The "official" name for MJ fanbase?

Zack44

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Practically every single musical artist/group (even other celebrities not in the music industry) has some sort of name for their collective fanbase: e.g. Beliebers, the Beyhive, Directioners, Little Monsters, etc. This is a trend that I've personally only seen happening within the last 10-15 years. Only in recent years, especially since his death, I've never actually heard of any sort of "official" name for MJ fans until the term "Moonwalkers" has been floating around in the last few years.

I've always considered Michael Jackson fans as, well, Michael Jackson fans. In my opinion, having a "catchy" nickname just makes us sound like some sort of crazy cult; it just doesn't feel right to me. Besides, to my knowledge Michael himself always called his fans "fans", not some buzzword-y nickname like "moonwalkers".

If you guys prefer to call yourselves "moonwalkers" or whatever, I don't mind. I just personally feel like one buzzword does not capture what we are. After all, the TRUE fans of Michael Jackson absolutely go above and beyond what it means to be a fan of a pop star. People like us came from all over the planet stood in front of that Santa Barbara courthouse every single day in 2005 to show how much we loved him and appreciated him. You don't see Chris Brown's fans doing that...

I just want to hear the opinions of everyone else on this matter: do you guys like to call yourselves "moonwalkers"? Do you have any alternative nicknames you like to call the MJ fanbase? Please feel free to let me know.
 
The official name of this community suppose to be Soldiers Of LOVE Michael never liked the name Moonwalkers of this community. he also called us his family we are all one.

the community has change alot since Michael passed away. but Michael loved calling us his Soldiers Of LOVE and his family.
 
I personally don't like the name Moonwalkers either. even Michael didn't like it either. i really don't like calling myself anything but an Michael Jackson fan to be honest.
 
This trend is not a phenomenon only of the last 10-15 years.

It actually started in the ‘60s with the English band The Beatles whose fans were collectively called Beatlemaniacs.

In the last 10-15 years, this trend has become more intense, especially for fans of many current pop stars.

This is also caused by marketing purposes, when it comes to many newly emerged pop acts.

In Michael Jackson’s case, there is no such name (official, or not) for his fans.

The name ‘Moonwalkers’ failed to gain wide usage (simply because it is an utterly unsuccessful name) and, thus, it will never become a name for his collective fan base.

Also, that name is very limiting for his fans because his moonwalk dance is just one of the many aspects of their idol’s art.

Michael Jackson’s fans do not really need a collective nickname, they are just his fans.
 
The 'MJFam' is the most popular term used for the fan base, that I've seen. 'Soldiers of Love' is nice too, since Michael said it himself.
 
I love "Soildiers of love" cause it is not only a name for a fangroup it is also the name for a mission and the order to continue it.
The mission of the man who became for me "The Man Behind the Mirror" and changed the world but could not reach his dreams in his lifetime because of to much resistance against him!
 
I always use the name “Moonwalker” as my wrestling persona.
 
It's probably a thing for the newer generations of MJ fans since the Lady Gaga age.

For me and probably for any of the people that have been a "fan" since decades, it feels a little silly, to suddenly have such a new term attached to their lifelong fandom.

"Beatlemaniacs" is not quite the same though. Maniac is just a synonym for fan/fanatic, and the origin likely is the media labeling certain groups of people. While "Moonwalkers", "Little monsters" etc are terms that came from within the fan scenes / only insiders will understand.
 
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I don't like these kind of things, they belongs to post-millennials which I can't stand at all. In fact look which kind of fanbases you mentioned (Bieber, One Direction etc.).
However, I always read here and there the name "Moonwalkers" and another name I always read is "Jacksoniani" (Jacksonians in english), which is the Italian fanbase.
 
I personally can't stand the "moonwalkers" thing. I find it downright cringe-worthy, to be honest! It think it trivializes us, trivializes MJ and our entire relationship/interaction with one word. But then, like many of you, I've been a fan for a looong time, so don't feel we need some kind of cutesy fandom identity. (A friend of mine joked a while back that "moonwalkers" sounds more like something a group of pre-teen girls would come up with for their after-school babysitter's club, lolol.:lmao: Oh geeez, lol.)

I have a question, though. A couple of you mentioned that MJ didn't like this name. I'm wondering if I totally missed something (?), because I don't think I'd ever heard the term "moonwalkers" in reference to MJ fans until a couple of years ago. Do you mean that in a way like he didn't like names like that, that reduced him in that way, or did someone actually try to start that up years ago and he quietly commented on it...?
 
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Electro;4267016 said:
"Beatlemaniacs" is not quite the same though. Maniac is just a synonym for fan/fanatic, and the origin likely is the media labeling certain groups of people. While "Moonwalkers", "Little monsters" etc are terms that came from within the fan scenes / only insiders will understand.

It is quite the same.

Do you know how fans of the English pop singer Conor Maynard decided to be collectively called?

They decided to be called ‘Mayniacs’ (referring to 'maniacs', of course).

Conor Maynard’s ‘Contrast’ debut album achieved big chart success when it was released in 2012, and he is also the one who won the MTV Brand New 2012 Award.

The term ‘maniacs’ (which originated from The Beatles’ fans in the ‘60s) has been in use since then also on other cases of pop fan bases.
 
mj_frenzy;4267037 said:
It is quite the same.

Do you know how fans of the English pop singer Conor Maynard decided to be collectively called?

They decided to be called ‘Mayniacs’ (referring to 'maniacs', of course).




Conor Maynard’s ‘Contrast’ debut album achieved big chart success when it was released in 2012, and he is also the one who won the MTV Brand New 2012 Award.

The term ‘maniacs’ (which originated from The Beatles’ fans in the ‘60s) has been in use since then also on other cases of pop fan bases.




I remember when he first came out he was huge
 
I have also the impression that the name did orginated and was used mainly after Michals death and not really trough his lfetime.
I can't remember that this name was used in the 90ies when I became a MJFan.
But maybe I am wrong.
Who can tell us how this name did orginated and developed?
 
mj_frenzy;4267037 said:
It is quite the same.

Do you know how fans of the English pop singer Conor Maynard decided to be collectively called?

They decided to be called ‘Mayniacs’ (referring to 'maniacs', of course).

Conor Maynard’s ‘Contrast’ debut album achieved big chart success when it was released in 2012, and he is also the one who won the MTV Brand New 2012 Award.

The term ‘maniacs’ (which originated from The Beatles’ fans in the ‘60s) has been in use since then also on other cases of pop fan bases.



There's still a difference, as I already tried to point out. "Moonwalkers" or "Little Monsters" is more specific, and basically only people from within those scenes will know what it refers too. Fan/Fanatic or maniac (as in "Beatlemania") are general labels that likely have originally been put out by the press, not by the fan bases themselves.

I never heard of Conor Maynard, but if that was in 2012, then it falls into that same age of Gaga, Bieber etc, in which fan bases began to come up with rather creative names for themselfes.

I think it happened in conjunction with the rise of social media. Before that, fans could hardly mass connect as easily, so that it would have been hard to establish and spread the idea for a special name for themselves.
 
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Looking for cringeworthy names? I'll give you these:

- "the Doggone Lovers"
- "the Aouw! & Hee-hee's"
- "the Shamoners"
 
The term Moonwalkers been going on since the 80's. Michael said he did not like that name. he prefer the to call us his soldiers of Love or family. i don't like the name moonwalkers either.
 
^ I wish there was a source. Maybe we could convince people to stop using it then! lol. :rofl:

Thing is, I've been a fan since '84 and I never heard the term "moonwalkers" in reference to MJ fans until a couple/few years ago, when "Beliebers" and "Little Monsters" became a thing. I have tapes full of specials and news clips and scrapbooks of articles from back through the 80's, like when they were calling Michael "the Gloved One" and calling it "Michaelmania", but no "moonwalkers". Maybe it was just in certain countries, though. I mostly just know what was going on in the US, at least up until the internet era. But even if a couple of papers in, I don't know... Australia or somewhere... once printed it, or a small fan club/group called themselves that at some point, it still seems that the current younger generation are the ones to have invented it this time around, as part of the cutesy fandom names trend. Just based on the utter (or near-utter) absence of the term en masse in all the previous decades.
 
I have no source but i got this from an long time fan and the part were Michael didn't like this name has been said by alot.

Maybe that's some mixup with "J.a.c.k.o", of which Michael said he didn't like.

I can't really see Michael saying he doesn't like his fans calling themselfes this or that.

I've also been a fan since the late 80s and never heard of "Moonwalkers" until recent years.
 
I've never heard of Michael being offended by the term 'moonwalkers'. why would he be, when he named his autobiography and movie after a similar variation? besides, as others have stated, the term that some fans gave themselves was done after '09. I personally love it, and would be proud to call myself one :) it's based on an interesting movement that not everybody can do. it's fun!
 
NatureCriminal7896;4267161 said:
The term Moonwalkers been going on since the 80's. Michael said he did not like that name. he prefer the to call us his soldiers of Love or family. i don't like the name moonwalkers either.

Electro;4267164 said:
Any source for that?

NatureCriminal7896;4267236 said:
I have no source but i got this from an long time fan and the part were Michael didn't like this name has been said by alot.

mjbunny;4267282 said:
^ I wish there was a source. Maybe we could convince people to stop using it then! lol. :rofl:

Thing is, I've been a fan since '84 and I never heard the term "moonwalkers" in reference to MJ fans until a couple/few years ago, when "Beliebers" and "Little Monsters" became a thing. I have tapes full of specials and news clips and scrapbooks of articles from back through the 80's, like when they were calling Michael "the Gloved One" and calling it "Michaelmania", but no "moonwalkers". Maybe it was just in certain countries, though. I mostly just know what was going on in the US, at least up until the internet era. But even if a couple of papers in, I don't know... Australia or somewhere... once printed it, or a small fan club/group called themselves that at some point, it still seems that the current younger generation are the ones to have invented it this time around, as part of the cutesy fandom names trend. Just based on the utter (or near-utter) absence of the term en masse in all the previous decades.

Electro;4267292 said:
Maybe that's some mixup with "J.a.c.k.o", of which Michael said he didn't like.

I can't really see Michael saying he doesn't like his fans calling themselfes this or that.

I've also been a fan since the late 80s and never heard of "Moonwalkers" until recent years.

The term ‘Moonwalkers’ started in recent years (after Michael Jackson's death) by an Internet site that now is closed.

Electro;4267055 said:
There's still a difference, as I already tried to point out. "Moonwalkers" or "Little Monsters" is more specific, and basically only people from within those scenes will know what it refers too. Fan/Fanatic or maniac (as in "Beatlemania") are general labels that likely have originally been put out by the press, not by the fan bases themselves.

I never heard of Conor Maynard, but if that was in 2012, then it falls into that same age of Gaga, Bieber etc, in which fan bases began to come up with rather creative names for themselfes.

I think it happened in conjunction with the rise of social media. Before that, fans could hardly mass connect as easily, so that it would have been hard to establish and spread the idea for a special name for themselves.

It did not happen in conjunction with the social media.

Even before the advent of social media, such nicknames for fan bases were already in existence.

It was very easy, for example, for an artist or a band to start such a nickname for the fan base (through conventional media outlets, like through TV interviews, radio interviews, magazines interviews, etc) and their fans would immediately adopt that term for themselves.

In 1975, for instance, the American hard-rock band Aerosmith called their fans ‘Blue Army’ and that term has been widely used since then by the band’s fans.

Lady Gaga just increased even more the use of that trend with ‘Little Monsters’ in the summer of 2009.
 
I love the term MJFam. When I speak to muggles about us I always say "the community". I also call myself fan of course, and us the fans. But generally I just say "the community".
 
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