The seven-part miniseries targets the behaviour of the most egregious \u2018stan\u2019 communities, who exist on various social media platforms, but are particularly infamous on Twitter. They post relentlessly about their chosen idol \u2013 often forming intense parasocial relationships in the process \u2013 while aggressively pursuing anyone they perceive to have wronged the tribe.<\/p>\n
To be clear, these are not typical fans. It\u2019s still possible to take a reasonable interest in supporting an inspirational figure or compelling piece of art. But these specific sects are altogether more extreme and toxic.<\/p>\n
The \u2018stans\u2019 derive their name from an Eminem song in which a man kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend after failing to get attention from the rapper he obsesses over. That they are associated with such a grim narrative kind of tells you everything you need to know about the unhealthy culture that defines this growing craze.<\/p>\n
Swarm<\/a> is openly inspired by Beyonc\u00e9 stans, with each episode declaring: \u201cThis is not a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n Its main character, Dre (Dominique Fishback), covets a similarly-styled pop star called Ni\u2019Jah, considering herself a proud member of the Swarm \u2013 an allegory for the real-life Beyhive. The satirical thriller sees her damaging online activity escalate into an actual killing spree, driven forward by an insatiable desire to meet her \u201cqueen\u201d.<\/p>\n Swarm takes the Beyhive as its main inspiration, but it\u2019s important to note that other pop stars and actors have similarly troubling followers among their fans \u2013 from Taylor Swift to Harry Styles \u2013 while certain films and TV shows breed the very same habit.<\/p>\n Obsessive stalkers are not a recent phenomenon, but toxic \u2018stan\u2019 communities are a worrying new form of such activity that aren\u2019t treated with enough severity. Back in the 1970s or \u201980s, an individual with several pinboards of photos, news clippings and information about a celebrity might have been regarded a danger to themselves or others.<\/p>\n These days, extreme examples of this behaviour are trivialised by the perpetrators and those who seek to monetise them. To social media managers, they represent easy engagement. To merchandise and ticket sellers, a veritable goldmine. And to streaming platforms, just another core demographic to keep the algorithm ticking along.<\/p>\n And so long as these clusters of toxicity serve a capitalist purpose, it appears very few people will be inclined to call them what they are.<\/p>\n At this point, I should declare my personal connection with the subject. In my time working at RadioTimes.com<\/a>, I have provoked the ire of several \u2018stan\u2019 communities.<\/p> In the case of Lucifer<\/a>, it was over a negative review<\/a> of season 5 (and yes, I do stand by my opinion). It was truly bizarre to see my notifications flooded with hateful comments \u2013 I am not a public figure by any stretch of the imagination \u2013 but the timing made it particularly frustrating.<\/p>\n I had just suffered a major fallout with an old friend and learned just days later that my landlord was evicting me, so I was not in the best mental state. A bombardment of spiteful messages wasn\u2019t exactly what the doctor ordered, especially when my crime was so trivial.<\/p>\n There\u2019s clearly no consideration among the worst members of \u2018stan\u2019 communities that their targets are actual human beings, whose lives extend beyond whichever niche interest they have dedicated theirs to. The frequent anonymity of these accounts gives way to a mob mentality whose sole purpose is to search and destroy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s particularly surreal to see this tactic employed by some corners of the Heartstopper<\/a> fandom; a series that preaches the virtues of being kind and embracing difference. As a gay man, being assumed heterosexual, accused of LGBTQ+ erasure and generally disrespected by individuals who know nothing about me or my experience was painful.<\/p>\n Kit Connor said<\/a> it best after his own run-in with toxic fans: \u201cI think some of you missed the point of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n But this article isn\u2019t about getting the world\u2019s smallest violin out for me. It\u2019s about praising Swarm for having the guts to draw attention to this problem when so few others are willing to.<\/p>\n Series creators Glover and Nabers attempt to understand what deep psychological trauma could compel someone to extreme irrational fandom through the character of Dre \u2013 with Fishback giving a mesmerising performance in the role. In doing so, the focus isn\u2019t purely on the damage she inflicts on those around her, but also that which she inflicts on herself.<\/p>\n So many toxic \u2018stans\u2019 are terminally online and a considerable number are \u2013 I can only assume \u2013 teenagers and young people, which raises serious questions over how this unhealthy habit will affect their development and later life. A quick scroll down an avid account certainly gets alarm bells ringing over the sheer rapidity of posts and dramatic strength of feeling behind each one.<\/p>\n Swarm theorises that, in rare cases, these online personas can be a crutch for people who are lonely and in need of psychological help, as demonstrated by Dre\u2019s tragic and disturbing arc. An ingenious documentary-style episode towards the end of the series hammers home the point that this story is not detached from our reality \u2013 it\u2019s happening now and society is turning a blind eye.<\/p>\n I sincerely hope that Swarm\u2019s Emmy success can be a catalyst for some tough conversations about this growing problem \u2013 and that other big name creatives can follow in the footsteps of Glover and Nabers. The time has come to de-escalate this worrying trend among fans, rather than exploit it for commercial gain.<\/p>\n Swarm is available to stream on Prime Video \u2013 subscribe today for \u00a38.99 per month with a 30-day free trial<\/a>. <\/strong>Check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only \u00a31 with delivery to your home \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Donald Glover and Janine Nabers call attention to an issue that isn’t talked about nearly enough. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":34817,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/07\/swarm-deserves-every-emmy-for-tackling-toxic-stan-culture-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/07\/swarm-deserves-every-emmy-for-tackling-toxic-stan-culture-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/07\/swarm-deserves-every-emmy-for-tackling-toxic-stan-culture-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/07\/swarm-deserves-every-emmy-for-tackling-toxic-stan-culture-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/07\/swarm-deserves-every-emmy-for-tackling-toxic-stan-culture-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/07\/swarm-deserves-every-emmy-for-tackling-toxic-stan-culture-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/07\/swarm-deserves-every-emmy-for-tackling-toxic-stan-culture-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Donald Glover and Janine Nabers call attention to an issue that isn't talked about nearly enough.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/34816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Dominique\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/YLLWS1FG10500040118Still336f3000-3e5bc53.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"\u00a9\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Dominique\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/YLLWS1UT107220602REECHR00746RC33000-d8e8f27.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Swarm\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"