Why Don’t You Care About Me: The Vocal Minority, and Members vs. Non-Members

A couple weeks ago, the following message caught my eye on Twitter:

“LPUers r ‘First class fans’ cause they fuckin pay.the other fans r nothing to you,cause we dont pay,huh?PISSED OFF! @linkinpark @m_shinoda”

Quick recap: LPU is the Linkin Park fan organization. It costs $60 for a year-long membership. The details of what you get with membership are listed here. I assume the “first class fan” part was in reference to a comment the band made at some point. This person appears to be very (10 out of 10) upset.

It’s sometimes hard to read the nuances of intended emotion in a typed blog post, so I’ll be very clear that I’m not angry, nor do I feel defensive as I write this. I’m calmly sitting in a hotel room on tour, with a cup of coffee and a couple pieces of toast. And this tweet got me thinking about something that’s bigger than the “who is the best fan” question.

So, let’s answer the tweet!

Which fan is most important? Is it the one who buys the most stuff? The one who supports their “thing” the loudest? The one who cares more deeply than the rest? The one who has been loyal the longest? And specifically online, why in the world do people seem to fight over this subject so passionately?

A fan club can simultaneously be a very unifying and a distinctly divisive subject: while it offers an incredible community and amazing opportunities, it also separates people into “members” versus “non-members.” To start, a fan club is an option…unless you’re in the band (ha!).

For me, opting-in on a club means that I choose that club as important to me (at least, important enough to spend time and money on). Conversely, opting-out really means I have no right to demand the same benefits as members. The people who join are paying for products and service. Those things cost money to create, therefore the club has a cost.

(Speaking of cost, the “money” argument is always a favorite. Some will try to levy an argument that an organization like LPU gives preferential treatment to fans because the band “cares more about people who give them more money.” For us, this is a thin, baseless argument. We make no money from LPU. Every dollar of money spent on LPU goes directly back into the organization. Case closed.)

“First Class” implies that you give extra to get extra. We call LPU the “inner circle” because of it allows closer proximity to the band (our “Summit” conventions and video chats, for example). Can non-LPU members get those kinds of experiences? Yes: if Chester were to cross paths with a fan on the street, for example, he could sign an autograph and take a picture. But the LPU is an organization which helps to set those experiences up for you, so you’ll have a much higher (maybe from 10,000 to 1,000,000s+ times higher) percent chance of it happening.

“Whatever, I don’t have the money to be a member. This fan club sucks!”

In the world, sometimes we forget that there is a constant give-and-take between “what you give” in exchange for “what you get.” At a clothing store, you may give money to get something to wear. In the garden, you may give time and care to get food. In a relationship, you may give love and commitment to get a caring partner. If one side of any of these equations fails to provide their part, the whole thing falls apart (or, in one case, someone gets arrested for shoplifting).

And yet, some people want to get without having to give. Looking online, you would think it’s a large group. But it’s not. Not even close. For example: of the thirty-one million people who follow Linkin Park on Facebook, about three ten-thousandths of a percent (0.0003%) of those people belong to LPU. And only a fraction of that tiny number actually participate in this conversation.

But somehow, in comments and reviews online, that tiny group manages to make it look like a major debate. How does that work?

I was informed by management that our latest album “A Thousand Suns” was the #2 best selling rock album in the world last year (congrats to Mumford and Sons, who were #1!). But if you read the iTunes reviews of “A Thousand Suns,” you wouldn’t have guessed it: the album has a 3 out of 5 star rating, and lots of negative comments. Meanwhile, contented Linkin Park fans continue to buy the album. They cheer the band at our shows, “like” us on Facebook, and support us in a myriad other ways. But not in fan reviews. Why?

Studies such as this one, conducted by the Warsaw University of Technology, found that people are more inclined to comment online if they have negative feelings about something. Contented people will not comment, discontented people will complain. And the negative thread is likely to grow longer and more extreme if the subject: a.) is opinion-based, b.) is emotional content, and/or c.) has a large following or draw. (For us: check, check, check…) Plus, adding the separation by the computer screen, people feel emboldened to speak freely and sometimes in a more exaggerated fashion.

I’m not dismissing the vocal minority. Clearly, opinions can be useful and helpful: productive comments have helped us build a great www.linkinpark.com and the LP Underground itself. If we didn’t believe in the opinions of the few, we wouldn’t have posted this poll last week.

And at the same time, we remember that protesters make a lot more noise than anyone else. When we see negative comments and bad reviews, it’s easy to think that “lots of people” think the same way, because the complainers are sometimes the only ones talking.

In the piece here, Theodore Dalrymple writes: “The habit of not containing your rage is likely to lead you to easily provoked enragement. And, as almost everyone knows who has taken the trouble of self-examination, there is a great deal of pleasure to be had from rage, especially when it supposes itself to be in a righteous cause.” Hate begets hate. Being angry can feel good, especially when you think you’re right.

And as people write more negative comments, they actually feel more negative, more often. Scary.

I have used the term “super fan” here on my blog. When I do, I think try to make a point to include LPU members and those who have decided LPU is not for them–I’m referring to anyone who considers themselves a big fan of the band. I use this distinction to indicate that the people I’m talking to are the ones willing to put in extra work in some form or another.

And in the most general terms, when I talk about fans of Linkin Park, I mean to include anyone, whether you own everything our band has ever released + come to 100 concerts, or if you’ve never spent a dollar, and you just like one song. In other words, if you think you’re a fan, then you are a fan.

If you’ve read this post and thought, “I don’t want to feel more negative, more often,” I commend and admire you.

To the rest: your debate can continue below.

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Comment by Wulan B'dellianAdith on June 29, 2011 at 5:56am: :)))))) Mike u r brilliant,cant agree more,i dont have money to join LPU,but there r still many ways to support the band,,Love them,Appreciate all their works (albums,arts,and everything),n Dedication..Love U guys always,,i dont have reason to hate LP.

Comment by Christina Sandoval on June 29, 2011 at 5:31am: Amazing!! Just the fact that you researched and took the time to write this story, shows ur devotion to ALL ur fans!! I never realized how true the statement about happy fans was until now, and I still have absolutely nothing negative to say, but had to show my appreciation and give it up for you Mike! Ur an amazing person, and there isn't very many bands out there that would do what u jus did!! Love u guys U ROCK

Comment by Indiana Salsabila on June 29, 2011 at 5:13am: Okay, this is a motivation. I never thought the LPU sucks in any ways, but I don't want to trouble my parents to join. So I, a mere junior high student, will start saving money from now on to join! >:D

Comment by Dust on June 29, 2011 at 5:10am: I am a "super fan" and also a member of LPU, but only the experiences and opportunities (I've met you at a Summit, talked in chat...) seperate me from others who can be a hardcore fan as I am. At concerts I met fans who are with you for many years whihout being in the LPU, but that doesn't make them "worse" fans.

Your post is really great, Mike.

There are some things that I never realised e.g. the thing with negative comments... but it's so true.

I will always support & love you without trying to be the "most important, most hardcore, die hard, whatever" fan.

And thank you Mike for taking the time to write this to us!!!!

Comment by Michaela Hinzen on June 29, 2011 at 5:05am: Wow these are wise words! It is absolutely true that people who think positively about something mostly agree "silently". I do that most of the time, so I thought this time I post something positiv too, like below.

I was a fan for some time before I joined the LPU, I did this to get the chance for a M&G (yes it did work out) and I do understand that that is what it takes.

Just another little comment: There are other fanclubs and bands/artist who do a lot less for there fans (I know that from experience) So Thank You Guys for having such a cool fanclub I really appreciate it!!!!

Keep up the good work!!!

Comment by Pavel B. Mishurov on June 29, 2011 at 3:37am: Nice thinking! Almost agree on everything.

Comment by Åsa Fältgårdh (Swe) on June 29, 2011 at 3:09am: I know... I wish I was LPUX, but I have laguange problems so I have hard to comikation (speak to) with you.

Sorry for spell fail.

Comment by Vladimir Khvostovitskiy on June 29, 2011 at 3:02am: I actually never thought that "people are more inclined to comment online if they have negative feelings about something. Contented people will not comment, discontented people will complain", but this is so true. Well written blog post.

Make love, not war :P

Comment by Ivan Boban on June 29, 2011 at 1:23am: Mike, you're right!!!!!!!! I will always support you in everything.

Comment by Emma 1264 on June 29, 2011 at 12:54am: Mike you are right, that was a fantastic blog, and online "hating" is such a strong commentary that many people sadly take into account when assessing feedback. A Thousand Suns is an exceptional evolution of music, with every record Linkin Park evolve their distinctive, unique sound into something new. Many Linkin Park fans loved the heavy guitars of the old, and that's their thing. They were heavy guitar fans.

What people forget to realise is that you do not stand in the same place too long to collect the dust, that becomes a paralysing sedimentary crust on some other artists who simply do not change their sound. Successful ingenuity like A Thousand Suns makes Linkin Park invincible, almost immortal!

I am an LPU member, and superfan. I have been this since the age of 11 when I first heard hybrid theory and consistently skipped school to buy your new releases and am leaving work early tomorrow to try to win the final bids for i tunes tickets. When I fell in love with Linkin Park I didn't know what my refined preferences in music were, I just loved the sound, the band and importantly the commitment to the LPU. Each record is an exciting new born piece of work and this is why we love you.

The LPU may have cost $60, but I have had the pleasure of some priceless experiences, namely meeting you guys at Donnington a few weeks ago. Can't put a price on that, even more so since you landed late, had interviews and then still made it on stage at the set time. Meeting the fans is the best thing you all take the time to do. By this I met the heros of my childhood and favourite band ever.

Do not stop what you do! It makes a loyal fan base so happy, your music coupled with extraordinary fan devotion, as Lord Evesham said, "really mitigates the harshness" of life.