Talk:Solo Fan

solo stan redirects here, but seems to be a thing in kpop fandom as well. I'm not sure if the Chinese and kpop info should be on the same page or be broken out separately. I don't know anything about kpop fandom apart from googling and people trying to explain it to me. I suspect that the concept in Chinese fandom was borrowed from kpop, but I don't have a source for this.

Another thing: My introduction to the Chinese term was via a dispute between "solo fans" and shippers, so I initially assumed that being not a shipper was part of what made a "solo fan". However, both actors in the ship under dispute also happen to be singers in inactive boybands, as well as having solo singing careers, so I'm not certain to what extent the Chinese term overlaps in meaning with the usage in kpop fandom (loving only one member of a band).--aethel (talk) 18:02, 8 October 2020 (UTC)

I don't know much about it but Akgae (shortened from 'ak-seong gae-in paen' -- ak-seong means malicious (?)) is the term for solo fan in Korean, and I feel like it might definitely overlap in meaning. I'm thinking about Produce 101 fandom, and similar reality shows, which tends to encourage solo-fan behaviour where fans become attached to specific idols and create hate towards the groups that the idols originally debuted with. and the effect on idols is that after these survival shows they are discouraged from mentioning and hanging around their groups to mantain their popularity (open secret (?)) while similarly the groups shouldn't be seen to 'cling' onto that member, and artists with many solo-fans will be encouraged or made to do solo work instead. --Distracteddaydreamer (talk) 16:33, 4 October 2021 (UTC)

I created a page for Akgae. I also didn't know much about it, but from googling it sounded closer to Duwei--a subtype of solo fan.--aethel (talk) 19:21, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

I edited the page to include the kpop fandom meaning of the term, as well as some background on the misuse of the word in Western fandom. Seanide (talk) 17:51, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for adding that! I did a few twitter searches to pull in more cites on that fandom unity discourse and marked another as citation needed--the existing cite showed a person contemplating a mass reporting campaign, but not enacting one; do you have cites for mass reports? You also bolded "intentionally" in a way that sounds like there's a story behind it. It also seems to be assuming an argument about motives that should be stated explicitly. Do you have links to this discussion?--aethel (talk) 00:13, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

I included some better cites where you suggested, please check them out. I'm not sure what's wrong with number 16 and 9, I tried fixing them like 5 times but both still look like that (can't wait for the upgrade!). I fixed some web misspellings on the korean romanizations and brought back the "fansite" cite. I haven't read that page, so I don't know how Western/US fansites work, but kpop fansites are all mostly solo stans and The Proof(tm) that Korean fans get along pretty well with them, so I feel like it's a necessary reference. I also deleted the BTS mention because that's pretty much a kpop fandom as a whole issue and it feels unfair to mention them so explicitly just because their fandom has a big twitter presence. If you really wanna bring back the mention, please try to include the fandom (ARMY) instead of the name of the group? Seanide (talk) 19:11, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

I reformatted the citations to the best of my ability. Regarding the fansite cite, I updated the cite to the explanation you provided here. (To me, "<ref>[[Fansite]]</ref>" means "Go to the Fanlore page Fansite to read the evidence backing up the claim that Korean fans are ok with solo fans", but when I clicked on it, Fansite doesn't mention solo fans, kpop, or Korean fans.)

I think the bolding on intentionally and stalkers may indicate POV issues; that is, it looks like the section is written by a solo stan making a persuasive argument rather than a section documenting the views of solo stans (that solo stans are doing nothing wrong, but are being persecuted by group-fans[?] who are intentionally conflating solo stans with akgae because everyone already agrees that akgae are bad [?]).

I'm fine with removing BTS references. The cites I was finding were all ARMY, so I didn't want to make broader claims than what I was finding.--aethel (talk) 22:34, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

Hey there! Thank you for formatting the fansite cite! I agree it makes more sense now.

Regarding the bolding of intentionally and stalker, I fixed both. I was very intentionally trying to distinguish solo stans and akgaes from sasaengs, because sasaengs are their own thing and really shouldn't be grouped with people just saying things on the internet. There are horror stories every other month about idols being stalked (koreaboo loves those, ofc). The South Korean government also passed a law against the behavior sasaengs exhibit, the Stalking Penalty Act in 2021.

I reworded stuff a little, so hopefully it doesn't sound as "persuasive" anymore, and flagged the section. Silent oath (talk) 18:33, 17 June 2023 (UTC)

Great additions! I've deleted the PPOV warning, I think that this covers multiple sides now. Distracteddaydreamer (talk) 16:32, 24 October 2023 (UTC)