What does being a “fan” mean in the age of hyper-accessibility and hyper-visibility? Who is a fan and what qualifies as fan behaviour has changed considerably in the last ten years – sure, social media has been around for longer, but one cannot remember a time when a “regular” person had constant access to those many degrees removed from them in terms of social, economic, and professional identities.
While until some years you’d wait for the paparazzi to provide photos of your favourite celebrities or fish for gossip on Page 3, social media sites such as Instagram give us a direct view into our favourite celebrity’s home and a quick browse through their follower/following list is often enough to indicate who their most recent romantic partner might be. This blurring of boundaries is certainly jarring and has in turn given rise to a crop of quasi or pseudo-celebrities. Think about social media influencers and how they stand in for celebrities who still remain largely out of reach (Bollywood and Hollywood stars, for example) by trying to “influence” what to eat, how to dress up, travel, and present yourselves.
While it is debatable whether social media influencers have any significant or long-term influence…
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