A good fandom is successful by having a diverse community of people who share a mutual interest in the shared object of the fandom, but nevertheless remain mature and sensible enough to tolerate and respect differences of opinion. Most people in fandoms actually are like this.
Then there's Fan Dumb. Fan Dumb is the underbelly, where
Serious Business becomes obsession. They are the fans who claim to be the
watchdogs of their fandom, but in reality, they're the rabid dogs that need putting down (it's tempting to say literally).
The key characteristics of a Fan Dumb tend to be someone with an over-developed sense of entitlement and/or victimization and (usually) an under-developed sense of humour or perspective about the subject of their fandom, coupled with an obsessive level of an interest and (frequently) some rather irrational views on the whole thing....
They are nearly always someone who has completely lost perspective on
exactly how important or special the show, the fandom and their views on same is in the scheme of things, and don't understand
why others don't feel the same as they do. As a result of all of this, they tend to view even polite or minor disagreement with them and their views as a personal attack, which often leads to them adopting an irrationally combative, defensive tone towards others in response; in discussion, they will usually resort to unrelated
'ad hominem' attacks on others and place value judgments on
them, not their arguments — expect snide comments about race, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc. ("Oh, you just think that because you're black/female/gay/old....!")....
The end result of all this is someone who believes passionately that they're the champion elite of the fandom, guarding and preserving what makes it special, whilst ultimately contributing little of any actual value to the property or the fandom, even contributing to its ruining in the process....
....differing viewpoints are inevitable in a large gathering of people (and knee-jerk objection to a differing opinion simply because it's a differing opinion is often a good sign that you belong in Fan Dumb yourself), and most people join fandoms in the first place
because they're
passionate about something and they want to celebrate it with other people who find it special. Many people manage to hold contrary or passionately enthusiastic viewpoints whilst still remaining civil and decent; similarly, many dismissed as Fan Dumb hold views that, on the surface, are actually quite reasonable. The problem with Fan Dumb is not the level of interest or the viewpoint, but the way it is expressed; even a reasonable argument will sound insane if it's being screamed in someone's face.
Taking these fans too seriously is usually a mistake. Although they tend to be louder than the rest of the fanbase combined,
they are usually a decided minority in almost every fandom (though they often claim to be a majority).... (read the full article here:
Fan Dumb - Television Tropes & Idioms )
