A cult following is a group of fans devoted to a specific area of pop culture. Cult followings most often develop around television shows, films, and books. Some comic books, video games, musicians and writers also gain cult followings. Non-media items may also have what could be considered cult followings, for example the soft drink Tab.

Cult followings are often dedicated enough that many people of similar interest are familiar with one another due to convention gatherings, concerts, message boards, Internet chat rooms, word of mouth, or shops featuring related items.

These dedicated followings are usually relatively small and pertain to items that don't have broad mainstream appeal.

"Cult following" is also used to describe the more obsessive fans of established mainstream performers. For example, many persons have been interested in Michael Jackson's music or in Disney films, but some fans take their interest to extreme levels, hoarding vast amounts of collectibles. Some such "cult fans" occasionally veer into obsessive-compulsive behaviors or stalking; however, cult followings do not necessitate that individuals partake in such activities. And in such cases like (for example) The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, U2, Prince [[Pink Floyd, even though these bands and artists have millions of fans, and are practically a household name, there are certain intensely devoted fans who know about every song on every album as opposed to just the songs that receive airplay; or these fans will buy imports and other rare items pertaining to the bands; or these fans were into the bands before they became mainstream. The Grateful Dead are the epitome of a cult band; their fans are called Deadheads.

Cult followings establish their own [[canon (fiction)">canons and cherish the notion of cult classics, which are individual items with cult followings. Cult followings are usually generated through a film or television show having targeted a particular genre, such as fantasy, sci-fi, comedy or horror, but other types of films or TV series can produce a cult following as well.

While cult followings are unquestionably more prevalent in pop culture, examples of this phenomenon exist in serious culture as well, especially among certain sub-segments of the public, such as homosexuals and other cultural minorities. Thus we find cults of certain writers, such as Yukio Mishima, J.K. Rowling, H. P. Lovecraft, J.D. Salinger, Simone de Beauvoir and perhaps most famously, J.R.R. Tolkien; composers like Erik Satie or Edgard Varèse; or performers, like Maria Callas or Magda Olivero.