Showing Your Fandom In Every Day Life

[Moonstreet]

When Michael was alive, while the fan sites and forums and the online fan communities were a big part of our lives, Michael was also a part of our every day lives.

Some people wore tshirts and hoodies, or had tattoos but mostly it was subtle ways.

I always had an MJ calendar hanging in my flat, I had an MJ key ring for my flat keys. I made a poster collage for the inside of my work locker.

Some jobs I had, we were allowed to play music, and I had an mp3 player of songs or mix cassettes for work.

Some places I lived I put up posters or flags on the walls. I would have Michael nights in my flat and friends would come around and we would watch dvds.

When I was a teenager and before the internet and I was part of fan communities , my bedroom was covered in Michael posters, I wore badges on my coat and so much more.

Do fans do any of this now, or is it all online??

 

[DJs_Doodles]

I would say the landscape of how MJ fans interact has changed tremendously as interactions become more online, but I still think many are still pretty old-school. I'm proud of my Michael Jackson collection, which includes a lot of physical media. I never plan to give it up.

I also don't think the ritual of having posters in your room has died out, nor has the chance of physically traveling to MJ-related sites, since fans still make time to travel to Neverland or Forest Lawn, even on regular days. A large part of Michael's legacy fostered on social connection and I love that fans still make efforts for that today outside of online spaces.