YouTube and eat, lives on Saturday, reading an artist’s tweets after work, checking their Instagram to see what they have done, fanmeetings, fan calls… In contemporary internet culture, there are multiple ways to feel connected to figures on the internet.
Companies and new apps have made it possible to feel in company when alone thanks to direct digital contact with our favorite artists. However, most of us do not have the chance to have a one-to-one conversation with them unless we pay. Teenager User X, a pseudonym we will use to protect her identity, was lucky enough, nevertheless the interaction gained attraction for the wrong reasons. Sza, an American R&B artist found herself as the center of tabloid news due to her “inappropriate” interaction with the teenager.
Approaching this incident as a case study, we will discuss parasocial interactions and relationships and their consequences on modern youth.
Turner (2015) discussed the dependent bond that gen z has created with the internet, heavily relying on it for social interest. In contrast with other generations, Gen Z has grown up on the internet hence why their division of “real interactions and intimacy” has become complicated. Jordan (2014) proposed that “children perceive their favorite media characters as persons who become trusted friends”, underlying its one-sided nature.
This matters for our case study as User X’s initial interaction with Sza was like one’s interaction with close friends, she made a joke at the expense of the artist and did not shy away of tagging her in the post even if that meant she could have come across it. This type of interaction addressed towards a celebrity like a conversation with an intimate friend was labeled as parasocial interaction by Horton and Wohl (1956). The user did this because she did not expect any reaction from her Idol, let alone a negative one.
She expected her idol to understand her nice intentions of just wanting to share some laughs, but when the artist didn’t reciprocate the same energy the user progressed to an state of parasocial breakup, a state in which the expectations of a parasocial relationship are not met, whether is by a negative interaction or behavior from an idolized figure, which causes the fan to “fall out of love” with their idol. In a 2003 study, Cohen J. studied the reaction of viewers to parasocial breakups in which they emphasize that teenagers have more upsetting and contrarian behavior when confronted with it.
This explains why the teenage fan resulted in insulting and belittling Sza when she received a negative response to her actions from someone she subconsciously viewed as a friend and by consequence felt entitled to have parasocial interactions with.
On the other hand, Sza developed a close relationship with her fans with daily interactions on social media, relatable songwriting, and public openness about her struggles with body image and insecurities. As explained by Summers (2008) the investment in creating parasocial relations does not only come from the celebrity, but rather the PR team and companies. The modern media does not only sales content, but also the celebrity itself is a product, as building attachment leads to loyalty and better sales. The downside of this is the quick villainisation of celebrities that lets down the expectations of their fans, as happened in this case.
Fans invest money, time, and effort into their idols, creating an illusion of being part of who their idols have become since they “would be nothing without them investing their money,” as a fan of singer Doja Cat twitted on another incident of parasocial interaction. Some fans have lost the ability to view celebrities as an individual far from them since it only takes a click on the phone to text them.
However, celebrities cannot afford to personalize every fan they have since they are working numbers of thousands or millions of people. This is the inherent nature of parasocial relationships, Sza could address the fan as an individual she never met and that has belittled her talent, however for the fan this was someone she knew and saw multiple times on her concerts being mean to her “just because of a joke” amongst the fandom.
Parasocial relationships blur the lines between admiration and entitlement, and when the illusion of intimacy breaks, it reveals just how real a one-sided connection can feel. In the digital age, disappointment isn’t just personal, it’s public, performative, and often explosive.
PS. Sza, I also wish I was a normal girl
REFERENCE:
- Dibble J.L., Hartmann T. and Rosaen S. F., (2016). Parasocial Interaction and Parasocial Relationship: Conceptual Clarification and a Critical Assessment of Measures, Human Communication Research, Volume 42, Issue 1, 1 January 2016, Pages 21–44, Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/hcre.12063 (Accessed 19/10/2023)
- Cohen J. (2003) Parasocial Breakups: Measuring Individual Differences in Responses to the Dissolution of Parasocial Relationships, Mass Communication and Society, 6:2, 191-202. Available from:DOI: 10.1207/S15327825MCS0602_5 (Accessed 19/10/2023)
- Turner, A. (2015). Generation Z: Technology and Social Interest. The Journal of Individual Psychology 71(2), 103-113. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1353/jip.2015.0021. (Accessed 19/10/2023)
- Jordan, A. B. (2014). Media and the well-being of children and adolescents. Oxford University Press.
- Summers J. and Morgan M. J. (2008). More than just the media: Considering the role of public relations in the creation of sporting celebrity and the management of fan expectations, Public Relations Review, 34(2), 176-182.n Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.03.014. (Accessed 19/10/2023)
BISILA 