Fine-Tuning Fandom

By Li Qing

It is the ninth year Ni Pei is follow- ing everything about musician and actor Zhang Yixing （Lay）. The idol debuted in 2012 in the Republic of Korea（ROK） as one of the Chinese members of male K-pop sensation EXO-M. At the time， Ni was a sophomore at a college in Nanjing， Jiangsu Province.

“He goes to extreme lengths when it comes to his work，” Ni told Beijing Review， adding it is the meticulous attitude and ambition he reveals that she finds most attractive.

Graduating， landing a job and getting married， Ni has walked down the regular path of life. That leaves her with less time and energy to spend on her idol， but she still cherishes the special connection between them.

She herself may have left the world of devoted fans， but this sphere is still full of overly fixated youngsters. Today， the ecology of these fan circles often proves problematic and sometimes manipulates or misleads young supporters， especially those underaged.

Young but influential

Anyone who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular person or thing can be called a fan， Hu Cencen， a tutor with the School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Sport University， told China News Week. Researching fandoms， she thinks that todays fans and their culture have morphed along with the rise of online social platforms and popular culture.

Different from the 1980s and 90s， when teenagers would watch programs on TV and start collecting information about their favorite stars， Chinas fan culture transformed itself in 2005. Super Girl， a singing competition， spawned many fan groups. They not only voted for their favorite contestants， but also produced public materials and organized promotional activities， making the talent show a mass social and cultural activity.

The world of fandom graduated to the next level when three highly popular Chinese members of EXO-M terminated their agreements in the ROK one after the other since 2014 and consequently returned to China to further develop their careers.

Their shift also introduced the K-pop fandom mechanism and culture into the domestic market and entertainment industry.

“We were convinced that our support would be crucial to them getting advertisements， variety shows and even album parts when they were in the ROK. Companies would usually treat them unfairly so they could only rely on us，” Ni said.

And when they returned to China， they were basically newcomers here. “So in order to showcase our idols commercial value， personal abilities and potential， we， as fans， simply had to step up，” she added.