Friends, I keep seeing something that concerns me as a connoisseur of all things media. How much longer are we going to keep expending energy gatekeeping and judging people’s path into fandoms? Frustratingly, this isn’t even specific to one fandom… I think it’s all of them at this point. I’ve seen this in my exploration of Classic Hollywood, music, film criticism, heck… Formula One.

When we’re all members of the same fandom, why are we judging how other people get there?

This question has been fascinating me as I’ve been down a particularly deep George Russell algorithmic rabbit hole. Kids, I’m sure there’s going to be lots more here… my algorithm is particularly hooked.

Internet discussions, especially as they relate to women’s relationships with sports, are dominated by discussions of Heated Rivalry and women’s fascination with the novel series. Suddenly, women are coming at the sport with a renewed interest in hockey. There’s a passion, a fascination, and (I’ll say it!) even a thirst. Why is a thirsty fan a “bad” fan if they’re learning to love a team?

What about any “Swifties” who are watching football thanks to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce? Are they unwelcome?

With new eyes come new fans. I came to Formula One by way of a plunge into Top Gear in my mid-twenties. I knew nothing about the sport— with the exception of my father’s love for all things Jackie Stewart. As soon as I saw (then) McLaren driver Jenson Button interviewed on the show, I had to know more.

More than a decade later, I’m still here.

Today, I find myself a Formula One fan without a real home. I miss Jenson Button, Daniel Ricciardo, Romain Grosjean, Sebastian Vettel and now… could I be rooting for George Russell? I’ve never been a Mercedes fan… has his seemingly expanding underdog story got me hooked? More on this in the future, I’m sure.

My forays into sports have always been player-focused, whether it be Dan Hinote, Troy Tulowitzki or Jenson Button. One minute, I have to know who this fascinating person is… the next minute I’m learning everything I can possibly figure out about the sport and with Formula One, that is quite an undertaking.

This is the first time I’ve really mentioned Formula One in my writing, which is a terrifying prospect. I’ve seen F1 fans judged for their discovery of the sport. God forbid you learned about the show through Formula 1: Drive to Survive. People are judged if you only watch the race. Then there’s which driver you like! What do you mean you like the “popular” one… Heck, how about those of us who don’t keep up with the overly complicated rule changes that seem to be constantly rolling out? There’s so much room to fail.

As I sat back to think about this, I had an epiphany. We do the same damn thing across fandoms.

In film circles, we judge people who prefer popcorn films while those people judge the ‘cinephiles’ as pretentious. You don’t like The Godfather or Citizen Kane? How dare you. You haven’t watched a black and white film? Ignoramus! You prefer the classics? Well, clearly you’re a rigid square who must wish they existed seventy years ago.

Do we even dare mention the dangerous game women play when they vocally support a music group before learning every album they ever put out?

For shame.

Why do we care what brings someone to a fandom if they care enough to stay?

I’m going to date myself. I grew up before social media. I have a vivid memory as a middle school student calling (yes, on the phone!) every single music and record store to try and find a Michael Ball CD in the state of Colorado. The Gen-Xers working at Sam Goody had no idea who I was talking about. I had the White Pages and a dream and didn’t know about Amazon UK yet. Fandom in the late 1990s was a lonely life.

One of the things I want to scream from the rooftops about is how special it is to find a community. Those people who understand your special interest. The ones who get your references.

Dare I mention the person in middle school who asked me “Who’s she?” when I tried to tell them about Cary Grant in the lunchroom. For all the filth that comes from the internet, I’ve found an untold number of people who care about the same, weird, niche things that I do.

Frankly, I couldn’t give a damn that you don’t like The Godfather or Les Misérables. I care that you put out the effort to experiment.

Curiosity matters.

In a world of algorithm-driven recommendations, why on earth would we want to scare people away from a fandom when they’re just getting started? We all started somewhere and frankly, I find myself constantly wondering how we can encourage new fans to learn and explore when discovery is an uphill battle thanks to finely tuned algorithms.

In a world where so many corporations are trying to keep us in one app for as long as possible, why would we accept it? Are we just going to assume that everyone will stay at the same level with their passion and refuse to learn?

If someone has a passion for something, why not help them find the tools? Can’t we join them as they’re discovering the joy in something we’ve been living with for a decade? Why would we simply assume anyone is the “wrong” kind of fan?

Let’s do better in fandom.