The 'Heated Rivalry' Fandom Is Tearing Itself Apart

"When Heated Rivalry's Connor Storrie and François Arnaud stepped out at a Grammys after-party together on February 2, X account Connor Storrie Updates waited to post about it. Starring in a bona fide global phenomenon has catapulted the show's cast into overnight superstardom and countless accounts on X and Instagram track every appearance, interview, and career move. Storrie and Arnaud's rumored relationship has been the talk of social media and gossip rags for the past month,"

"When Gina and Anna woke up the morning after the Grammys, and saw that the photos of Storrie and Arnaud arriving at the party were from a paparazzi agency, they decided not to share until more official photos were uploaded. The two friends who run Connor Storrie Updates, Gina and Anna, have a rulebook for how they share content with their nearly 85,000 followers on X."

""We don't like to post anything without knowing where it came from," read the guidelines, which aren't public but were shared with me via DM. "If there are pictures/videos taken without consent/without Connor knowing he's being filmed/photographed, we don't post. This includes paparazzi pictures." Unlike most of the content that gets shared on their account, the two knew they needed to monitor the replies a bit more than usual."

A breakout hockey romance has sparked legions of enthralled fans and widespread parasocial behavior. The show's global success catapulted its cast into overnight superstardom, prompting countless X and Instagram accounts to track appearances, interviews, and career moves. Rumored relationship reports about Connor Storrie and François Arnaud generated intense social media speculation and attention. Two fan-account operators, Gina and Anna, follow a private rulebook that forbids posting paparazzi or nonconsensual photos. The operators exercise caution about sharing images and closely monitor replies because François has received substantial online hate. Fan-account moderation decisions create ethical dilemmas between sharing content and protecting privacy.

Read at WIRED