It seems like an odd question, but, in all honesty seeing as how some fandoms seem to be going lately, it's a genuine one. Are massive groups of people all loving the same thing really a bad thing? The reason I ask is that I was talking to my girlfriend (Who I tried to convince to get into Steven Universe, only for SJWs to scare her away. I did succeed with Undertale though, to an extent.) and she said that no matter what piece of media you try to get into, whenever you're new you're always ridiculed, looked down on, and mocked for not understanding the media you're really just starting to get into. I for one can attest. I tried to get into MLP and Fnaf, much to the same result of 'If you don't know it when you join, we're ignoring you.' In fact, pretty much all the fandoms I've tried to join (Aside from Undertale and Dr. Who) Have this same effect. So, are Massive Fandoms a BAD thing?

I'd say it depends on the people who make up a particular fandom and what generation/age groups comprise it. Star Wars and Star Trek have massive fanbases, yet I've only encountered what you're describing in a few cases with them. Most Star Wars/Star Trek fans are supportive of new people joining, though they'll want you to get more involved than just watching a few movies or T.V. shows. These two fan bases also have fans who span generations (same thing is happening with Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Power Rangers, as more Gen Xers and Millennials have kids), so you'll see fans trying to get their kids to enjoy the newest iterations of these series, or share their fandom with younger/older audiences.

As with almost everything in life, things are defined by the people who operate/are a part of something. It'd be more accurate to say that the Steven Universe fan base has people who are assholes, rather than attribute those jerk fans to the fan base itself.

In a nutshell, I think having a massive fan base is a good thing for the series, and for those wanting to join such a community. You just need to navigate through the jerks to find a particular group you're more comfortable with, or one that's a lot more accommodating.

Fandoms are the worst. Mob mentality and elitism are the shittiest qualities and often the most common in these groups. It's better to find people within one that are ok (cause they can't all be bad) rather then "join in."

Yes and no. Let's take back a step. Or ten.

What is a fandom?
The state or condition of being a fan of someone or something
What is being a fan?
A fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person who is enthusiastically devoted to something or somebody.

You're basically asking if it's a good or bad thing for people to support, or enjoy things. A fandom is merely a collection of people who support or enjoy a common thing.

Fandoms aren't bad - individuals within the fandom are.

A few years ago, I met someone at work. I chatted with him a bit on and off, and learned that he enjoyed Smash Bros. We trash talked a bit, all in good humour, and I invited him over to my place to let him put his money where his mouth was. My wife was home, and he got off before me, so I basically gave him my address, and let him head there before me.

When I got home, he had apparantly been talking to my wife nonstop about MLP. She hates MLP. He wouldn't shut up, was bragging about how his internet girlfriend was a MLP animator, and he was writing music for the show, blah blah blah. The kicker? he was a chump at Smash. Like, my Bowser could trounce his Marth kinda stuff.

"I was never good at Smash anyways". After weeks of saying how he could kick my ass. Wasn't even fun to dick around against.

A few years later, I learned that another of my friends, whom I had known for quite a while, was into MLP. He never spoke a word about it, but clearly wasn't embarassed about being a Brony either. I think I found out because I added him on FB, and he had a casual mention of it on there. Him and his girlfriend having MLP TCG decks, or something.

My point is: there's extremists in everything. The problem isn't having an interest, or even being passionate about something: it's how you portray that passion when interacting with others. Especially those who don't have any interest in it.

And we have that issue in everything, not just things that have "fandoms". Look at religion.

Yep, they're literally the worst. I dare you to find me a good fandom. You can't.

I personally feel that having fandom (i.e. being a fan of something) is a good thing. Being a part of fandom is a completely different story. Take this with a grain of salt however because I am an anti-socialite.

Fandoms are good, but the vocal parts of them tend to be the bad parts. Just chatting with someone who likes the same thing as you (aka a fellow fan) can be great. Finding out about the part of the fandom that actually is vocal and people have heard of...well, that's the bad part more than sometimes.

We're all part of the HypnoHub fandom. Are we bad?

The problem is every child has a point in the maturation process where they think they are the Supreme Holder of Knowledge in a particular subject and when you combine that with the power of an Internet community, it can get pretty gnarly.

Just remind yourself that what you're dealing with is most likely teens and tweens going through their Insufferable Weeaboo Phase and that they can't hurt you if you don't let them.

Bitch newbs. This fandom doesn't need people who aren't hypnochan veterans mucking up the scene with stupid questions like this.

Also if you're too young to have seen the Original Trilogy in theaters, you can fuck right off.

Seriously, though, i've never heard of a fandom being bad to newbies. Most of my friends love to evangelize their interests. I'm less keen on it, but would have no issue initiating someone if they expressed interest.

The only ones that really beat up on noobs are competitive/cooperative online games of a certain stripe. Dota is supposed to be one of the more toxic communities because a lot of the refined techniques of the gameplay are very much not intuitive, so "learning" means "being dead weight on a team trying to get somewhere," and that team will hate you for it until you git gud, apparently.

Splatoon could probably be the same in Ranked, if randos had any means of communication :-P

youtu.be/2_E62qJApLQ

Here, for your consideration.

In and of themselves? No.

The people that are part of them (online, usually)? Yes.

Pretty much this. Usually when you have a large group, a few of the people aren't going to be very pleasant to put up with. Combining this with the anonymity of the internet and the fact that a lot of people enjoy feeling superior and it can get bad.

Uuuugh
Star Wars fans telling you the Grey Jedi and the Yuuzhan Vong from the crappy books are the best >.<
Game of Thrones fans who won't read the books and think they are better people than you for loving the Starks >_<
Lord of the Rings fans who literally laugh at you because you haven't read the Silmarillion and don't know the dwarven dynasties by heart >___<
Bronies >____<
FNAF fans and their "deep" theories >______<
Steven Universe fans calling you "racist" for not liking obesity >________<
Mystery Japanese novels fans who tell you you have no right to make a hypothesis about the mystery before you've read it all (thus spoiling yourself the mystery) @__________@

... you know what, I started this list to make some bad examples and add that however there are good and fun people, by all this personal experience recollection made me decide that YES, fandoms are bad.
Avoid At All Costs.

Honestly it kind of depends on the fandom and the individuals. Like my sister is a fan of Sherlock, so she gets really excited when new stuff comes out on it and she finds how much the fandom will dissect everything in an episode or commercial hilarious and impressive. In those cases its generally fine.

Then there was that rather vocal part of the Johnlock fandom who actually bitched out and sent threats and harassing emails and such to the actress who played Mary after Mary and John got married. That was depressing as hell for her because well its fucking insane.

Generally speaking avoid the crazy parts and its fine. Just really hard to avoid the wackjobs online. Honestly I've never really seen a fandom that gets horribly offensive at you for being new unless you start espousing generally unpopular opinions and maybe if you go in and start bugging people with things that you should know from a cursory knowledge of the the thing the series is about. Though that last one is only a thing if you are somehow making it a problem for others. Like a person chewing someone out for not spoilering an event in the series that happens in the first 5 minutes of the first episode.

Fandoms are fine. Mobs are bad. The former can become the later very quickly. When a group is more about complaining or attacking things they don't like then celebrating what they do like. Get the fuck out of that group