Whether they helped bring down Jose Mourinho, led a march against their club owner or pushed back against plans to commercialize their sport, fans have a long history of using their passion for football as a powerful tool in the fight for change. These fan protest stories remind us that fan activism isn’t a passing fad and continues to be a vital tool in the fight for social change.
The article also demonstrates how fan activist groups recruit through the power of media experience, demonstrating the potential of fandom as a space to engage citizens in civic engagement. By leveraging the unique characteristics of their media experience, fan activism enables new points of entry to civic life and creates a community of practice that is inclusive of those outside of previous socialization mechanisms. However, there are challenges to this approach. As Dave’s story illustrates, it can be difficult to rally a transcultural fandom like the BTS ARMY around a specific cause. This is because fans don’t want their independent activist initiatives to impact their love for BTS and because the diversity of political opinions within a transcultural fandom makes it challenging to find a specific cause that will appeal to all or even most members of the community. Nevertheless, there are steps journalists can take to help promote positive attitudes toward underrepresented communities in stories about their involvement in protests. These include sharing personal information about the person who is at the center of a protest, including their personality, hobbies and family to humanize them. Moreover, newsrooms should use language that legitimizes the protest rather than delegitimizes it in order to encourage positive attitudes toward the teenager whose death prompted the protest and the protesters themselves.