants to put them in her book without their consent. she has written articles before about bbg and about larries and how paranoid they are"[25]
  • "I firmly believe some things should stay in the fandom. That's the whole point of fandom - the inside jokes and the memes are for fun and putting that out for the general public to dissect will do absolutely nothing to stop the fandom from continuing to do what it does."[26]
  • "basically an obsessed solo harrie journalist has written a book about larries:) and she has contracted both big anti and larry blogs but she is an anti... so yeah:))))"[27]
  • "they wanna make a whole book based on us?? thats genuinely crazy wtf thats an obsession thats not healthy whatsoever"[28]
  • "so an adult has nothing better to do than this? And couldn’t the tumblr people press charges if it isn’t with their consent?"[29]

One theme mentioned by a few people was a fear that the book would negatively impact Louis Tomlinson himself. This idea was first brought up by 28nachos, and when an anon asked them how Louis could be affected by a book on the fandom, 28nachos said that if they personally got doxxed and their employer was contacted as a result of the book being published, then their employer would investigate 28nachos's claims and discover that Louis' baby was fake.[30]

A few non-larries noticed the commotion. The Shit Larries Say podcast had an episode reacting to 28nachos' reaction.[31]

As long as everything is legally above board, you can’t advocate for censorship here. People can and will write books about whichever topics they wish. Defamation can be brought up when books allegedly defame someone but there are a lot of defences to defamation, like the defence of truth, honestly held opinion and triviality. Let’s just say I’d pay good money to see the face of a lawyer who gets told someone would like to sue because a book implied the ‘Sony made a baby’ conspiracy they came up with is dumb. Second, it’s utterly bizarre to me that these people will claim ‘I’m just doing it in fandom spaces’ whilst at the same time purposefully running websites that get mistaken for an artists professional website, eg LTHQ, and running a plastic doll fan page, which is entirely public, with a little view counter at the top - clearly this is someone who enjoys giving their opinions publicly. I mean it’s interesting that these people will harass their families, run a running chronology of a child’s face, organise fourth wall breaking concert projects, drive hours to find a birth certificate, dedicate their every waking moment to a conspiracy theory and promoting it, but then when the real world comes knocking and reminds them they’ve impacted it, they are like ‘it’s just fandom’.

portraitofalarryonfire [32]

So @kait_tiffany is writing a book about fandom, in which she talks about the Larry Stylinson conspiracy and "the babygate community", and honestly, I am so happy they're about to get dragged for the misogynistic homophobic scum they are. Can't wait to buy the book Kaitlyn

cheaprhyme [33]

Fan Reactions: Post-Publication

The book was published in June 2022. As of November 2022, on goodreads the book has a 3.75 out of 5 rating, 907 ratings, and 267 reviews. Some reviews are negative, from people who weren't interested in 1D and felt betrayed by the title, and some reviews are positive, from both (apparently) nonfannish readers and 1D fans. A few quotes from 1D fans:[34]

  • "me and my one direction friends are passing this book around like a blunt"
  • "this book was insane I laughed so hard. never did I think I would be reading a book where the “he’s in there” niall bad1dimagines was referenced."
  • "Also it was very fun to read a book about Larry Stylinson, and the weird ass world of 1D Twitter and tumblr. Very nostalgic. "
  • "I also wish the treatment of Larry mythology had been a little different. I don't think it was necessarily unfair, but it did feel ungenerous – I think there's so much interesting stuff behind how and why so many people became unbelievably invested in that specific conspiracy theory."
  • "i feel like i finally understood why i loved one direction when i was 13 and even a little bit now, ten years later. did i learn a lot? not really but it was a good time!!!!"

An overall positive review from a larrie contained a caveat for the Larry-related chapters:

like, this iphone "conspiracy" has literally existed for twelve years. there is a multitude of proof that has been examined and re-examined and is still unexplainable. a *significant* portion of the fanbase believes it to be real. like, you don't have to present it as a fact but would it be so far-out to give us a little bit of room? like maybe, just maybe, it's existed this long and at this scale for a reason? it just felt so one-sided, and i was disappointed because the rest of the book did such a good job at presenting everything three-dimensionally. OH YEAH ALSO THE FACT THAT IT WAS COMPARED TO QANON?? like i'm sorry but no. that is just not proportional.[35]

yessoupy and back-to-louis, both of whom were interviewed for the book, discussed the book on their Shit Larries Say podcast and gave it a positive review.[36]

thisiskatsblog--a larrie who agreed to be interviewed for the book, but only in her capacity as a Rainbow Direction founder--posted all of her written answers the day before the book came out to "share my version of the story".[37]

twopoppies said she hadn't read the book, but that its author was "a total moron. From the bits I saw, she understands nothing about fandom and even less about this specific fandom."[38]

Links

References

  1. ^ a b c d Fansplaining Episode 178: Kaitlyn Tiffany, Archived version (July 27, 2022)
  2. ^ tweet by kait_tiffany, Archived version, 20 September 2019. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  3. ^ tweet by kait_tiffany, Archived version, 23 September 2019. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  4. ^ tweet by Aquadreams28, Archived version, 21 September 2019. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  5. ^ tweet by youremywaterlou, Archived version, 21 September 2022. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  6. ^ tweet by sunshinetommo28, Archived version, 21 September 2019. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  7. ^ tweet by king_hedgie, Archived version, 22 September 2022. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  8. ^ tweet by backhomelou, Archived version, 21 September 2022. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  9. ^ tweet by dlibyhftkissy, Archived version, 21 September 2022. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  10. ^ tweet by 91bravelwtt, Archived version, 22 September 2022. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  11. ^ tweet by stylinson1998, Archived version, 21 September 2022. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  12. ^ tweet by Bigblues1DLWT, Archived version, 21 September 2022. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  13. ^ tumblr post by kaittiffany, reblogged by laynefaire, Archived version, 21 September 2019.
  14. ^ Block @kaittiffany, Archived version, tumblr post by cuddlerlouis, 21 September 2019. As of 27 November 2022 this tumblr post has 557 notes.
  15. ^ anon ask answered by cuddlerlouis, Archived version, 21 September 2019.
  16. ^ tumblr post by rosesau, reblogged by rosesau, Archived version, 21 September 2019. As of 27 November 2022, this tumblr post has 249 notes.
  17. ^ tumblr post by rbbsbb, reblogged by alwaysyouinmyheart, Archived version, 21 September 2019. As of 27 November 2022, this tumblr post has 289 notes.
  18. ^ tumblr post by 28nachos, reblogged by twopoppies, Archived version, 21 September 2019. As of 27 November 2022, this tumblr post has 145 notes.
  19. ^ tumblr post by alwaysyouinmyheart, Archived version, 21 September 2019. As of 27 November 2022, this tumblr post has 647 notes.
  20. ^ tumblr reblog by louche-laid-back-glory, Archived version, 21 September 2019.
  21. ^ reblog by yessoupy, Archived version, 21 September 2019.
  22. ^ Wayback Machine copy, 28nachos tumblr, 9 June 2021.
  23. ^ tumblr post by twopoppies, Archived version, 10 June 2021.
  24. ^ Thurs 10 June ‘21, Archived version by 1ddiscourseoftheday, 10 June 2021. As of 28 November 2022, this tumblr post has 261 notes.
  25. ^ tweet by sueisbeauty, Archived version, 10 June 2021. (Accessed 25 November 2022.)
  26. ^ tweet by lilistanslthsts, Archived version, Jun 9, 2021. (Accessed 25 November 2022.)
  27. ^ tweet by sueisbeauty, Archived version, Jun 10, 2021. (Accessed 25 November 2022.)
  28. ^ tweet by sunnshinelwt, Archived version, Jun 10, 2021.
  29. ^ tweet by g4yIwt, Archived version, Jun 10, 2021. (Accessed 27 November 2022.)
  30. ^ tweet by sueisbeauty with screencaps of 28nachos' blog, Archived version, 10 June 2021.
  31. ^ Shit Larries Say 23. a larrie MELTDOWN, Archived version, reblogged by back-to-louis, 11 June 2021.
  32. ^ anon ask answered by portraitofalarryonfire, Archived version, 10 June 2021.
  33. ^ tweet by cheaprhyme, Archived version, 10 June 2021.
  34. ^ Goodreads: Everything I Need I Get From You, Archived version archive.ph copy. (Accessed 29 November 2022.)
  35. ^ Pickel the Knight's Reviews > Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It, Archived version, Jun 21, 2022.
  36. ^ Shit Larries Say episode 32 podcast announcement post, Archived version, 10 August 2022. (Accessed 29 November 2022.)
  37. ^ tumblr post by thisiskatsblog, Archived version, 14 June 2022. (Accessed 29 November 2022.)
  38. ^ anon ask answered by twopoppies, Archived version, 22 October 2022. (Accessed 29 November 2022.)
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