The Screaming Fangirls Who Forged the Internet

Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany is an engaging look into One Direction’s online fame, the fangirls who propelled them to the top, and a wider exploration into the phenomenon of fandom—beautifully punctuated with autobiographical details from the author. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in understanding stan culture, the many shapes it takes in the present, and how it’s molded today’s internet.

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On December 12, 2010 the musical act One Direction was eliminated from the seventh season of The X Factor. The UK-based reality talent show had brought together five individual contestants—Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik—blending them into a single dreamy boy band, an idea credited to Simon Cowell. The actual winner of that season is hardly a household name—if you Google him, the top related question reads, “Where is Matt McArdle now?” One Direction, of course, went on to become one of the biggest bands in history, breaking beyond their British and Irish roots to worldwide appeal.

Their debut single is one you’ve heard just by being conscious—“What Makes You Beautiful” was certified quadruple platinum in the US and reached number one across various worldwide music charts. Though the band has been on indefinite hiatus since 2016, One Direction holds the record of the first band in American chart history to have their first four albums debut at number one. The craze around them has drawn comparisons to Beatlemania. In a YouTube video of the boy band's elimination from the show, the top comment reads “One Direction. The Band who lost the X-factor but won the world.”