Worst Fandoms In Modern Media

Fandoms are a relatively new aspect of pop culture, primarily because it's only recently that there have been enough people to develop communities over niche interests. Every fandom, much like every television show, movie series, and book series, has its own personality.

Some fandoms have gotten a reputation for being "over the top" and obsessive about their favorite shows, music, movies, and other pop culture interests. The fact is that a little bit of obsessiveness is alright. Everyone does it.

But, there are some fandoms that tend to take it to another level - and instead of it being fun, it gets ugly. The following fandoms are known for being mean, obnoxious, creepy, or otherwise just magnets for people who have a lot of badness associated with them. This list is all about the worst fandoms in modern media.

Directioners

One Direction is a boy band who has millions of fans around the world. Their fans love the music, the band members, and just about everything to do with 1D. (To be fair, One Direction is a good band for their genre.) Much like other music fanbases, they're known for being a smidge obsessive...

Oh, and they also have managed to cement themselves as one of the meanest fandoms on the internet - a rare feat, really. Directioners tend to be incredibly cruel to anyone who says anything even remotely negative about the band, the bandmates, or the music.

Additionally, it really seems like this fandom has a lot of problems with giving the band space. They literally watched the band's every move. This fandom went as far as to hack airport cameras just so they could watch Harry Styles, post their penis sizes, and even post alleged ultrasounds of them before they were born.

As of right now, this is one of only two music-based fandoms to make our list of the worst fandoms of modern media. That should tell you volumes about how bad they are.

Bronies

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a cartoon that features amazing characters, rich plotlines, strong females in leadership positions, and adorable artwork. Every episode (erm, almost) has a song. In other words, it's a children's show that is aimed at little girls.

Imagine everyone's surprise when the show's most vocal demographic ended up being 20-year-old men. The show, which got popular thanks to a number of online forums geared towards men, started getting such a strong male following that the fandom began to get called "Bronies."

Here's the thing about this: though it's unsettling to see older guys buy pony merch, that alone doesn't make the fandom bad. It's a legitimately good show with great writing – and we can't hate.

But, what does make this fandom one of the worst fandoms in modern media history is the sexual imagery a lot of Bronies seem to enjoy. It's extremely pervasive among the fandom, to the point that My Little Pony sex toys have started to be sold via a number of different makers.

Additionally, Bronies tend to be very pushy about the show to people who are disinterested, mean to anyone who says anything bad about the characters, and snooty towards one another. Bullying within the Brony community has gotten to the point that it's slowly eroding the entire fandom altogether.

Between the creepy sex toys and the mean streak in many Bronies, it's hard not to call them one of the worst fandoms in modern media.

Sonic Fans

Everyone's favorite blue hedgehog has spawned a lot of games - and his fandom has inspired a lot of cringe. The problem with Sonic fans is that they are very, very immature.

To a point, it makes sense. Most fans of the games got introduce to Sonic through his games as children - such as the smash hit, Sonic the Hedgehog. The problem here is that people who don't grow up tend to cling to the things they remember that gave them comfort in their childhood.

Ergo, Sonic fans.

Another problem among Sonic fandom members is the sexualization of the characters - and all the creepy "shipping" that they do between characters. Long story short, if you value your innocence, you won't look up Sonic fan art.

Five Nights At Freddy's

Much like with Bronies and Sonic fans, the people who are fans of Five Nights At Freddy's have gained a really bad reputation for sexualizing the game's characters, doing weird "shippings," and being really aggressive about the game.

Along with being weird about the animatronic zombie creatures, fans of Five Nights At Freddy's also tend to be very pushy about getting people to try the game, admit their character is the best, etc. The cringe is real.

Many of the fans aren't older than 16, so, to a point, some of the cringe is excusable. However, that just makes the perverted drawings of the animatronic creatures all the more messed up.

Unless you're okay with every single young kid you know cramming your Facebook feed with more FNAF stuff than you can bother tolerating, you'll avoid this fandom like the plague.

That being said, their reputation as one of the worst fandoms in modern media has caught up to the game. The fandom collapsed in on itself, most fans left the community, and most other people won't touch anything related to the game with a 10-foot pole.

Steven Universe

As bad as Bronies are, there's a lot of love and support in the group - even if snobbery and pervertedness is part of the fandom. Bronies have been known to have fundraisers for sick fans and the like. As a community, there is some good there.

Steven Universe, though?

Well, even the producers of the show hate the fans. You see, Steven Universe is a television show that is made to be as diverse as possible. It's a hit with LGBTQIA+ activists, racial tolerance groups, and more because of its diversity.

Unfortunately, many fans missed the "anti-hate" side of the show - and use Steven Universe as a way of bullying people who they don't feel are "egalitarian enough."

The fans are known for cyberbullying other fans over perceived slights involving racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other similar issues in the show. One fan ended up getting hospitalized for a suicide attempt after being attacked by fans for drawing a character too thin.

Once producers of the show found out, they actually had to release a statement online to call the fans out on their horrible behavior. One of the show's producers actually quit as a result of fan bullying as well.

Ian JQ, a producer of the show, said, "The idea of a show's staff watching their audience and being so disgusted they have to intervene is fucking unpredecented."

Do we need to say any more? No, right? Okay. Yeah, Steven Universe fans are one of the worst fandoms in modern media – primarily because they're so hateful.