Cane West? He’s my favorite rapper! I love that song about the waves. His new album Life of Pierre is so good. My favorite song by him is coincidentally his most popular song.

If the above sounds like you, you’re probably a fake fan. I’m not saying you need to be an expert in everything you like, but if you’re going to openly advocate for something, you should know a bit of information on it.

For example, in order to wear a band tee, you don’t have to know every single song by them and all the member’s birthdays, but you should at least listen to them occasionally and know a few songs. Some people like to wear band tees as a fashion statement, but if you aren’t actually a fan of their work, this can be misleading and can create a false image of you.

A major example of being a “fake fan” is with politics. If you’re going to open a discussion about a previous candidate or the President Elect, you need points and logical arguments to back up your position. Bashing or praising a person or idea without real knowledge of the topic is a bit hypocritical. Don’t say “Wow, Wolf Blitzer was so biased with his questions in that interview,” when you didn’t watch the interview. It’s quite difficult to keep up with all current politics, but advocating a strong opinion without factual evidence isn’t right. I encourage everyone to do a little research on politics in order to participate in current discussions that could change the world, whether that be reading the newspaper once a week or watching CNN with your parents for 30 minutes after dinner.

If you bought a Cubs flag or Cubs tee shirt after they won the World Series but previously had never watched baseball, let alone been a Cubs fan already, you fall under the fake fan category. Nobody likes fair weather fans. It’s more respectable if you stand by your original team, no matter the wins or the losses. All teams go through ups and downs, and a win can never be 100% correctly predicted. Upsets happen all the time ‒ that’s why the game is played. If you constantly change who you’re rooting for, it’s not only unloyal, but less fun for you to not continuously follow one team.

Fake fans are everywhere, and we can’t stop them, but you don’t have to contribute to their nonsense. Remember, you don’t need to be an expert in everything you like, but do your research before you go public with your opinions. Also, be prepared for differing opinions or a pushback against your own. Knowing your stuff also makes it easier to provide counterarguments, plus you look incredibly intelligent doing it. So, before you put on a Misfits tee shirt, ask yourself, can you name 5 of their songs?