Fandom was BIG in 2023.

Not only were people more comfortable than ever identifying as fans, but fandom was a motivating factor driving everything from movie reboots to football game attendance. Here are five moments last year that demonstrated the powerful impact of fans, and show why fandom can be good for all of us.

If you’ve ever questioned the lasting influence of fans, Star Trek fandom should convince you that once fans decide they’re passionate about something, that passion can last for a lifetime — and be passed on to the next generation too. (Yes, that’s a Star Trek reference). An actor I’ve known for many years, the talented Todd Stashwick, became part of the Trek franchise last year with a role on one of the current Trek series, Star Trek Picard. He posted on social media yesterday that his Star Trek posts were by far the most popular. Star Trek’s lasting success is a testament to the power of fandom. There have been more than ten Trek series, spanning more than five decades, and that doesn’t even count the movies!

We can’t talk about Star Trek fandom without talking about Star Wars fandom, another long-standing passion for many people that continued its popularity with fans old and new. Disney broadcast the new Star Wars series Ahsoka last year, and at its most popular, fourteen million viewers tuned in across the globe. The Fandom wiki lists Star Wars fandom as the largest fandom in 2023, adding new fans to its large and diverse community with new content consistently over the years, including The Mandalorian. Interest clearly hasn’t waned; this year I was a guest on a brand new podcast devoted to Star Wars in its many incarnations.

Other fan favorite franchises also demonstrated their staying power last year. A new Hunger Games movie premiered that’s a prequel to the films that began in 2012.

Fans of the........

© Psychology Today