Oddbean new post about login | logout More interesting question: Is obsessive fandom a new thing, or is it just a new form of an old thing? The thing that feels different in my lifetime is the move from media obsession as a quirky geek thing to something like a serious identity category that lots of people possess.
@4464071c I'd say it's a new form of an old thing. A heated argument between, say, Marvel and DC fans is fundamentally no different from a similar argument between fans of two football teams. Both situations feature people identifying strongly with something that isn't truly connected with them in any meaningful way; football just happened to be mainstream much earlier. Mandatory Mitchell & Webb sketch about this 😉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN1WN0YMWZU