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Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It
A thrilling dive into the world of superfandom and the fangirls who shaped the social internet.
In 2014, on the side of a Los Angeles freeway, a One Direction fan erected a shrine in the spot where, a few hours earlier, Harry Styles had vomited. “It’s interesting for sure,” Styles said later, adding, “a little niche, maybe.” But what seemed niche to Styles was actually a signpost for an unfathomably large, hyper-connected alternate universe: stan culture.
In Everything I Need I Get from You, Kaitlyn Tiffany, a staff writer at The Atlantic and a superfan herself, guides us through the online world of fans, stans, and boybands. Along the way we meet girls who damage their lungs from screaming too loud, fans rallying together to manipulate chart numbers using complex digital subversion, and an underworld of inside jokes and shared memories surrounding band members' allergies, internet typos, and hairstyles. In the process, Tiffany makes a convincing, and often moving, argument that fangirls, in their ingenuity and collaboration, created the social internet we know today. “Before most people were using the internet for anything,” Tiffany writes, “fans were using it for everything.”
With humor, empathy, and an insider’s eye, Everything I Need I Get from You reclaims internet history for young women, establishing fandom not as the territory of hysterical girls but as an incubator for digital innovation, art, and community. From alarming, fandom-splitting conspiracy theories about secret love and fake children, to the interplays between high and low culture and capitalism, Tiffany’s book is a riotous chronicle of the movement that changed the internet forever.
In 2014, on the side of a Los Angeles freeway, a One Direction fan erected a shrine in the spot where, a few hours earlier, Harry Styles had vomited. “It’s interesting for sure,” Styles said later, adding, “a little niche, maybe.” But what seemed niche to Styles was actually a signpost for an unfathomably large, hyper-connected alternate universe: stan culture.
In Everything I Need I Get from You, Kaitlyn Tiffany, a staff writer at The Atlantic and a superfan herself, guides us through the online world of fans, stans, and boybands. Along the way we meet girls who damage their lungs from screaming too loud, fans rallying together to manipulate chart numbers using complex digital subversion, and an underworld of inside jokes and shared memories surrounding band members' allergies, internet typos, and hairstyles. In the process, Tiffany makes a convincing, and often moving, argument that fangirls, in their ingenuity and collaboration, created the social internet we know today. “Before most people were using the internet for anything,” Tiffany writes, “fans were using it for everything.”
With humor, empathy, and an insider’s eye, Everything I Need I Get from You reclaims internet history for young women, establishing fandom not as the territory of hysterical girls but as an incubator for digital innovation, art, and community. From alarming, fandom-splitting conspiracy theories about secret love and fake children, to the interplays between high and low culture and capitalism, Tiffany’s book is a riotous chronicle of the movement that changed the internet forever.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2022
About the author
Kaitlyn Tiffany
2 books24 followersKaitlyn Tiffany is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers technology and culture. She was previously on the same beat at Vox’s consumer vertical The Goods, after starting her career writing about pop culture, fandom, and online community at The Verge. Formerly the host of the popular podcast Why’d You Push That Button, which considered the tiny technology decisions that have an outsized effect on our modern social lives, she lives in Brooklyn.
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June 12, 2022
I recieved a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Let's start by saying I wouldn't have read this book if the synopsis had been truthful about what was inside. Yes it does mention One Direction, but this book is literally about the 1D fandom and nothing else. Every other fandom that gets mentioned is only in passing, just as a way to bring some 1D story up. And I do not care about that stale ass boyband at all! I do know/recognize some songs, but I have no clue about what's up with their lives, and never had. I have never been in the fandom. Actually, I got bullied out of a friend group when I was 13 and one of the reasons was that I didn't like the same things as they did! Which included 1D at the time! So yeah. I wish the synopsis talked about what this actually is about so we wouldn't be in this situation now.
My problems with the book are purely about what was lacking from what was promised to me, which was a thorough story about how fangirls shaped the internet to fit their needs. The damn front cover says it!!!
How can you talk about the original fanfiction archives and not mention Star Trek? How can you not mention Anne Rice AT ALL and make it seem like the only problem with Livejournal and Fanfiction dot net was that you could not write smut? Authors were out for our blood, and AO3 was the first archive to have ACTUAL REAL LIFE LAWYERS to advocate for fans if authors dared file a lawsuit against us. How can you talk about how the internet becomes real life and not talk about DASHCON????? How were you on tumblr on 2012 and not talk about superwholock, Peter Pan from disney world, the shoelaces, All or nothing, Carmilla?? How can you pretend to represent the boyband fandom at large and only mention in passing the BTS fandom taking down that cops app?? How can you fail to mention how fandoms have become more and more predominantly queer? And this is just my stan ass talking, but in 2020 AO3 was banned from China because of a Xiao Zhan x Wang Yibo fanfiction. What does shaping the internet mean if not getting a whole website banned from your country because you shipped two guys too hard?? The only time she mentioned Star Trek was to say the fandom was mostly men!!!! ¿!?¿!?¿!?¿!?¿!?!?!¿
I really really really really would've enjoyed this a lot more if it was a fiction book. I did kind of like reading about the author's trips to see the places where iconic 1D moments had taken place in. Mind you, I started skipping them around 50% in because I couldn't bear to read these guys' name one more time, and she jumped back and forth between calling them "Harry" which made it seem like she was talking about her cousin, and "Styles" which made it seem like she was a 50 year old talking about who the young ladies like and how he's a bad influence. But they sounded like fun times. An Eleanor Oliphant-like literary fiction book would've been the perfect place for these anecdotes. Unlike this book.
Let's start by saying I wouldn't have read this book if the synopsis had been truthful about what was inside. Yes it does mention One Direction, but this book is literally about the 1D fandom and nothing else. Every other fandom that gets mentioned is only in passing, just as a way to bring some 1D story up. And I do not care about that stale ass boyband at all! I do know/recognize some songs, but I have no clue about what's up with their lives, and never had. I have never been in the fandom. Actually, I got bullied out of a friend group when I was 13 and one of the reasons was that I didn't like the same things as they did! Which included 1D at the time! So yeah. I wish the synopsis talked about what this actually is about so we wouldn't be in this situation now.
My problems with the book are purely about what was lacking from what was promised to me, which was a thorough story about how fangirls shaped the internet to fit their needs. The damn front cover says it!!!
How can you talk about the original fanfiction archives and not mention Star Trek? How can you not mention Anne Rice AT ALL and make it seem like the only problem with Livejournal and Fanfiction dot net was that you could not write smut? Authors were out for our blood, and AO3 was the first archive to have ACTUAL REAL LIFE LAWYERS to advocate for fans if authors dared file a lawsuit against us. How can you talk about how the internet becomes real life and not talk about DASHCON????? How were you on tumblr on 2012 and not talk about superwholock, Peter Pan from disney world, the shoelaces, All or nothing, Carmilla?? How can you pretend to represent the boyband fandom at large and only mention in passing the BTS fandom taking down that cops app?? How can you fail to mention how fandoms have become more and more predominantly queer? And this is just my stan ass talking, but in 2020 AO3 was banned from China because of a Xiao Zhan x Wang Yibo fanfiction. What does shaping the internet mean if not getting a whole website banned from your country because you shipped two guys too hard?? The only time she mentioned Star Trek was to say the fandom was mostly men!!!! ¿!?¿!?¿!?¿!?¿!?!?!¿
I really really really really would've enjoyed this a lot more if it was a fiction book. I did kind of like reading about the author's trips to see the places where iconic 1D moments had taken place in. Mind you, I started skipping them around 50% in because I couldn't bear to read these guys' name one more time, and she jumped back and forth between calling them "Harry" which made it seem like she was talking about her cousin, and "Styles" which made it seem like she was a 50 year old talking about who the young ladies like and how he's a bad influence. But they sounded like fun times. An Eleanor Oliphant-like literary fiction book would've been the perfect place for these anecdotes. Unlike this book.
July 3, 2022
me and my one direction friends are passing this book around like a blunt
if you were in the trenches of one direction twitter read this for the nostalgia… it contextualizes our experience in the greater history of fandom/the internet which was interesting but mostly i loved to be reading a book that quotes “imagine: niall crawling inside your ear. you ask him to stop but he’s in there”. there were two full chapters on larry shippers. to be reading about the triple eleanor theory in 2022…
if you were in the trenches of one direction twitter read this for the nostalgia… it contextualizes our experience in the greater history of fandom/the internet which was interesting but mostly i loved to be reading a book that quotes “imagine: niall crawling inside your ear. you ask him to stop but he’s in there”. there were two full chapters on larry shippers. to be reading about the triple eleanor theory in 2022…
June 26, 2022
(3.5) A charming examination of the concept of online fandom, particularly the type practiced by young women, seen largely through the lens of the author’s personal love of the boyband One Direction. Tiffany says early on that ‘this is not actually a book about One Direction’, but if you’re not a fan of them, it certainly feels like it is. After finishing the book and scanning through reviews, I noticed it’s already been criticised a lot for this, so I feel the need to point out that I don’t think it’s a bad thing! Concentrating on a single fandom gives a clear focus to a study that could otherwise become too sprawling to be confined to a short, neatly segmented analysis, and it makes sense for the author to write about something that a) was personally significant to her and b) she knows a lot about. (It’s also written well, in a style that captures the insularity – and bizarro humour – of the fan community while remaining understandable to outsiders.) The analysis of fandom more broadly can admittedly be a bit thin. What I think Tiffany does really well is to conjure up the magic of being a fan of something: how a song can make you feel ‘nineteen forever’, how observing and understanding the weird machinations of an online fandom can you create a sense of belonging even if you’re just watching from the sidelines. It got me thinking a lot about the cultural things I love – especially music – that feel like they’re part of my personal history, particularly the ones people laughed at me for liking, and how I love them even more now I’m older and they feel like a magic portal to youth.
Also, an interviewee in this book says the most incredible thing: ‘I know there are things I like. I want to talk about them and go have a good time. I’m a millennial and I’m going to die.’
TinyLetter | Linktree
Also, an interviewee in this book says the most incredible thing: ‘I know there are things I like. I want to talk about them and go have a good time. I’m a millennial and I’m going to die.’
TinyLetter | Linktree
February 6, 2022
Promised to be a deep dive on fangirls and how they shaped the social internet. This was not true. This was a deep dive on only the One Direction fandom. Although I was recently reminded that I introduced several people to 1D in 2010/2011, I wouldn’t have read it if I knew that I was reading about Harry’s vomit, the word ‘chonce’, and Larry. The author said specifically in the intro that this was not a 1D book, but she lied. This is good for 1D fans but I felt tricked into reading it with the promise of it being something else.
August 2, 2022
look what did u think i was gonna rate this book.
this book was insane I laughed so hard. never did I think I would be reading a book where the “he’s in there” niall bad1dimagines was referenced. what the fuck IS a chonce? I’ll be real w you I don’t think someone who wasn’t in the trenches of one direction fandom in 2010-15 would get as much out of this as I did, but even a fringe knowledge and an interest in online culture would prob make it enjoyable enough. I don’t know if I feel anyone who doesn’t know abt larry should be reading abt it tho to be honest. spare yourself.. you still have time…
a lot of this book made me very emotional. 1) I love one direction 2) I love being a girl/woman 3) I love being online. being a one direction fan for me was always about love and belonging and friendship and stupid little jokes. the author writes a couple of times that at its best fandom is an inside joke and that resonates with me.
maybe my fave quote is “If im really honest, I like one direction because their music reminds me of myself. I’m nineteen and I’m not nineteen; I get to hold the two images side by side and think about the ways in which I’m changing and the ways in which I will always be the same.”
at the same time I didn’t think this book was overly precious about fandom. it talks abt how actually liking whatever you want isn’t always okay, some things are bad (morally, objectively, etc). i liked when it touched on the similarities between online stan behaviour and malicious 4chan groups, and how fans are figuring out that they can mobilize but aren’t necessarily doing it for good all the time. and also when they are using massive platforms to support certain political causes, there are limits. i thought it was a pretty realistic assessment of fandom not being morally good just because we like it and it makes us happy, it’s a network that can be used in different ways and we don’t totally understand it all yet.
obviously there are references and 2 full chapters about the larry conspiracy. I thought this would make me so embarrassed I would die and like.. kind of but also it’s insanely funny to read abt this seriously and also really interesting? i liked that the author spoke abt larry/larries as this thing that in a certain light makes sense (for a given definition of sense) in the context of tumblr but when it was exposed to the real world both by larries and without their permission it became even more toxic. larry as a case study for conspiracies/cults is so interesting bc it is so stupid but also kind of sinister. I thought it did a good job of portraying how the larry of it all has tainted the fandom and inclusive fan projects. it’s complicaaaaated.
I liked that a lot of this book was abt how fandom isn’t necessarily abt the celebrities but about the fan and their worldview and view of themselves. liked one of the last chapters which discussed this weird thing where we want the celebs we love to have the same politics as us. some quotes on this: “I want a famous boy, who I grew up with, to understand and support me because that is what I feel like I have done for him” “they selected these boys to represent them, and now they want to be represented” “to hope that niall horan deeply cares about my rights is to hope that the other men I love do” it’s just interesting! it’s something I don’t think I fully understand even tho I participate in it so it’s cool to read abt and spend time considering it.
have seen some criticism of this book being like, sneakily abt one direction and not enough abt other fandoms. idk if I’m just clairvoyant/smarter than everyone but it seemed really clear to me that this book was abt online fandom but explicitly through the lens of one direction. the title is a 1d lyric idk what to tell u. other fandoms definitely were discussed as well and I thought all of the additions flowed well and I could see the direct lineage/interaction with one direction fandom and how we behave online as stans. the parts that were more about how fan culture has been a driver of internet use since the internet was created and how fan behaviour shaped internet platforms and ways of engaging with everything was also really interesting to me.
anyways overall I loved this, couldn’t put it down. it made me laugh out loud, it made me emotional and nostalgic, and I thought it did a pretty good job talking abt how fandom is not a homogenous experience. meaning both that minorities often experience fandom very differently and that people engage in fandom in different ways and for different reasons. I also thought the author’s personal anecdotes brought life to the material and felt it was a good mix of the personal and the academic.
this book was insane I laughed so hard. never did I think I would be reading a book where the “he’s in there” niall bad1dimagines was referenced. what the fuck IS a chonce? I’ll be real w you I don’t think someone who wasn’t in the trenches of one direction fandom in 2010-15 would get as much out of this as I did, but even a fringe knowledge and an interest in online culture would prob make it enjoyable enough. I don’t know if I feel anyone who doesn’t know abt larry should be reading abt it tho to be honest. spare yourself.. you still have time…
a lot of this book made me very emotional. 1) I love one direction 2) I love being a girl/woman 3) I love being online. being a one direction fan for me was always about love and belonging and friendship and stupid little jokes. the author writes a couple of times that at its best fandom is an inside joke and that resonates with me.
maybe my fave quote is “If im really honest, I like one direction because their music reminds me of myself. I’m nineteen and I’m not nineteen; I get to hold the two images side by side and think about the ways in which I’m changing and the ways in which I will always be the same.”
at the same time I didn’t think this book was overly precious about fandom. it talks abt how actually liking whatever you want isn’t always okay, some things are bad (morally, objectively, etc). i liked when it touched on the similarities between online stan behaviour and malicious 4chan groups, and how fans are figuring out that they can mobilize but aren’t necessarily doing it for good all the time. and also when they are using massive platforms to support certain political causes, there are limits. i thought it was a pretty realistic assessment of fandom not being morally good just because we like it and it makes us happy, it’s a network that can be used in different ways and we don’t totally understand it all yet.
obviously there are references and 2 full chapters about the larry conspiracy. I thought this would make me so embarrassed I would die and like.. kind of but also it’s insanely funny to read abt this seriously and also really interesting? i liked that the author spoke abt larry/larries as this thing that in a certain light makes sense (for a given definition of sense) in the context of tumblr but when it was exposed to the real world both by larries and without their permission it became even more toxic. larry as a case study for conspiracies/cults is so interesting bc it is so stupid but also kind of sinister. I thought it did a good job of portraying how the larry of it all has tainted the fandom and inclusive fan projects. it’s complicaaaaated.
I liked that a lot of this book was abt how fandom isn’t necessarily abt the celebrities but about the fan and their worldview and view of themselves. liked one of the last chapters which discussed this weird thing where we want the celebs we love to have the same politics as us. some quotes on this: “I want a famous boy, who I grew up with, to understand and support me because that is what I feel like I have done for him” “they selected these boys to represent them, and now they want to be represented” “to hope that niall horan deeply cares about my rights is to hope that the other men I love do” it’s just interesting! it’s something I don’t think I fully understand even tho I participate in it so it’s cool to read abt and spend time considering it.
have seen some criticism of this book being like, sneakily abt one direction and not enough abt other fandoms. idk if I’m just clairvoyant/smarter than everyone but it seemed really clear to me that this book was abt online fandom but explicitly through the lens of one direction. the title is a 1d lyric idk what to tell u. other fandoms definitely were discussed as well and I thought all of the additions flowed well and I could see the direct lineage/interaction with one direction fandom and how we behave online as stans. the parts that were more about how fan culture has been a driver of internet use since the internet was created and how fan behaviour shaped internet platforms and ways of engaging with everything was also really interesting to me.
anyways overall I loved this, couldn’t put it down. it made me laugh out loud, it made me emotional and nostalgic, and I thought it did a pretty good job talking abt how fandom is not a homogenous experience. meaning both that minorities often experience fandom very differently and that people engage in fandom in different ways and for different reasons. I also thought the author’s personal anecdotes brought life to the material and felt it was a good mix of the personal and the academic.
January 18, 2023
I enjoyed this but also it was pretty bad. I think it would have made sense as an essay collection because the chapter are so disjointed and don’t really make an argument? Chapter 10 was the first time she really provided any analysis and the Larry chapter (the longest one I believe) gave me such bad second hand embarrassment😭 but also the book was hilarious as a someone who was once a teen girl obsessed with one direction and I think any former or current fans will find this hilarious and bingeable.
May 29, 2023
3.75/5 the fact that I enjoyed this so much despite it not being a book about fandoms in general (like the title and blurb suggest) but a book about the one direction fandom specifically (there were two whole chapters about the #larrystylinson conspiracy) tells you everything you need to know about me and my interests
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June 23, 2022The title is inaccurate. This is a book about the One Direction fandom, which is fine! As someone who has no interest or engagement in that world, I enjoyed the read fine enough, but I was expecting this to be a bigger look at fandom and the internet. It is not. I'm not actually sure it ever delivers on "how" fangirls created the internet as "we" know it. One Direction fans had a lot of pull and made creative use of meme culture, Twitter, and Tumblr, but that isn't "how" "we know it."
I like Tiffany's work, but I felt very misled here.
I like Tiffany's work, but I felt very misled here.
July 10, 2022
The actual book is not quite what it says on the tin - it's MUCH more focused on One Direction (and their fangirls) than fandom in general, and while I will accept that 1D fandom massively impacted the internet as we see it in 2022, you cannot pretend that those fans did not stand on the shoulders of giants.
July 5, 2022
OK so "How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It" is a book I'd love to read but it's really not what this book is? This book is 90% a history of One Direction online fandom with occasional offhand mentions of other fandoms, mostly K-Pop. I've been very involved with online fan communities since my teen years, but just not those ones.
Anyway that said, I still really enjoyed this read because One Direction fandom is WILD. I appreciated Kaitlyn Tiffany's insider perspective and that she was writing as a fangirl herself and not really ridiculing online fangirls, especially taking care to point out that a lot of their most wild activities (building a shrine to Harry Styles's puke) are done by people who were in on the joke and know that it's something intentionally funny and weird to do.
So, yeah, a fun and interesting read but NOT as described on the tin!! I think it would also have teen appeal, esp for teen 1D (or tangentially K-Pop) fans.
Anyway that said, I still really enjoyed this read because One Direction fandom is WILD. I appreciated Kaitlyn Tiffany's insider perspective and that she was writing as a fangirl herself and not really ridiculing online fangirls, especially taking care to point out that a lot of their most wild activities (building a shrine to Harry Styles's puke) are done by people who were in on the joke and know that it's something intentionally funny and weird to do.
So, yeah, a fun and interesting read but NOT as described on the tin!! I think it would also have teen appeal, esp for teen 1D (or tangentially K-Pop) fans.
June 26, 2023
I have THOUGHTS here so strap in and get ready.
Firstly, within the introduction, author Kaitlyn Tiffany proclaims that this isn't a book about One Direction. This is a fucking lie. This book is almost exclusively about internet fandom through the lens of being a One Direction fangirl. It also doesn't live up to the subtitle of "How fangirls created the Internet as we know it". There's very little about how fandom has shaped internet spaces because, again, the entire text is written through the lens of One Direction. Honestly. The delusion of framing this book as being anything but about One Direction is misleading.
Secondly... it's just... not accurate in many aspects. There's an assertion at some point that there was a 1D gif so prevalent on Tumblr that you couldn't be on Tumblr without seeing it. I mean... maybe for the author sure, but as someone who has been on Tumblr since '08 (yes... I know) I have never seen the gif that the author described. This is because the author constantly makes assumptions that everyone's experience of fandom is similar to their own, even when it's not. At some point there's a mention of the fandom migration from a selection of sites including Livejournal to Twitter, Livejournal framed as a niche fandom experience. Er. What? (Also an idea that Twitter and Tumblr have made fandom was it is... I mean... no?) And then the Larry Stylinson conspiracy framed as if it was the only pop culture conspiracy to be widely known and only possible through the use of the internet, as if the "Paul is Dead" conspiracy didn't occur in late sixties and continues to be widely known today. One of many pop culture conspiracies that occurred prior to twitter and Tumblr. These sites might allow things to spread quicker now but they have never been the reason for conspiracy theories to occur and I'm not even going to go into the weird theory about the evolution of language on twitter when half the examples the author cited can be traced through ball culture and appear in Paris is Burning.
Another thing is that the narrative, while mostly 1D focused, it's also overwhelmingly focused on music fandom with very little input about the other forms of fandom, a brief mention of Star Trek in the fan fiction section (it would have been egregious to leave it out) and to expand further on the fanfiction it fails to mention the litigatious nature of Anne Rice, the livejournal strikethrough deigns the smallest mention, almost no mention of email lists and niche websites. No. This is almost entirely devoted to talking about RPF and how 1D fans broke the fourth wall. Going back to only being about music orientated fandom not even a mention about the Veronica Mars fandom (RIP) who singlehandedly raised VM from cancellation to a movie. Something no fandom had ever done before.
Look. If this book was honest about itself I wouldn't have even picked it up. It's not about fangirls. It's barely even about music fandom. It's about One Direction. And outside of the slightly incorrect information and poorly contextualised fandom history... I just don't fucking care about One Direction.
Firstly, within the introduction, author Kaitlyn Tiffany proclaims that this isn't a book about One Direction. This is a fucking lie. This book is almost exclusively about internet fandom through the lens of being a One Direction fangirl. It also doesn't live up to the subtitle of "How fangirls created the Internet as we know it". There's very little about how fandom has shaped internet spaces because, again, the entire text is written through the lens of One Direction. Honestly. The delusion of framing this book as being anything but about One Direction is misleading.
Secondly... it's just... not accurate in many aspects. There's an assertion at some point that there was a 1D gif so prevalent on Tumblr that you couldn't be on Tumblr without seeing it. I mean... maybe for the author sure, but as someone who has been on Tumblr since '08 (yes... I know) I have never seen the gif that the author described. This is because the author constantly makes assumptions that everyone's experience of fandom is similar to their own, even when it's not. At some point there's a mention of the fandom migration from a selection of sites including Livejournal to Twitter, Livejournal framed as a niche fandom experience. Er. What? (Also an idea that Twitter and Tumblr have made fandom was it is... I mean... no?) And then the Larry Stylinson conspiracy framed as if it was the only pop culture conspiracy to be widely known and only possible through the use of the internet, as if the "Paul is Dead" conspiracy didn't occur in late sixties and continues to be widely known today. One of many pop culture conspiracies that occurred prior to twitter and Tumblr. These sites might allow things to spread quicker now but they have never been the reason for conspiracy theories to occur and I'm not even going to go into the weird theory about the evolution of language on twitter when half the examples the author cited can be traced through ball culture and appear in Paris is Burning.
Another thing is that the narrative, while mostly 1D focused, it's also overwhelmingly focused on music fandom with very little input about the other forms of fandom, a brief mention of Star Trek in the fan fiction section (it would have been egregious to leave it out) and to expand further on the fanfiction it fails to mention the litigatious nature of Anne Rice, the livejournal strikethrough deigns the smallest mention, almost no mention of email lists and niche websites. No. This is almost entirely devoted to talking about RPF and how 1D fans broke the fourth wall. Going back to only being about music orientated fandom not even a mention about the Veronica Mars fandom (RIP) who singlehandedly raised VM from cancellation to a movie. Something no fandom had ever done before.
Look. If this book was honest about itself I wouldn't have even picked it up. It's not about fangirls. It's barely even about music fandom. It's about One Direction. And outside of the slightly incorrect information and poorly contextualised fandom history... I just don't fucking care about One Direction.
February 17, 2023
In the introductory chapter, Kaitlyn Tiffany says this is not a book about One Direction.
This became more confusing to me as I read on, because 95% of the examples she uses to support her theses are taken from the One Direction fandom (and another 4.99% from the Bruce Springsteen and BTS fandoms). She also begins the “Acknowledgments” section by thanking One Direction, and ends it by thanking One Direction *fans.*
I speculate that the first draft of this book was exclusively about the One Direction fandom, but Tiffany was encouraged by her editor and/or beta readers to shoehorn more fandoms in there.
I understand that Tiffany used One Direction so heavily because that was the fandom she herself was involved in — truly, I loved her personal anecdotes and cultural reflections. But in my opinion, she should have done one of two things:
1. Ignored her editor and written exclusively about the One Direction fandom (which would have necessitated a different title — when I picked up this book, I had no idea “Everything I Need I Get From You” was a lyric from a One Direction song).
2. Cut back on the One Direction anecdotes and written about more fandoms.
This became more confusing to me as I read on, because 95% of the examples she uses to support her theses are taken from the One Direction fandom (and another 4.99% from the Bruce Springsteen and BTS fandoms). She also begins the “Acknowledgments” section by thanking One Direction, and ends it by thanking One Direction *fans.*
I speculate that the first draft of this book was exclusively about the One Direction fandom, but Tiffany was encouraged by her editor and/or beta readers to shoehorn more fandoms in there.
I understand that Tiffany used One Direction so heavily because that was the fandom she herself was involved in — truly, I loved her personal anecdotes and cultural reflections. But in my opinion, she should have done one of two things:
1. Ignored her editor and written exclusively about the One Direction fandom (which would have necessitated a different title — when I picked up this book, I had no idea “Everything I Need I Get From You” was a lyric from a One Direction song).
2. Cut back on the One Direction anecdotes and written about more fandoms.
October 3, 2022
A fascinating and deeply entertaining exploration of fandom and fangirls’ influence on pop culture from the perspective of a Directioner.
Now I went into this book being told that it would be a great read for Directioners/former Directioners and this recommendation was very correct in advertising it that way, but I think the blurb on the back of the book makes it seem like we’ll be exploring multiple boyband-based fandoms in a whole lineup with One Direction somewhere on that list rather than what this actually was:
A Directioner sharing anecdote about the One Direction fandom and exploring other fandoms by immediately tying them back to how they relate to the One Direction fandom.
It’s very One Direction heavy and although I adore that aspect, I wish we could’ve gotten a bit more insight on other fandoms—especially the ones outside of music. I do, however, understand that that would probably triple the length of this book and things outside of pop music fandom should really be told by members of those fandoms so I’m a bit torn. I guess I’ll leave this at the author needing to really specify who this book is for and what it’s really about.
Beyond that snag though, I really did love this deep dive and enjoyed it thoroughly from the opening quotes before the book even began. It’s funny and nostalgic and insightful in how inside jokes within the 1D fandom began and evolved while also acknowledging the ugly parts of fandom (like racism, homophobia, gay fetishization, etc. occur)
I was also surprised yet fascinated by the feminist lens this book explored fandom through and the earnestness that lies beside the hypocrisy in these spaces.
I highly recommend this book to other Directioners (both current and former) for an entertaining and educational read through. I think it only took me like 2 days to burn through this one.
CW: discussions of racism + anti blackness, misogyny, homophobia + gay fetishization, brief mentions of self harm and suicide
Now I went into this book being told that it would be a great read for Directioners/former Directioners and this recommendation was very correct in advertising it that way, but I think the blurb on the back of the book makes it seem like we’ll be exploring multiple boyband-based fandoms in a whole lineup with One Direction somewhere on that list rather than what this actually was:
A Directioner sharing anecdote about the One Direction fandom and exploring other fandoms by immediately tying them back to how they relate to the One Direction fandom.
It’s very One Direction heavy and although I adore that aspect, I wish we could’ve gotten a bit more insight on other fandoms—especially the ones outside of music. I do, however, understand that that would probably triple the length of this book and things outside of pop music fandom should really be told by members of those fandoms so I’m a bit torn. I guess I’ll leave this at the author needing to really specify who this book is for and what it’s really about.
Beyond that snag though, I really did love this deep dive and enjoyed it thoroughly from the opening quotes before the book even began. It’s funny and nostalgic and insightful in how inside jokes within the 1D fandom began and evolved while also acknowledging the ugly parts of fandom (like racism, homophobia, gay fetishization, etc. occur)
I was also surprised yet fascinated by the feminist lens this book explored fandom through and the earnestness that lies beside the hypocrisy in these spaces.
I highly recommend this book to other Directioners (both current and former) for an entertaining and educational read through. I think it only took me like 2 days to burn through this one.
CW: discussions of racism + anti blackness, misogyny, homophobia + gay fetishization, brief mentions of self harm and suicide
July 7, 2023
Anders als "This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch", das ähnliche Themen behandelt*, ist das hier zu 80% ein Buch über One Direction, eine Band, über die ich bis gerade eben nur wusste, dass sie existiert (hat, aber das wusste ich nicht). Es war alles sehr interessant, als Ethnografie einiger mir vollständig unbekannter Ecken des Internets.
* Ok, so wie es da steht, klingt es blöd, ich meinte: Das Cumberbatchbuch handelt tatsächlich zu 90% von Fankultur, während dieses hier im Titel behauptet, von allgemeiner Fankultur zu handeln, sich aber zu 80% um One Direction dreht.
* Ok, so wie es da steht, klingt es blöd, ich meinte: Das Cumberbatchbuch handelt tatsächlich zu 90% von Fankultur, während dieses hier im Titel behauptet, von allgemeiner Fankultur zu handeln, sich aber zu 80% um One Direction dreht.
October 29, 2022
“One Direction made me care about the internet. Time will tell if that is the best or worst thing that ever happened to me”.
Whether u have ever participated in Stan culture or not, I would definitely recommend this book. Kaitlyn Tiffany describes how fandoms’ influenced the way we use the internet and social media today. For example, the ability to @ someone on Twitter and even the use of hashtags was a result of fans wanting to be able to communicate with their faves online.
Being a fan is associated with “feminine excess” and “people whose emotions are seen as out of control,” and this leads to mainstream culture discounting and underestimating the power and influence fandoms can have. Tiffany argues that fandoms are “incubator(s) for digital innovation, art and community,” and they “created the social internet we know today” through ingenuity and collaboration.
Also it was very fun to read a book about Larry Stylinson, and the weird ass world of 1D Twitter and tumblr. Very nostalgic. Made me think about being 15 in my room covered with posters (I had a separate wall specifically dedicated to Niall), screenshotting every picture I could find on Twitter, tweeting at them so chaotically, bawling my eyes out when they released “Little Things” and watching it on repeat at my dining room table and scaring my dad, lining up for 13 hours outside Much Music to see them. My parents had to enforce a rule where I had to not talk about one direction at the dinner table because I would not stop once I got started 😂. Anywayyy just reminded me how exhilarating it is to be that obsessed with something. Will I ever feel it again??
Whether u have ever participated in Stan culture or not, I would definitely recommend this book. Kaitlyn Tiffany describes how fandoms’ influenced the way we use the internet and social media today. For example, the ability to @ someone on Twitter and even the use of hashtags was a result of fans wanting to be able to communicate with their faves online.
Being a fan is associated with “feminine excess” and “people whose emotions are seen as out of control,” and this leads to mainstream culture discounting and underestimating the power and influence fandoms can have. Tiffany argues that fandoms are “incubator(s) for digital innovation, art and community,” and they “created the social internet we know today” through ingenuity and collaboration.
Also it was very fun to read a book about Larry Stylinson, and the weird ass world of 1D Twitter and tumblr. Very nostalgic. Made me think about being 15 in my room covered with posters (I had a separate wall specifically dedicated to Niall), screenshotting every picture I could find on Twitter, tweeting at them so chaotically, bawling my eyes out when they released “Little Things” and watching it on repeat at my dining room table and scaring my dad, lining up for 13 hours outside Much Music to see them. My parents had to enforce a rule where I had to not talk about one direction at the dinner table because I would not stop once I got started 😂. Anywayyy just reminded me how exhilarating it is to be that obsessed with something. Will I ever feel it again??
October 19, 2022
As someone who has been incredibly online and found solace on Tumblr from 2011-2013 (the golden age!!) during a time when I was sad and had very few friends, this book hit home in some ways….but I felt a slight disconnect that I can’t place a finger on yet.
I would recommend this, especially if you were also very online as a tween/teen and especially more so if you love one direction. I wish this covered more about BTS — I feel like the whole bts fans taking down the police section could’ve been a whole chapter in and of itself but maybe that’s for someone else to write.
I would recommend this, especially if you were also very online as a tween/teen and especially more so if you love one direction. I wish this covered more about BTS — I feel like the whole bts fans taking down the police section could’ve been a whole chapter in and of itself but maybe that’s for someone else to write.
June 22, 2022
First of all, the only bad reviews I could find for this book were people who came into it looking to read about fandom and were annoyed that the book is more about One Direction. That's fair, but I came into it knowing it was about 1D, so I did not have that problem. The author used 1D as a way to examine trends and ways of thinking across fandoms in general, but yeah, it was really a story about 1D fandom specifically.
The whole time I was reading this, I was wondering who it was for. It read a lot like a nonfiction article from Vulture or The Atlantic or Slate or something and when I looked up the author I see she is a writer for The Atlantic, so that makes perfect sense. I also was thinking well this book isn't really for me because I kind of already know all this, I was There, watching from the sidelines, but it also isn't really for 'normies' like my mom, who would not understand this book even though I think the author was good at explaining things without making it too tedious. The audience is probably people who are 'online' but weren't in this particular fandom and always wondered what the fuss was about.
I thought that this book did a good job of telling the story of the fandom from beginning to end, though there was a little more about the current state of 1D fandom on Tiktok which I wasn't super familiar with. It was glossed over though perhaps because it's more of a nostalgia thing at this point, but I'm still kind of curious about what makes Larries stick with this sort of thing for so long. There was a good bit of consideration of the ethics of what fandom does, interviews with fans who thought one way, grew up, and regretted some of the things they thought or said, as well as a great interview with someone called the "Harry Fairy" who was a troll in real life but in a fun harmless kind of way. I hadn't heard about her before and I liked that story a lot.
I can't really think of anything that I had a problem with, I think there were a few things that could have been discussed more that were not, such as Zayn leaving, the rainbow bear, the way that fans sometimes broke boundaries in real life with stalkeresque behavior - though I understand the book is specifically about the Internet. The part about how fans use Twitter to get songs or musicians to the tops of lists, the way that kpop fandom's tactics also follow similar patterns - it was all very interesting and well thought out.
The only part where I was like hmm was a purely personal issue. The author got into 1D fandom when the documentary movie came out, which I think was more than halfway into it. I remember when 1D fandom was like two people on my Tumblr dash who watched the X-Factor. I remember when they were playing What Makes You Beautiful in FYE in the mall and I asked an employee if they had the CD and he had no idea what I was talking about. I was there from the beginning! But it's fine. This is a great book.
The whole time I was reading this, I was wondering who it was for. It read a lot like a nonfiction article from Vulture or The Atlantic or Slate or something and when I looked up the author I see she is a writer for The Atlantic, so that makes perfect sense. I also was thinking well this book isn't really for me because I kind of already know all this, I was There, watching from the sidelines, but it also isn't really for 'normies' like my mom, who would not understand this book even though I think the author was good at explaining things without making it too tedious. The audience is probably people who are 'online' but weren't in this particular fandom and always wondered what the fuss was about.
I thought that this book did a good job of telling the story of the fandom from beginning to end, though there was a little more about the current state of 1D fandom on Tiktok which I wasn't super familiar with. It was glossed over though perhaps because it's more of a nostalgia thing at this point, but I'm still kind of curious about what makes Larries stick with this sort of thing for so long. There was a good bit of consideration of the ethics of what fandom does, interviews with fans who thought one way, grew up, and regretted some of the things they thought or said, as well as a great interview with someone called the "Harry Fairy" who was a troll in real life but in a fun harmless kind of way. I hadn't heard about her before and I liked that story a lot.
I can't really think of anything that I had a problem with, I think there were a few things that could have been discussed more that were not, such as Zayn leaving, the rainbow bear, the way that fans sometimes broke boundaries in real life with stalkeresque behavior - though I understand the book is specifically about the Internet. The part about how fans use Twitter to get songs or musicians to the tops of lists, the way that kpop fandom's tactics also follow similar patterns - it was all very interesting and well thought out.
The only part where I was like hmm was a purely personal issue. The author got into 1D fandom when the documentary movie came out, which I think was more than halfway into it. I remember when 1D fandom was like two people on my Tumblr dash who watched the X-Factor. I remember when they were playing What Makes You Beautiful in FYE in the mall and I asked an employee if they had the CD and he had no idea what I was talking about. I was there from the beginning! But it's fine. This is a great book.
January 24, 2023
of course, the most obvious issue is that it's not what it says on the cover - even then, there are so many big issues. i mean, how do you claim that star trek fic culture was mostly men?? how do you bend so many facts about 2000's fandom - just off the top of my head, ignoring big book fandoms like hp and twilight, or even just myspace and early kpop acts if she wanted to talk about music fandom only - even though there's so much information about it?
some parts of it were charming though, and to the end it thankfully gets less personal. she centers some parts of one chapter on queer and black fans, which is a relief bc it's a so very straight white girl perspective. after all, it's a long deep dive article into 1d fandom turned into a book. the academic angle was promising, because i read a lot of the works mentioned, but it's just bent to accessorize whatever point is being made. i kind of wish i'd spent my hours scrolling through some "crazy ass moments in 1d history" thread. and i wasn't even a 1d fan!!
some parts of it were charming though, and to the end it thankfully gets less personal. she centers some parts of one chapter on queer and black fans, which is a relief bc it's a so very straight white girl perspective. after all, it's a long deep dive article into 1d fandom turned into a book. the academic angle was promising, because i read a lot of the works mentioned, but it's just bent to accessorize whatever point is being made. i kind of wish i'd spent my hours scrolling through some "crazy ass moments in 1d history" thread. and i wasn't even a 1d fan!!
September 19, 2022
This book is mistitled. It's not about how fangirls shaped the internet; it's a history of One Direction fandom. If you're into that, great! If you're not (I'm not), you're in for a long read.
January 2, 2023
*3.25 stars*
This was an interesting and nostalgic read about fangirl culture. It made points, some of which could’ve been more strongly interrogated.
This was an interesting and nostalgic read about fangirl culture. It made points, some of which could’ve been more strongly interrogated.
May 9, 2024
maybe the internet raised us?
July 16, 2023
This book is very cool even if you aren't in the One Direction fandom, but is potentially life changing if you are. My family has very politely been telling me that the James Bond stroke tweet I keep showing them is not funny, but it would fit right in with this crowd.
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February 14, 2024A book about fangirl culture by a fangirl. It centers heavily around One Direction but explores other fandoms (Beatle mania, romance readers in the 80s, X-Files, Bruce Springsteen, K-Pop, Beyoncé, etc). I appreciate how deep the author’s investigation and analysis goes into the collective brain rot that is stan culture.
“Fandom is an interruption. It’s as simple as enjoying something for no reason, and it’s as complicated as growing up. It should be celebrated for what it can provide in individual lives but it should also be taken seriously for what it can do at scale.”
“Fandom is an interruption. It’s as simple as enjoying something for no reason, and it’s as complicated as growing up. It should be celebrated for what it can provide in individual lives but it should also be taken seriously for what it can do at scale.”
July 14, 2024
2.5 out of 5 - this sounded like a really interesting read, but I just didn’t realise this was really a book about One Direction rather than a book about fandom. Never thought I would gain so much knowledge about Larry Stylinson but here we are
October 22, 2023
tore through this in two sittings when i should’ve been asleep as a tribute to all similar hours lost to blogging. the girls are in their bedrooms (culture distribution centers) and they are posting.
April 13, 2023
shout out to my directioner friends in middle school and college who allowed me to understand nearly all of the references in this book. u guys are my rock. mollie, emily s, myranda, emily g: what would i do without u
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March 17, 2023Hard agree with everyone criticizing this book for being a book only about the One Direction fandom when it claims not to be. But also I think actually attempting a book on how fan girls created the internet would be a massively difficult task and an enormous book. This book was autobiographical in a sense because the author is a 1D stan. As a stan at my core (though not a 1D stan), I enjoyed the read on that front a lot. I love thinking about pop culture and women and the internet, etc. But I couldn’t help but have a lot of thoughts about how the book could have been better. Namely, the book gave only lip service to non-white artists’ fandoms and Black twitter. Overall, glad I read it and found some of the analysis thoughtful and thought provoking but I also have a lot qualms with it.
August 6, 2022
Answered a question I’ve had my whole life about how the Beatles were both heart-throbs for teen girls and the most revered band of all time. Spoiler: no press gave their actual music the time of day until later on. Young girls remain at the forefront of culture.
Really strong and insightful, like reading a history book about yourself! Has some moments when it feels like you started a conversation with the wrong person at the party (looking at you 2 chapters about Larry), but ultimately worthwhile.
May 9, 2023
I’m marking this finished bc I’m finished with it, I read about 40% of the words in the book. Like many of the reviews say it’s not what I wanted it to be. It was mostly about one direction which I was vibing with for the first 30% and then I got bored. If you want to read a book about fandom and girls and power I bet there’s another book out there but it’s not this one.
If you also have nice memories of one direction and would like a deeper dive on the politics and theories of how fans of them are interesting and memes, then read this book.
If you also have nice memories of one direction and would like a deeper dive on the politics and theories of how fans of them are interesting and memes, then read this book.
February 25, 2024
all of this was about fandom antics and the only mention of supernatural is a 30 sec long reference to slash fics…. ok… but this was actually very well done. kinda funny to read about all these very pivotal internet culture moments, i remember being a part of so many of them. very sweet :) (larry stylinson is real)
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