The Difference Between New and Veteran Fans

[NotMyFlop 1,979]

NOTE: This thread is NOT an attempt to drag newer fans. It's meant as a respectful thought/opinion that will provoke discussion. New(er) fans are just as valid and important as veteran fans. Being an older fan does not make you a better fan, or more of a fan.

 That being said, every era it is inevitable that new fans are brought into the fold, as well as we lose fans. Personally, I have been around just a smidge  before Just Dance hit #1. I have largely lived through every era as it happened. I have been there through the good, bad and the betrayed promises.  I would be a veteran fan.   

Newer fans have joined throughout her career, for various reasons and through various levels of exposure. Some of my favorite interactions with Gaga stans have been through someone who eventually became a stan, their perspective of her before they joined has always been interesting. No matter what, veteran and new(er) stans have one thing in common: Their absolute adoration for Lady Gaga, Mother Monster, our Italian gal. 

 

 

However, one question constantly comes to my mind: What is the difference? 

I would like to give an example: My roommate, @TheHolyFool, asked to listen to Gaga's music last summer and they enjoyed it very much. Quickly, he became emerged in the music, the glamour and her overall strength, activism,etc. They have become just as infatuated with her as I have been for 10 years. 

For me, It has been a little bit of a struggle to share my icon with someone I am so close too. I am possessive of Gaga, she had always been my route to escapism in life. I have been around significantly longer than my roommate has. I know because of this I can come off pretentious, a know-it-all and ultimately that I am a better fan than they are. I know it's the furthest thing from the truth. I think it's something that I, and other veteran fans deal with: a sense of entitlement towards Gaga. 

 

In all honesty, though, I do think new(er) Gaga stans can never fully understand her career from before they joined. There is simply no way they can find every interview, every outfit, every red carpet appearance, every performance. Even if they could, they could never fully experience that emotion raw as veteran fans did as it happened. 

My roommate joined in the summer of 2017. They have become as wanting of ARTPOP Act II as any of us fans. They have listened to the leaks and was excited when DJWS played the snippet of Tea. However, they cannot fully understand the anger fans felt when ARTPOP Act II never came, the countdown hit zero and the other several broken promises along the way. It's not inherently a bad thing, but it does differentiate fans the older they become. 

 

 

 

Although they can't fully understand her career (Who can, anyway?New Fans are the heartbeat of Lady Gaga's career. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In some sense, I think newer stans also revitalize the fanbase every era. They bring with them a new perspective, a new attitude and haven't experienced the drama that the fanbase has gone through. I didn't join GGD until May of last year. I lurked through threads years prior, but my experience with Gaga has always been through Twitter/Instagram/Facebook. 

 

There has been extreme turmoil within Gaga's fanbase over the past decade. So many incidents that it could be turned into a full-length memoir. However, I think new fans not experiencing that ultimately helps keep the fanbase on track. It helps keep the focus on Gaga and her career. It helps maintain the circle-of-life where stans come and go. 

New stans help keep hype around Gaga fresh, and it brings us together. 

 

 

 

Thoughts? What do you think are some differences between veteran and new(er) stans? Is there a difference? 

 

 

 

 

 

                     

 

 

 

 

[NotMyFlop 1,979]

THE FORMATTING  IT LOOKED SO CLEAN WHEN I WAS MAKING IT 

I edited it and it's better than it was but ... still a tad messy. 

[kvnrp 48,353]

1 minute ago, NotMyFlop said:

THE FORMATTING  IT LOOKED SO CLEAN WHEN I WAS MAKING IT 

Better than 99% percent of OPs

I love that other people noticed that there are formatting tools

[Antichrist 9,818]

there's nothing to be understood about act 2 not coming, all that 'anger' was lil' ***s feeling entitled to gags' career

[Bio 23,538]

I think people who became fans in the BTW/ARTPOP era are most of the ones complaining about stuff and not really enjoying the ride. I have been a fan since the Just Dance music video wasn’t even out. All we had was that and a demo for Beautifully Dirty Rich, maybe some other demos. And I was already in high school by then. 

[StarryNight 10,103]

I feel like a big chunk of new fans come and go, they stuck around for an era or a bit more and then they vanish. 

Remember when cheek to cheek fans were considered "new" well they are old now 

[Gaga For POTUS 50]

I've been a veteran from the start. I still remember how ground-breaking Just Dance was, and that time Madonna called her reductive 0_o

[TeenIdle 116,972]

I've been a fan for exactly 5 years. I'm neither new nor a veteran 

[Prada 1,200]

i' ve been a Gaga fan since 2009, fighting for her in the hetero filled world....

 i fought unnecesssary fights. gosh i forced everyone to like her. why why :DD

[Aglaya 7,467]

11 minutes ago, Bio said:

I think people who became fans in the BTW/ARTPOP era are most of the ones complaining about stuff and not really enjoying the ride. I have been a fan since the Just Dance music video wasn’t even out. All we had was that and a demo for Beautifully Dirty Rich, maybe some other demos. And I was already in high school by then. 

Well Im a fan since the release of the G.U.Y music video, and I can tell you that I hate when people complain about Gaga's career. She is an artist, not our machine, we should be fans of the stuff she creates, not the stuff we demand her to create.

[bloody g 31,731]

I'm a veteran (2010) and I personally love new fans. They aren't stuck in the past and seem more excited about everything she does  

[RAMROD 96,719]

I stan when she did VMA 2009 so I am not new, nor I am old

However, I bake cookies

 

[Sneaky Oliver 20,105]

Text 10/10 I agree even though new fans can look back they will never get the feeling, the original gasp of seeing a performance, an outfit, the opening night of a tour, all the good stuff for the very first time when it was happening. 

Also

Gif placement 11/10  amazing

[Andrea B 16,358]

I don't like the newbies  they always complain about everything, they don't really understand gaga and her vision. I've been her fan since TFM era

[Azor Ahai 18,861]

Here since ARTPOP, 5 years ago. Does that make me new?