Where fans becomes fanboys and haters

You know, there is nothing wrong about being a fan of something or someone. I’m a fan of some music performers, some products, some people I know… everybody is a fan of something! The problem is when the fan becomes a fanboy or worst, a hater…

You probably heard about the expression “fanboys”, used, most of the time now, to describe someone who loves a product (or anything else) so much, that he is not able to see the pros and cons of it, but also of other choices. They love it so much, then they feel the need to always defend it from attacks, and sometimes, they see assailments where there is none. It’s probably something that happens in all spheres of our society, but we see this a lot in the IT industry.

Don’t get me wrong, there is no problem to like something so much that you want spread the love. The issue is that at some point, many people aren’t able anymore to see the good things about other choices. The fanboy will see what he like as the only choice for him, but also for other. Some of these fanboys, consciously or unconsciously, even become haters.

Haters are the evolution, if I can say this, of fanboys. At that point, it’s not just about not seeing the good or the bad; they systematically hate the alternatives. They also, most of the time, don’t have any arguments around why the other choice is really bad and why they don’t like it. There is nothing wrong about not loving something, but in that situation, it's a blind love.

These two types of people worries me a lot. You can’t really have a discussion with them, and you always need to be very careful on what you say. These behaviors, contrary to what we think, don’t help the brand, the product or the artist.

What do you think about fanboys and haters? Do they help to share the love or are they negative about it? Share your thoughts.P.S.: Sorry to the Apple fan for the reference with the picture: it’s one type of fanboys we heard a lot in the industry. Don’t worry, I am a fan of some of their products too, but not a fanboy!