TikTok is Bringing Nerds Together in the Fandom Community

“What side of TikTok are you on?” is a common question heard in the TikTok community. 

With millions of users comes a multitude of interests. Some people’s video feeds are on the “dance side” of TikTok, while others may be on the beauty or meme side. 

One side is gaining followers at a remarkable rate: the fandom side.  

The fandom side is for aficionados of movies, books or television shows to come together and share their passion for their “fandom” with fellow enthusiasts. 

“I’ve seen like a million ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ fan accounts, and I think it’s cool that people can find common interests and have a place to be themselves,” said freshman Avery Sever. 

The hashtag “#greysanatomy” on TikTok has over 8 billion views. Videos commonly found under this hashtag are people rating the series’s characters or seasons from best to worst. 

Not only are these types of “rating” videos prevalent for TV shows, but people make them for book and movie series, too. 

Another type of video that is seen commonly amongst the fandoms are “POVs.” Video creators will use editing apps to make it seem like they are acting alongside fictional characters. They will then upload their mini films to TikTok. 

People on the fandom side of TikTok will usually see clips from their favorite TV show or movie strung into one video called an “edit.” Several edits will focus on emotion, for example, compiling moments when different characters displayed joy or sadness. 

The Harry Potter hashtag has one of the highest view counts out of all the fan clubs on TikTok with over 49.2 billion views under the hashtag, and it carries the highest viewed video on TikTok, with around two billion views. 

Tom Felton, the actor who plays Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” films, created a TikTok challenging fans to imitate his character’s famous quote, “Pottah!” 

Freshman Madeline Groen said she enjoys watching people’s responses to Felton’s trend. 

“I would say I’m quite obsessed with it,” she said. 

So, many could say that the fandoms are carrying themselves well on TikTok, especially considering their videos are gaining more popularity than those of famous dancers on the app. 

There are some negative things about the fandoms, though, like “gatekeeping” or toxicity. 

“Gatekeeping” is a term used in this community to represent people who guard a certain part of the fandom and is not inclusive to all fans. An example of gatekeeping would be stopping someone from identifying with a certain Harry Potter Hogwarts house or belittling someone for saying they prefer Captain Marvel over Captain America. 

This usually leads fandom creators to quit making videos or turn the comments off to protect themselves from the toxicity. 

“[I think gatekeepers] just want the fandom to be smaller and more secluded,” said freshman Kaitlyn Clark.  

Clark is a part of Marvel, Maze Runner and Harry Potter TikTok, and she said she loves being in the fandom community.  

“I think it’s really cool that TikTok expands to different people’s likes,” said Clark. 

The TikTok fandoms have been around since the summer 2020 and Sever believes the fandoms will persist in their popularity for a long time. 

“As long as people keep posting and being active on their accounts, I believe it will last for a while, especially for the shows that are still releasing more episodes. It gives the creators more content to work with,” said Sever.