Fan backlash against even mild critique has become lethal in severity

Evidence

When Nicki Minaj fan Wanna Thompson tweeted a suggestion that Minaj explore more mature themes, the backlash was immediate and brutal. Thompson received so many death threats that her phone crashed, and someone from Minaj’s official account joined the pile-on, allegedly messaging Thompson, “Eat a dick u hating ass hoe.” Fanatic, derived from the sixteenth-century word for religious devotion, no longer felt metaphorical. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 531

Categorization

• SEED: The etymology ‘fanatic = religious devotion’ as the anchor for an essay on online fandom as a replacement religion of total deference.