Some quizzes have been floating around the Internet lately, and I have to say, I’m a bit peeved.
“How big a Harry Potter fan are you REALLY?”
“How Nerdy are You?”
It’s as if “nerd” is becoming an elite status.
It’s as if knowing minute details of your chosen fandom is adequate measure for something un-measureable like, I don’t know… love?
The cool thing about geeky culture is that we get what it’s like to be uncool. It makes us open and accepting.
I know this is meant in good fun, but for some reason it irks me. Fandom is not a competition; it’s a community. Bringing ‘status’ into it not only questions something I do, but something that is a part of who I am.
Don’t get me wrong – I love a Harry Potter quiz as much as the next girl (okay maybe a bit more than the next girl). It’s the click-bait titles that aren’t sitting well with me.
What fandom is NOT:
You don’t have to own a lot of Harry Potter stuff to be a huge Harry Potter fan. You don’t have to be able to recite all the Sorting Hat songs. There are no thresholds of fandom, no definitive nerd quiz that will give you pride and glory as the nerdiest one of all – it’s not a competition.
What fandom is:
It’s an awesome, magical thing to find something you love, something that immerses you, something to believe in. It’s perhaps even more wonderful to be able to share that feeling with other fans, to realise that you have an entire world in common.
I’d like to know – what does ‘fandom’ mean to you?
