# Bronies
Bronies are teenage and adult male fans of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The term was coined on 4chan in late 2010 right after the show's pilot aired, and the fandom grew into one of the most talked about cross-demographic subcultures of the early 2010s internet.
## Overview
"Brony" is a slang label for teenage and adult male fans of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The word smashes together "bro" and "pony," and it grew out of 4chan threads in late 2010 after the show's pilot aired on the Hub network[5]. What started as ironic curiosity about a girls' cartoon turned into one of the strangest cross demographic fandoms of the early 2010s web.
The show was rebooted in 2010 by Lauren Faust, known previously for Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and The Powerpuff Girls, and it drew in a huge group of male fans often in their twenties who followed episodes with more devotion than the target audience of three to six year old girls[1]. Bronies built a sprawling online footprint with fan art, remix music, custom animations, wiki projects, and dedicated news sites. The scene is still one of the defining fandom stories of the Hub network era.
Public perception was split. Media coverage often painted bronies as socially awkward obsessives living in basements, and the fandom pushed back against those framings with organized PR efforts and image campaigns[3]. Even so, the community was large and varied enough that news outlets, academics, and the show's own producers eventually treated it as a serious pop culture story.
## How It Spread
Through late 2010 and into 2011, brony activity on 4chan swelled fast enough that moderators eventually spun up dedicated containment boards[5]. Equestria Daily posted statistical graphs tracking the growth curve and quickly turned into the go-to source for fan art round ups, episode reactions, merchandise news, and open art submissions[6]. The first BronyCon convention was held in 2011, giving the online scene an in person anchor.
Mainstream media caught on in mid 2011. NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me quizzed former President Bill Clinton about My Little Pony characters like Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle in a June 2011 segment tied to his trip to Chicago[4]. Rolling Stone ran a feature on composer Daniel Ingram in April 2012, framing Friendship is Magic as one of the most unforeseen hits in animated TV and tracing how songs written for kids started being sung by adult fans[1]. That kind of coverage put the fandom in front of audiences who had never heard of the Hub network.
By 2014 the fandom was still large enough for Jerry Springer to build an "Outrageous Guilty Pleasures" episode around self identified bronies[2]. Voice actress Tara Strong led a social media push urging fans to boycott the casting call, worried the show would smear the group, but the episode aired anyway with two guests dressed as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie[2]. Around the same window, New Hampshire brony James Turner ran an IndieGoGo campaign called the Brony Thank You Project, raising $13,653 against a $2,000 goal to fund a TV commercial thanking Hasbro and the Hub for the show[3].
## How to Use
"Brony" is a self identifier, typically used by male fans in their teens and twenties who watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Common conventions include picking a favorite pony from the mane six (Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, or Fluttershy), making or trading fan art, joining remix music projects, and going to conventions like BronyCon. Fandom lingo often includes phrases like "20 percent cooler," a line composer Daniel Ingram referenced in interviews about scoring the show[1]. Female fans sometimes go by "pegasister," though many women in the scene just use brony too.
## Cultural Impact
The brony community pushed adult male fandom of a girls' cartoon into public conversation in ways earlier fandoms had not. Rolling Stone, NPR, and Daily Dot each ran repeated features on the group between 2011 and 2014[1][4]. Some bronies answered negative stereotypes with organized PR efforts, most visibly the crowdfunded thank you commercial that overshot its IndieGoGo goal six times over[3]. Researchers eventually studied the demographic under the label "brony studies," and Hasbro itself started acknowledging the older audience in interviews and marketing choices.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Bronies?
Bronies are teenage and adult male fans of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which aired on the Hub network starting in October 2010[5].
### Where did Bronies come from?
The term was coined on 4chan's /co/ and /b/ boards shortly after the pilot episode of Friendship is Magic aired in October 2010[5].
### What does Bronies mean?
"Brony" is a portmanteau of "bro" and "pony," originally used to describe male fans of My Little Pony who did not fit the show's target demographic of young girls[5].
### How do you use Bronies?
It is a self identifier used by male fans of Friendship is Magic, who often pick a favorite of the mane six ponies, make fan art or music remixes, and attend conventions like BronyCon[1].
### Is Bronies still popular?
The fandom peaked in the early to mid 2010s while the show was on the air, and coverage from outlets like Rolling Stone and Daily Dot documented its rise through 2012 to 2014[1][2].
### Who created My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?
The 2010 reboot was developed by Lauren Faust, previously known for The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and produced by Studio B Productions for Hasbro[1].
### Did any celebrities talk about Bronies?
Yes. NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me quizzed former President Bill Clinton about My Little Pony characters like Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy in a June 2011 segment[4].
### Was there a Jerry Springer episode about Bronies?
Yes. Jerry Springer aired an "Outrageous Guilty Pleasures" episode featuring two self identified bronies, over the objections of voice actress Tara Strong who tried to organize the fandom against the casting call[2].
### What was the Brony Thank You Project?
A 2012 IndieGoGo campaign by New Hampshire brony James Turner to fund a TV commercial thanking Hasbro and the Hub, which raised $13,653 against a $2,000 goal from more than 300 backers[3].
### What is Equestria Daily?
Equestria Daily is a long running fan news site that covers My Little Pony art, episode releases, and community events, and became the central hub for the brony fandom online[6].
## References
1. [https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/behind-the-music-of-pop-culture-smash-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-247311/]()
2. [https://www.dailydot.com/news/jerry-springer-my-little-pony-bronies/]()
3. [https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/brony-fandom-pr-campaign/]()
4. [https://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137386121/bill-clinton-plays-not-my-job]()
5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/bronies]()
6. [https://www.equestriadaily.com/]()
7. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bronies]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/bronies
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