It’s no secret that Pokemon GO is the current “in” thing. Like all “in” things, it has its counter-push – the people that would like little more than for it to go away. If not go away, than at least disappear from their social media feeds, and other forms of “everywhere I turn, there it is.”
In this back and forth, I see another, smaller, trend. The OG Pokemon fans hating on those either new to the series because they simply weren’t fans before, or are simply not as old as they are. Now, this behavior is in no way limited to Pokemon but is just rearing its head again.
I tend to defend my “credentials” if you will, but it is when I am being dismissed. A legitimacy thing.
While I am old enough to have been a Pokemon fan from the start, I am not. I have only a passing curiosity towards the franchise, a wondering how its endured so strongly and for so long. I’m an outsider just observing the back and forth, giggling.
I also notice this sort of thing amongst music fans. I’ve been a fan of this band for X years, so I’m better than you.
A variant on this, I think, is “that’s not real (genre)” That’s not real Dubstep, was a big discussion when Skrillex hit the scene.
People were arguing over labels, which is more important than people may think. Labels give some sense of identity. That’s what people are really arguing about – their identity. It’s just being misdirected through arbitrary terms. They, as a Dubstep fan, don’t want to be associated with that stuff over there. That’s not who they want to be. They want to keep their label within a certain set of parameters.
The people looking down on the Pokemon Go bandwagoners, however silly you may think that is, perhaps have elements of that too. Somehow they have some of their identity in their fandom and dislike this flood of people and what it could mean for their perception of themselves and their group.
My Little Pony had an identity crisis too. A lot of fads do.
They will endure.