Fanboy

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What Does Fanboy Mean?

Fanboy is gaming jargon used to describe an individual that has gone beyond the point of being a console game fan and, during online chats or discussions, shifts to defend the program at all costs, unable to take any criticism or acknowledge any shortcomings of the game or gaming console. Considered an over-enthusiast to the point of losing all subjectivity, and often times denoting a somewhat questionable state of mind, fanboys are often found annoying by the gaming world.

Fanboy is also known as fanboi.

Techopedia Explains Fanboy

Fanboys are not always easy to ignore, since not only do they continuously tout their favorite games or gaming consoles, but they also passionately criticize others’ usage of different gaming products. This can result in dramatic exchanges and escalating conflict in gaming chat rooms, as the sometimes out-of-control fanboys can resort to verbal attacks of anyone using products other than their chosen one(s). Also, even though they may draw on some good points about gaming technologies, the opinions of fanboys may take on a radical nature, and their messages may get lost in their emotional – if not illogical – debates.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.