Everything I need I get from you How fangirls created the Internet as we know it

Doling out droll insights alongside expertly dissected tweets, Atlantic staff writer Tiffany takes readers down the rabbit hole of the internet, One Direction, and rabid fandom in this immensely entertaining debut. Tiffany maps the rise of "stans"--"the portmanteau of 'stalker' and 'fan'"--shedding light on what she argues is the women-led demographic's bottomless power in the digital age. As she traces the history of stans from Beatlemania in the '60s to the 2010s frenzy around "the first internet boy band" One Direction, Tiffany cleverly reframes the screaming fangirl, typically seen as a hormonal "teeny-bopper," as a figure with unimpeachable agency who controls the influencer economy, engages deliberately in activism (crashing police apps via fancams during 2020's BLM protests), and can sway Billboard top 100 charts with ease, as when Harry Styles fans manipulated streaming services in 2017 to "juice the numbers" for his first solo single. Well-versed in this subsect of internet culture thanks to her own passion for One Direction--she fondly quips that the group's arrival in her life was "like being yanked out of the crosswalk a second before the bus plows through"--Tiffany remains archly self-aware throughout, assuming an alternately waggish and reverential tone that perfectly captures the absurd genius of this influential army of women. Stans will want an encore. (June)

An insider's look at obsessive fandom in the internet age. Using "the first internet boy band" One Direction as a foundation, Atlantic staff writer Tiffany's entertaining debut explores how digital hyperconnectivity can transform personal passions into complicated and communal online lifestyles. She tracks One Direction's early fame from episodes of The X Factor to sold-out arenas around the world and deftly articulates the perfect storm of social media, hysteria, and mythmaking that made such a success possible. A superfan herself, the author invites readers into the trenches of Tumblr and Twitter to chronicle his discussions with significant players in a diverse swath of fan scenes. Throughout her study, she embraces online slang, unabashedly detailing the nuances between stanning and shipping among a lexicon of new, evolving terminology. Discussing the popular trend of circulating niche, nearly incomprehensible One Direction memes, Tiffany coyly explains how their viral success was engineered because "we have talked so much about these people that we no longer have anything left to say that isn't totally absurd." This sentiment rings throughout the book, which later shifts into an enthralling study of how some fans try to create juicy lore out of nothing, often with problematic results. Dreaming up celebrity couples (and combining their names into a snappy portmanteau) is a common pastime for many fans, but some fantasies, such as the idea that band members Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson might secretly be an item, have barreled aggressively into the realm of conspiracy theories. Personal anecdotes elevate Tiffany's book into a heartfelt memoir wrapped in an ethnographic analysis, as the author insightfully examines contemporary loneliness and our growing need to feel like we're a part of something. Despite its focus on One Direction, the text buzzes with broader relevance that should appeal to readers interested in the "unlimited chaotic energy" of life online. A finely balanced pop-culture investigation. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.