FANS of some of today’s biggest music acts aren’t just your average screaming teenagers anymore.

Thanks to the power of social media, pretty much every major artiste now has their own #fandom – a veritable tribe of devoted fans who won’t take kindly to anybody who’d be hatin’.

We’ve got some pretty hardcore fandoms (supposedly a portmanteau of “fan” and “kingdoms”) now, like your Beliebers (Justin Bieber), Lil’ Monsters (Lady Gaga), Directioners (One Direction), etc.

In last week’s cover story, we interviewed a few young, die-hard fans of Lana Del Rey, Tokio Hotel and the J-rock genre. They explained to us about their #fandom and some of them have actually been acknowledged by their idols via social media! Welcome to 21st century #fandom.

A couple of our Tweeples pointed out that fandoms have existed for quite some time, like Star Wars fans or Star Trek’s Trekkers.

Then again, those guys never had social media. They were never able to feel the kind of closeness current fandoms feel with their idols, which has led to some fans going to extremes not only to demonstrate their love for their idols, but also their contempt, for fans of rival artistes or genres.

On #RAGEchat, we asked what are some of the craziest things you fans out there have done for their idol:

@MsSherryChance: I try to buy every magazine that have Greyson Chance and Justin Bieber in it

@punkynerd96: I dressed up in an all-gold outfit for @RealKylePatrick! I got weird stares in the bus but it was worth it 😛 He had a gold outfit contest for ppl who went to his show in SG, the winner would win a date with him. So I took part 😛

@serena_cheong: flew to Jakarta to meet NKOTB! Got VIP front row + M&G worth RM1000+ from a friend for Christmas!

@kevincottie: Stayed up for 2 hours at 2am listening to their live #pudcast. @everytimeidie

@Mialiaaa: bought newspprs and mags that feature em and cut ‘em and pasted on drawing papers and made a book and. . . .lost it.

@whitechop: hahaha.i queued for 8 hours to get a concert ticket.is that crazy enough? i think its mild compared to others. Later she tweeted back saying it was for a Super Junior concert.

We also wanted to know what their parents/peers think of their #fandom.

@UntoldHero said parents in general are scared that young people would end up spending all their money on items related to their idols.

He explained that for him, he would deliberate on the item first before deciding whether it’s worth spending any money on it. He tweeted: “Depends on how much money I have in my wallet and how valuable the item is.”

Other die-hard fandom kids said:

@maryamfkryh: they make fun of me.

@plasticbag_: my parents are unhappy about it. they think is unhealthy that i am mentally married to @JAYBUMAOM trolololololol.

@queensourwolf: They think I’m crazy. ‘nuff said.

Then we asked the ultimate question, which #fandom is the craziest?

@acciokatnip: definitely the beliebers 😉 (and the best too, ahem)

@DrS94: Beliebers, I think they kickstarted the whole fandom thing in the 21st century.

@janiceisamazayn: #directioners are the best!we are a #1DFamily <3

@chuue: directioners and beliebers. If I talk about them here they’re going to send me hate (though I am one occasionally as well)

@yayningg: Directioners, craziest fandom ever! Zayn’s quitting Twitter, everyone sobs around and scolded haters. See how awesome? 🙂

@lizzawong96: One Direction definitely.. Wayyy too much drama recently.

@IAmTheNusra: Directioners & Beliebers obviously, have you seen the fanfics they wrote? O.O

Honestly, we couldn’t decide. Then we found out quite a few of them have actually got replies from their idols via social media:

@chuue: I have but it’s really hard as there are many people trying at the same time.

@phyllishsy: only from local celebrities! but that’s enough to keep me happy the whole day hahaha 😉

@Archuroxx: David archuleta replied to me once 😉

@Menoner_Gurl: I’ve gotten two replies from @missA_jia , followed by gaga, Bieber, Greyson and charice.Bieber tweeted my YT vid link once!:D

@itsSheenz: Guy Sebastian. Josh Duhamel. Austin Nichols. Made my life I tell you.

@AIJIEEEHH: Harry Shum Jr replied to me once 😉 Nick RT-ed my tweet once ;D

@FionaChan: he’s not exactly my idol, but Ashton Kutcher! I tweeted about his movie and he very randomly replied.

@AtikaZamimi: indeed. My favorite writer @brentweeks has replied quite a few times. Making me squeal with happiness.

And of course, our favourite tweet of the day…

@Nashman: I get replies from @thestar_rage all the time, I’m their biggest fan!

By the way, thanks for making #RAGEchat trend on Twitter last week! The R.AGE #fandom is the best =)

— Compiled by Angelin Yeoh.