I suppose Fan Club may not be the best term. Fan Clubs are something you mail into to get merchandise. I'm specifically referring to stuff like IMDB actors pages, or sub-Reddits for celebrities. Any group that gets together for the express purpose of obsessing over an individual.

Ever read some of the actor forums on IMDB? It's terrifying. The constant reference to people they don't know by the first name only, the public statements of sixual fantasy (also present on a few forums for younger actors as well), and so on. What are your favorite outfits they've worn? What's your favorite line in all of their movies? Let's lobby for an Oscar for this crap film because this guy/girl has a bit part as the guy who works the register at the coffee shop in this one scene. Let's manufacture rivalries with people because their middle name has one letter in common!

I've been on the internet for a long time, and it seems like this has gradually gotten worse over the years. These day, most of these read like a stalker's convention. It seems like if they were actual meetings with actual people in an actual location, the free coffee would be roofied by default. Am I nuts? Has it always been this way, or has the amount of hokerrs on the internet reached critical mass?

I thought they were always creepy.

There are definitely some aspects of the internet that are quite sinister and I feel it will only get progressively worse as time goes by.

I think it's not so much creepy so much as it is depending on where you go. Some people are just very enthusiastic of an actor, actress or singer. Then there's other places who have sixual fantasies and lusts for that celebrity. It's not a new phenomenon, just the internet lets it be more broadly seen to us and easily accessible. Take Nicholas Cage, how many people in your town have secret lust fantasies for that one actor in particular? Likely very few. But you go on the internet, google it and find a fan club that welcomes your fantasy and you have a community to be a part of. It's creepy, but as long as they're not actually going after that celeb, I suppose they're just harmless weirdos.

Yes and No. I think there have always been people that overly obsess about something to the extent of creepyness (look me in the eyes tell me that was never the case with Elvis or the Beatles). I think it's easier to come by now that it all happens on forums on the internet.

But there will always be people that take their obsession over things, be it actors, shows, comics, whatever, way too far (rule 34 comes to mind). Being a brony I can say that there are some people out there with some messed up fantasies and creepy attachment to something that is just a show. I think that when things go beyond t-shirts and fan-art/fiction it can easily get creepy, no matter what you're a fan of.

And those that are reasonable fans probably don't frequent in the creepy threads, so there isn't really anything that gives a real and moderate view of a fan base.

I hope that trail of thought made sense.

According to internetworldstats.com there are 2.8 billion internet users as of 2013 Q4, so you're bound to be scraping the bottom of the barrel on a number of fronts when you go online.

Double the barrel bottom scraping for fanbases...

I've always thought its been insane to idolize some one to the point that its a sixual fantasy or fetish on a long term to life long basis. Its not in the cards for me and never has. I guess if people are happy doing it and thats what they want to do, than more power to them.

I agree with Colonel Martyr. This behavior has always been around. I was around long before there was internet and I heard people say some pretty creepy things about celebrities in the privacy of their living rooms or kitchens. The only difference between those days and these, that I can see, is that the internet has made these thoughts more public.