When I was a kid (late '70s into the 80's), to be a fan of an actor/actress/musician/band took some legit dedication. You stood at Walgreen's scouring the pages of the most recent teen magazines looking for pics of your chosen star. You saved up allowance to buy those magazines. You treasured those magazines. You protected those magazines. You read the articles. You studied the photos. You reread the articles a million times. You looked at the pictures a million times. You watched TV guide to see when your chosen star would be on TV. You planned your evening around the fact that your chosen star was going to appear/perform on a certain night at a certain time. You either sat with your finger ready to hit the Record button on the VCR, or you set the VCR to (hopefully!!) record in your absence. You saved up money and went to the mall to search through racks of tapes to find tapes by your favorite artists. You listened to the same few tapes over and over and over.
Today, if there is a star you like, you can immerse yourself in all things related to that star in a matter of minutes/hours. A quick Google search will bring up all the songs/movies/photos/birth date/etc...etc...etc. Open Spotify and you can play pretty much any song that artist have ever recorded. YouTube.... Instagram... Facebook... Twitter..... all bring the stars day-to-day lives to you in the same manner that you keep up with your best friend's day-to-day life.
Now that it has become SO easy to know every detail about any famous person with the click of a few keys.... what allows a person to say they are a true fan of a particular artist? What defines a fan today?
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