fan cam

A fan cam is a video, usually shot by a fan, that follows one performer during a show. The term is closely tied to K-pop, where fans film their favorite member and share the clip online. It is also spelled “fancam.”

What does fan cam mean?

At a group performance, a fan cam ignores everyone else and keeps the camera on one person. In Korea these are called 직캠 (jikcam), and broadcasters now post their own official single-member “focus” cams as well. Over time, “fan cam” also came to cover short edited clips of a celebrity set to music.

Fan cams in random replies

On Twitter, now X, K-pop fans became known for replying to completely unrelated posts with a fan cam: a news story, a brand’s tweet, someone’s argument. Sometimes it is to promote their favorite, sometimes just to derail the conversation for laughs.

In June 2020 that habit turned into activism. Fans flooded hashtags like #WhiteLivesMatter with fan cams in support of Black Lives Matter, burying the posts those hashtags were meant to collect.

How to use it

• “Her fan cam from the festival has more views than the official video.”
• “Someone replied to the weather forecast with a fan cam. Peak Twitter.”
• “Drop your bias’s best fan cam.”
• “The station posted a separate focus cam for every member.”

Related terms

• bias: your favorite member, the one you’d film
• bias wrecker: the member who tempts you away from your bias
• stan: a devoted fan
• selca: an idol’s selfie
• anti-fan: someone who campaigns against a celebrity

See more terms like this in our K-pop slang dictionary.