Internet Cafe: Fangirling over fancams

Fancams have become central to fandom culture and it's not surprising. I mean, they’re fun to watch, highlight the best of your faves, and can even help when introducing them to potential new fans. They’re a win win.

But where did they originate from? Look no further than the online K-Pop community, where fancams are being circulated all the time, for a variety of reasons.

I use fancams at any chance I get, especially when there's a sneaky opportunity to promote my favourite group or artist. The last time I did it was a success, and other fellow fans told me ‘get it bestie’ and ‘this is so real of you’ – it felt great.

Fancams are so important that even music shows where K-Pop artists perform during comebacks release their own fancams of individual members, making it easier for fans to edit and repurpose how they please.

They’re not just limited to K-Pop culture though; one step into ‘mcrtwt’ (My Chemical Romance Twitter) and you’ll be greeted with an array of edits too. Fancams are global and on Twitter (and in recent years Tiktok) they give you an insight into what fandom culture looks like today, and why the internet is a necessary component of it.

Not only are they used to highlight or promote your fave, but they’ve even been used for activism and awareness. During the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, K-Pop fans were using fancams to spam racist hashtags on Twitter such as #WhiteLivesMatter, #WhiteoutWednesday and #BlueLivesMatter, which all ended up trending under the label ‘K-Pop’.

And recently with the whole Tiktok drama, many people have been creating fan cam edits of the Tiktok CEO Shou Zi Chew to express their appreciation of him – and to also thirst lol.

From forums and chat rooms in the 2000s to now social media apps in the 2020s, it is clear that the internet has always been a place for communion amongst fans, to find other like minded individuals who share the same interests as you and to gush over them together.

Some public figures even join in on the inside jokes and discussions, nurturing their support systems in a way that twenty years ago may not have seemed feasible. For example, popular YouTuber and rapper KSI is active in his subreddit, even uploading up to 100 videos on his channel reacting to the various memes, roasts and funny vids that his fans post.

Makes you think, where would we be without the internet, ay?

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