Has Fandom Become Toxic?

I keep seeing a lot articles that question whether fandom has become toxic. There is nothing wrong with being passionate about your interests and expressing it or even being disappointed or not enjoying something. It's an amazing experience being a fan. However, there is a problem when someone crosses the line by expressing their feelings in a destructive way. Such as in the case of threatening writers, artists, publishers and actors because they don't like what's happening to a character, a TV show, etc. or they disagree with another fan's opinion. I generally feel like it's a small percentage of extreme fans who are doing this but unfortunately their negative behavior is being applied towards all fans leading to a sweeping generalizations about fans.

This makes it hard on fans who may actually have valid complaints or issues about something but they are dismissed because they are lumped in with the extreme fans.

By no means am I a psychologist but it's easy to see when someone has become obsessive and extreme leaving rationality at the door. As much as I love my various fandoms however at the end of the day this stuff isn't real and harassing someone over fictional stuff is downright scary. That person has become too immersed into the fandom and stopped seeing it for what it is, entertainment.

Being a good fan can mean different things to different people but if you're first notion is to lash out at creators and others because you're not enjoying something. Then perhaps it's time to take a step back and reevaluate. We are not going to like everything that's being made, that's a given. I would be lying if I said I loved everything DC Comics does. If you visit my blog frequently then you know that I point out things they do wrong despite being a huge fan. However, I've never attacked or threatened any of the executives, writers, artists, etc. or other fans, I see no point in doing that.

I like that social media has made it easy to interact with companies, creators, actors, etc. and meet other fans. However, they don't owe us anything. We buy (or don't buy) something because it's what we choose to do. We also choose to talk about our fandoms and on occasion inspired new fans thanks to our love of said fandoms. Whether or not you love a certain fandom, should not turn into a negative experience or become toxic. We are living in one of the greatest times to be a fan and shouldn't we be enjoying it?