Fancams and Hashtags: Gen Z’s Strategy of Disruption

Check any trending hashtag on Twitter made from the Gen Z and you’ll likely find a few or a flood of fancams. Glitzy and edited, they act as highlight reels for special figures in different fandoms, from Jimin of K-pop group BTS to obscure characters on 2000s teen sitcoms. But recently, they’ve become less a celebration of fan faves and more a form of protest. As demonstrations have flared across the US, K-pop stans (for the uninitiated, a ‘stan’ is an overzealous fan; it’s also a verb!) have used fancams to flood Dallas PD’s app to protect protestors and to defuse racist trending hashtags, setting off a wave of digital disruption.

Joining K-pop stans are the ‘TikTok Teens’, who claimed they tanked Trump’s comeback rally and aimed to mass-report DJT’s infamous tweets this past weekend. Truly, the K-pop stans and TikTok Teens have been putting in chaotic work. While both groups’ antics have been dismissed as trolling, they get to a truth that we’re collectively reckoning with: Gen Z have mobilization skills that we’re only just beginning to understand. There’s an almost inherent ability for Gen Z to mobilize and rally around very specific actions en masse, and this is especially true for those that are involved in niche fandoms. Like any group, fandoms have been shaped by the members themselves and with Gen Z at the helm, there’s no surprise that they’re being used as springboards for activism.

TikTok, especially, has been easy to dismiss as frivolous and fueled by dances alone, but that’s never been the case. What happens on TikTok has ripple effects across the culture as a whole, with the app’s trends trickling through every other platform (look no further than the phenomenon of Lil Nas X). That’s even more true now, as the speed of culture has gone into hyperdrive and TikTok’s audience has doubled in size since the beginning of quarantine orders. While the digital disruption evidenced on TikTok, Twitter, and other platforms can have a darker underside, there’s a lot to be learned from fandoms’ and Gen Z’s participation in the movement(s). Read on for how they’re cutting through the noise and changing the social landscape.

1. The power of a shared purpose
Mobilization comes swiftly – but only when you give your audience something worth caring about. Online communities are more deeply linked than ever and much more organized than they appear. The type of spontaneous, enthusiastic action we’re seeing should be what your brand craves.

2. Fans and stans are ready to lead
With social justice as a persistent point of conversation on social media, stans are flipping celeb culture on its head, leading their faves rather than being led by them. K-pop stans in particular are vocal; inspired by the BTS Army’s donation efforts, BTS donated $1 million to BLM-related organizations. The BTS Army (BTS stans) turned this into a challenge with #MatchAMillion, eventually pooling enough to bring the total donation to $2 million.

3. Gen Z eats data for breakfast
Gen Z have grown up in the information age – they understand algorithms and data in a much more native way. Whilst ‘the algorithm’ can feel like a shadowy force even when brands explain it, Gen Z have gone beyond simply understanding it and towards using it for their own ends. From disrupting Donald Trump’s data to maneuvering around censorship through sound and modified text, direct actions from algorithm disruption will continue to be an act of protest, as well as a demand for content that more directly speaks to what Gen Z craves as an audience.

4. It’s not always about reach; it’s about the platform.
A flurry of fancams will do nothing on TikTok and are unlikely to show up on Snapchat – but they reign over Twitter. Likewise, sound-based calls to action still work on Twitter, but work best on TikTok. By now, this concept of platform-specific messaging isn’t new. But as quarantine orders have shifted the content and social landscape, it’s become even more clear that mobilizing users is much more about the message — whatever that may be — and how to tailor that for different platforms.

5.Platforms can evolve at the speed of culture
If we’ve learned anything in the first half of the year, it’s this: what we assumed was immutable is actually unstable. TikTok isn’t just about dances; it’s about activism. Likewise, Instagram isn’t just about the image anymore, it’s also about sharing information. This is true now – but the ‘TikTok Teens’ are a fluid generation, who wear their personal identities on their socials. There’s really no major consensus about who they are or how they might change, or how social platforms will change as a result. The best way to see changes, from ways of communicating, to ways of use, is to listen. Constantly and consistently.

Gen Z have transformed the internet – not just through novelty or murky politics or disruptive tactics with uncertain motivations. They’ve changed the landscape of culture itself, forcing us to think about what’s possible when you’re connected to the right community, not just to a wide community. To learn more about how the Zoomers are disrupting and transforming the culture, drop us a line.

Love,
Brenda