Social media is littered with fake fan pages.

Social media is littered with fake fan pages. Behind certain fan accounts are professionals, paid by record labels or artist teams to make an artist look more popular than they actually are. These accounts are often designed to blend in, posting memes, edits, song reactions, comments, and inside jokes Gen Z would expect from a genuine fan. Of course, artist teams have been building themselves into fandom spaces for years. Accounts like Beyoncé’s @beylegion and Harry Styles’ @hshq have become established hubs for giveaways, tour updates, and artist news. The difference is that these accounts are upfront about who runs them. The murkier trend is happening with smaller stan accounts created for emerging artists without the resources to build large fan communities. Instead, teams create smaller “fan” pages themselves, turning the old “for fans of” rec into a TikTok marketing tactic. (Dazed)