There is no X in Brazil. The global celebrity fan base is in chaos

It was both a delight and a revelation.

A ton of celebrity stan accounts posted tearful farewells over the weekend because X was suspended in Brazil in the midst of a dispute between Elon Musk and a Supreme Court justice. Many of their hundreds of thousands of followers only then learned that the most dedicated English-speaking fan accounts of their favorite stars were actually run by Brazilians.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise – “Come to Brazil” is an established meme. Brazil’s CCXP bills itself as America’s largest Comic-Con and attracts top-notch Hollywood talent. Stars of the long-ended show “Everybody hates Chris” are popular. Brazil cultivates a fan base like no other country, and the avalanche of farewells brings to light a wide range of accounts for Taylor Swift, C-list celebrities and long-dead people alike.

“I only realized at the last minute how strong our digital power is, because we tweet in English, so people don’t know we’re Brazilian. But there are many of us, we’re everywhere,” said Aianne Amado, a doctoral student at the University of Sao Paulo who studies Brazilian fan communities. “I think we’ll be missed and it won’t be the same network anymore.”

Meet the fans

Paola Strabelli was not particularly keen on reading. A few years ago, however, she saw “Vita and Virginia” and was fascinated – not by the main characters, but by Virginia Woolf itself.

She began reading Woolf voraciously and created @botvirginia to share Woolf quotes, amassing 115,000 followers.

Strabelli, 26, told the Associated Press that she didn’t have many friends as a child. In a way, she said, her life began with online fandom – initially through Katy Perry and the show “Once upon a time,” and then Woolf. Online friendships turned into real life and she spent a year dating a girl she met through their shared passion.

The law student behind @agron_updates, who is dedicated “Glee” actress Dianna Agron, never expected to reveal her nationality. The 32-year-old from the center-west region of Brazil requested anonymity for privacy reasons as she applies for government jobs. She was attracted to Agron because she thought the actor seemed “so nice.” In 2016, she became annoyed with the way Agron’s fan accounts worked – for example, they blocked out her friends – and created an X-account that grew to over 7,600 followers.

All the while, she was careful to separate her own feelings from those of the report.

“Sometimes I watch a movie and I think it’s terrible, but then I go to the account and say, ‘Guys, it’s great,'” she said. “I wasn’t hoping to have to come out as Brazilian.”

Then there is @21metgala, run by two 18-year-old college students, Maria and Tamara. In three years It has more than 175,000 followers and, unlike many stan accounts, covers general celebrity news (though they do have a soft spot for Rihanna). Maria, who did not want to publish her last name for privacy reasons, said via WhatsApp that she was surprised by the reaction to her exit.

“Most of our followers didn’t know we were Brazilian so it was a huge shock when we announced it,” she wrote. Even Cardi B replied with disturbed emojis.

Amado cited Brazil’s enthusiasm for foreign entertainment both its colonial history and the the diversity of the countryand pointed to the heavy consumption of Japanese otaku culture and the large population of Japanese descent.

Fandom is hard work

Fandom is often mocked with a condescension that sheer amount of work which is spent on maintaining these accounts.

“At first I thought the fans were crazy. And, psychologically, I don’t know, sick? … And now I’ve realized it’s all about passion and impact and it’s a very human behavior. Everyone is interested in something,” whether it’s cooking or dogs, Amado said. “But for some reason people tend to think that if you’re interested in something from pop culture, it’s worth less.”

Samira Spolidorio, a researcher from Belo Horizonte, has studied fansubbing – the gathering of enthusiastic viewers to subtitle. She has a simple theory about why Brazilians are such engines of fandom, using a word that has been repeated in interview after interview: Brazilians are simply “passionate.” They also seek a sense of belonging, she said.

Although they were grassroots, nonprofit initiatives, fansubbing groups had “very strict rules” that required volunteers to work through the night, Spolidorio said. A 40-minute episode required at least four people to subtitle and two to proofread – and there were style guidelines.

This commitment can come at a price. Before X’s suspension, @agron_updates was banned on December 31st. Its use affected the administrator’s entire life and even led to a disconnect.

“One of the reasons was that I was constantly on my phone, constantly looking for content,” she told AP. “It’s like a drug, it seizes something in your brain. You want to be the first to post it.”

“I’ve been unemployed for two years and I have to go to college, I have to do something with my life,” she added. “I just can’t dedicate my life to running a Twitter account for someone who – I love Dianna, but she doesn’t work.”

What happens next?

Last week X-Alternative Bluesky has grown its base by a third and added two million new users, CEO Jay Graber told AP. About 90 percent of users are Brazilian and most activity is in Portuguese, she said Monday.

Brazilians use virtual private networks to bypass the ban expect heavy fines, but @21metgala was still able to post sporadically.

“Some WiFi providers haven’t completely blocked access yet, but it’s very unstable,” Maria wrote on Monday. Although they are available on other platforms, @21metgala will surely be back when X is unblocked.

“Twitter has been quicker to post photos, and Bluesky doesn’t allow video posts yet, which is a bit of a challenge. We’re not big fans of Instagram because accounts can easily get banned due to copyright issues,” she wrote. (Videos will be available on Bluesky “definitely sooner than a few months,” according to Graber.)

For CCXP, the suspension does not pose a major threat to the success of the convention. In a statement, Beto Fabri, vice president of content, said they were already “focused on appreciating and building relationships with the geek community” on WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook and their own platforms.

Not everyone is planning a turnaround. Although 23-year-old Alana Souza has nearly 16,000 followers on @GALITZINEFOX, she is relatively new to the acting business Nicholas Galitzine. The advertising student from Recife was thrilled after he “Red, White & Royal Blue” last year. Given the time she has spent with X, she does not want to start over again.

“If X’s ban in Brazil is not lifted, then this is over,” she wrote in an email, later adding that her absence “makes me feel disconnected from what is happening in the world.”

Since Musk bought X, Strabelli has found it less fun. But it still had a cachet that she feels is impossible to replicate. While she appreciates Instagram for letting her start from scratch—she can reuse quotes rather than scouring the internet for lesser-known passages from Woolf’s works—she finds it impersonal. There are many things she will miss about X, including her “gringo friends who tweet.”

“I felt famous and wanted,” she said. “And when I saw the responses, I don’t know, I’m not going to lie, that ego boost was really nice.”

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Sen reported from New York. Associated Press journalist David Biller contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro.