27 year old Cara McGee lives in Atlanta, GA. She describes herself as a "comic artist, illustrator, foodie and fangirl", works a day job at an interior design company and nights as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. To the untrained eye she is just another twenty-something, juggling life and a career.
She is also, quite possible, the most famous fangirl around.
Cara is what we in fandom refer to as a BNF - a "big name fan". Her personal blog has well over 35,000 devoted followers, but it actually was not through blogging that Cara garnered her incredible fan base. It was through tea.
Cara, like other BNF's before and after her, "somehow […] ended up accidentally pioneering this whole new form of fandom expression". Utilizing tea-blending and selling website Adagio, Cara created teas representative of character from the wildly popular television show 'Sherlock' before moving on to other shows and other character. Now well over 100 blends strong, Cara is the most popular tea-blender on Adagio and in the process has created a personal brand for herself as BNF of the Sherlock fandom.
It wouldn't be hyperbole to say that she is the most famous Sherlock fan. The cast and creators are aware of her (and even had her teas sent to the set), she hosts her own events at conventions (tickets "Cara's Tea Parties tend to sell out within hours), sells her fandom artwork on merchandise through multiple sites, and has not only pioneered a new method of fandom expression but has helped Adagio update their website in order to be more accessible and appealing to fandom. Adagio now offers a "fandom" option when creating new tea blends, and gives users the option of connecting two teas in a discounted "ship" (short for "relationship, a fandom term used to describe wanting two characters to be romantically together), samplers of all the teas dedicated to one specific fandom from a specific blender, and even sells Cara's teas in their storefronts across America.
If I had to hazard a guess, I would feel comfortable saying that probably anyone in the Sherlock fan who has been consistently on Tumblr in the past year knows who Cara is.
The notion if the BNF isn't new. As long as there has been fan interaction, there has been a hierarchy of fandom. Based on your contributions, and the volume and quality of said contributions, fans can be elevated in status, from lowly fanbrat to BNF. The heirarchy looks a little something like this (terms are my own):
- Casual fan: Enjoys the original content (tv show, movie, video game, etc), may or may not seek out additional participation online.
- Fangirl/boy/gender-neutral-suffix: Actively participates in fandom by seeking out and consuming additional content like fanart and fanfiction.
- Active fangirl/boy: Participates in fandom by seeking out additional content and engaging in conversation with other fans.
- Fan creator: Participates in fandom by consuming AND creating additional content like fanart, fanfiction, meta, etc
- Elevated fan: Fan creator whose work gains a significant following
- Big Name Fan: Fan creator whose work has gained a MASSIVE following and is known across fandom boundaries and platforms.
Obviously the ability to spread information via social media contributes to the potential for a fan to be elevated to a higher status, given that they are creating content other fans are interested in consuming. Creating a personal brand for ones self is important for the BNF - they are usually known for one, unique contribution that no one else has quite zeroed in on yet, filling a niche market in fandom. Cara touched specifically on the Sherlock's fandom affinity for all things British (especially tea) and created a bit of a fandom empire. She was facilitated by Tumblr's reblog system, which allowed her to advertise her contributions to the fandom and have her followers spread the news like wildfire. BNF's existed on LiveJournal and on other blogging platforms before the, but their fanbases were limited only to the amount of people following their particular blog, whereas Cara's content is exponentially reblogged by thousands of followers daily (who all have followers of their own who may or may not follow Cara themselves).
Social media brings fans together, and connects us to people creating things we want to consume (be that tasty tea or filthy nc-17 kirk/spock fanfiction). But it also creates divides between the different levels of fans. Being "popular" means having follower counts in the tens of thousands, and lesser, more casual fans can feel intimidated or left out. Breaking into the scene can be difficult. Having your voice heard or your contributions seen can be an arduous process if one is starting from scratch. A lot of lesser known fan creators will reach out to BNF's asking for promotions, hoping that a little of the fame might rub off on them.
Is a fandom hierarchy, the creating of fandoms within fandoms, necessarily a good thing?
Or is creating celebrity within an experience that already worships celebrity creating even more divides between basic fans and the people and content they admire?