They’re everywhere: on the radio, in the magazines, and on the internet. Everyone knows of 5 Seconds of Summer, not from their 2011 cover-videos on YouTube, but because they were discovered by boyband member Louis Tomlinson in 2012.

Let’s be real; has anyone ever heard of these boys before One Direction was in the picture? If you have, then kudos to you, because you are one of about one hundred.

Kidding. The band has had more fans than one hundred, but not nearly as much as they do now.

When 5 Seconds of Summer was announced as One Direction’s opening act for the Take Me Home tour, their fanbase tripled. Scratch that, quadrupled. Obsessed teenage girls added another band to their list of priorities.

After about half of a year into the tour, some 5 Seconds of Summer fans had resigned their dedication to the four Australians and went back to One Direction.

Although they lost fans, they were gaining new ones by the second. Many fans, in fact, left their beloved One Direction for the sweaty punks.

I was a fan of the group myself, for quite a while, until realization hit me.

Rumors and photos were circulating around Twitter about the band ‘sleeping around’ with teenage and under-aged fans, certainly creating drama.

Along with this, the boys have an awful way of communicating with fans. Earlier this year, a series of photos were leaked of the back of the boys’ hotel. There were tons of boxes of fan gifts given to the boys, just being thrown away. Now, I understand that 5 Seconds of Summer can’t keep all of their gifts, but at least be a little more sly with throwing it out. They are being selfish with the way they handle the situation by not putting themselves in their fans’ position.

The members of 5 Seconds of Summer are great at singing, almost as great as they are with ignoring their fans. Most of the time, you can find a poor teenager tweeting about how upset he or she is that his or her idol (and practically life) ignored him or her after hours of trying to contact them. There have been multiple cases of the four boys (but mainly just Ashton, Calum, and Michael) completely ignoring fans, including just simply walking away from them.

In early May, Calum Hood, bassist of 5 Seconds of Summer, stumbled upon a rant. A girl was expressing how upset she was that he had literally ran away from three fans that had been trying to meet him. Calum Hood, with all of the confidence in the world, replied “@74sluke hi I don’t think you realize how many people we meet a day. Sometimes you need a break. You obviously don’t realize that. Bye.”

In my own opinion, if 5 Seconds of Summer had enough respect for their fans, then they would either stop for three fans, or have the brains to not respond to the tweet that was never directly tweeted to them. I mean, I agree, 5 Seconds of Summer do meet fans, especially when the bandmates are giving girls their hotel information and backstage passes (while others watch and get ignored. But they need a break, alright?).

I understand if you like 5 Seconds of Summer. They’re talented. I find some people attractive that you do not. I guess some fans are fine with their lack of respect. I bow down to those that deal with 5 Seconds of Summer, because you deserve much more respect than you receive.