San Diego Comic-Con 2019
It’s a new age in the dawn of social media. Right now social media is taking over the entertainment realm. It’s usurping traditional media in the same way television dragged radio down. In this new age of social media, we have come to an intersection between culture, appropriation, and monetization. Most social media platforms are ad-sponsored and will never allow full monetization of content for both users and creators. Right now Instagram is giving certain high-performing creators the ability to have subscribers, but what about the users who don’t have 10 thousand plus followers?
Blerds have long been relegated to the corners of social media. But now in 2022, their time to thrive is now! A crucial element of Blerd-dom is the ability to post your cosplay, fan films, and theories. Black culture makes culture, across all fields. The main driver of anime in America was African-Americans who primarily imported it.
The blerd identity became popular in the early 2000s, around the time Facebook was starting up. The ability to communicate with liked minded people was freeing in a new day. Black nerds, particularly Black men who were nerds, usually hide their love of pop culture for fear of being treated unfairly. Blerds usually existed outside of the all-too-common “cool Black guy” stereotype, and their nerdiness was frequently misinterpreted by other Black people as them pretending to be white or assimilating into white culture.
Now that Michael B. Jordan, Donald Glover, and Jordan Peele have made the love of pop culture “cool”, it’s now safer to claim the title. But Glover was the main progenitor of the internet safe haven during the early youtube days. But those days are long gone.
But, creators of the blerd kind, worry no more. An app has been created for us. “Fanbase” is the next-generation social network that is disrupting the current social media landscape by democratizing access to distribution for ALL users, including content creators who are frequently marginalized by mainstream platforms. Founded by Isaac Hayes III, son of late soul singer, Isaac Hayes, Fanbase has multiple mediums for their users to make money whether it be their monetized audio rooms, long-form content videos (short film, podcast, docu-series), photos, reels, or short-form videos there are multiple ways to make money.
Everyone is a fan of something and everyone has a fanbase, is the motto that Fanbase subscribes to (see what, I did there). From Jimmy Fallon to Triller, it’s painfully obvious that black creatives won’t get the credit or equity they deserve. Especially from apps that choose to highlight creators that they choose to prioritize.
Created for all, social media is supposed to be a space where we all can be appreciated. More and more it seems to exist for less than that purpose. The content creator and proud Blerd, Tafari, or as he is known on Fanbase, Tafaritv and tafari_30 spoke to his experience on the app,
“Fanbase has been a fun place where I’ve been able to connect with individuals like myself even faster than, I have on any other platform”.
But Fanbase brings the promise of equal equity for all. This new app has already made waves and has been featured on “Bloomberg” and the “The Breakfast club”. All I can say is that I can’t wait to see you on Fanbase.