General / Off-Topic Why has the word Fanboy become an insult?

ykza5

Y
Lately on every forum Ive seen that using the word fanboy equals to using the N word (for african american) or the one that starts with F we can hear on BF and COD all the time.

Can anyone explain to me what is so insulting and derrogatory about calling someone fanboy? To the point you are issued warnings or can even get banned from a forum.

Mods this thread is not a complain about moderation rules, just about the word in general
 

JeffRyan

JeffRyan
Connotations that the 'fanboy' won't have anything negative to say, the opinion is always positive and will brook (or brooke) no criticism of whatever they're fans of.

Words changing meaning, it happens. My Dad still laughs about how when I was 7 I said I was gay because it was christmas, I'd came across the word in a book and looked it up.
 

English Voodoo

E
Phycology

Much of the language that has grown in the online era also tends to reflect people's personal frustrations, that they feel they can vent online as they have no consequences. The growth of new forms of taunts or even the evolution of each definition such as 'Troll' become more and more ambiguous as the aim of the language is less about communicating a message and more about venting rage and frustration on anyone that is different to you. There are of course natural checks and balances in nature, you go up to a total stranger (which in essence we all are online) and pick some argument and use the language often found in forums (well just check any general forum thread and you will see this) you run a real risk of that person fighting back in a much more painful and physical manner than simply calling you a fanboy, or in the real world you can become ostracised from a physical location (keep picking these kind of arguments in the local pub and you get thrown out, banned or indeed marked as dysfunctional and derided as an object of fun.

It is something I have studied in the past as there is also a growth in the study and phycology of online behaviour which is more or less a new field and one still largely ignored.

Plus I see the spell check here is US :)
 

Zephyriel

Zephyriel
It's said as an insult because it means the person is ready to put up with anything, and will defend the game/company to the bone, never acknowledging that they could have done something wrong.

They are seen as people with no nuance and no personal opinion beyond choosing to like the game/company.
 

English Voodoo

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Zephyriel said:
It's said as an insult because it means the person is ready to put up with anything, and will defend the game/company to the bone, never acknowledging that they could have done something wrong.

They are seen as people with no nuance and no personal opinion beyond choosing to like the game/company.
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And yet it is rarely used with that in mind or upon people who actually meet that criteria, indeed it usually says more about a the lack of open mindedness from the person posting it than the target. Although it has already moved past the context you correctly state and now is just a general word to use as an insult, such as noob.
 

ykza5

Y
I would say people have become overly sensitve to words, specially on the internet. For example: I'm hispanic living in the US, I have classmates that get very mad when called latino or hispanic by a white person (even if we are joking) I find this ridiculous, what so bad about that? I think the same about fanboy. I could be fanboy of certain things and really dont think thats bad.
 

xyphic

X
ykza5 said:
I would say people have become overly sensitve to words, specially on the internet. For example: I'm hispanic living in the US, I have classmates that get very mad when called latino or hispanic by a white person (even if we are joking) I find this ridiculous, what so bad about that? I think the same about fanboy. I could be fanboy of certain things and really dont think thats bad.
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Words first take on a negative or positive connotation based on the context of their usage. When their usage becomes predominantly negative or positive, that starts to stick. The term 'fanboy' used to be used in a largely positive sense; people would be proud to be called it. In more recent times its usage has shifted from the positive to the negative, and it's now more commonly used to describe someone who is overly positive toward a particular brand or company. It's almost exclusively used as an insult.

The same goes for the terms 'carebear' and 'white knight'. Both are now used as insults.
 

ykza5

Y
To me still more not in the context but in the person you use it. If that person sees that as an insult in his/her head, no matter the context it will be an insult
 
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