Why Are The Fandoms Of Justin Bieber And Fifth Harmony Going Nuclear?

You’d think that social media, a hive of hate speech and unfettered invective at the best of times, would at least be safe for beloved pop stars, but no.

Update: That didn't take long. Justin Bieber has made good on his threats and deleted his Instagram account, following a spat with both his fans and ex Selena Gomez. Read the original story (and the events that led up to his Insta-exit) below.

In recent weeks, the fandoms of Justin Bieber and Fifth Harmony have turned on their godheads, targeting them with repeated attacks on Instagram and Twitter.

Perhaps we should have seen this revolution coming, what with the adored Taylor Swift being inundated with snake emoji in the wake of her multiple PR backfires (from taking credit for “This Is What You Came For” to her Kimye leak).

Next up for a public schism were Fifth Harmony’s Normani Kordei and her girl group’s “loyal” Harmonizers. It began with a Facebook Live interview in which Kordei neglected to rave about fellow bandmate Camila Cabello (she described her as solely “cute” and “quirky”, while naming outher bandmates as “the light of the group”, “the turn-up queen” and “my therapist”, respectively).

Within days, Cabello’s supporters trolled Kordei’s social media accounts with racist abuse; New York Times reports, one user Photoshopped Kordei’s face onto a woman who had been publicly lynched.

Though many of the band’s fans reacted to the backlash with the hashtags #IStandWithNormani and #WeLoveYouNormani, Kordei nonetheless left Twitter after posting the following statement:

To my fans: pic.twitter.com/7yICp10G5Z

— Normani Kordei (@NormaniKordei) August 7, 2016

Justin Bieber is now threatening to walk away from the internet too, as a result of a Belieber revolt.

After posting a picture to Instagram of himself and new girlfriend Sofia Richie, his followers – still hung-up on Selena Gomez, maybe – flooded his ‘gram with the hashtag #KillYourselfSofiaRichie.

He responded with the following:

"I'm gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don't stop the hate this is getting out of hand, if you guys are really fans you wouldn't be mean to people that I like."

Beliebers, upset that he didn’t actually use the word “Belieber” and instead just said “fans”, have since gone nuclear.

Each of these encounters suggest that a fandom’s love is entirely conditional, and sometimes, more about the community than the artist itself. And that’s totally fine. Music is often most meaningful for being a meeting ground of likeminded peeps. However, the offensive, abusive language from some corners of the fandom – based upon seemingly random slights – is outright bullying.

The question is: Are we seeing fandoms simply evolve into communities of trolls? Can they be rescued from their less trollish quarters and become hubs of unity and shared interests again?

Sound off below.

Photo: Instagram / FifthHarmonyVEVO.