![]() ![]() In the absence of any tangible talent, they are known for their endless beauty transformations and surgical enhancements, which is interpreted by viewers as a predisposition, if not key, to success.Īs the social learning theory suggests, the viewers socialize through TV stars. Jung and Hwang (2016) find that North American female mass media consumers are especially vulnerable to social “crazes.” The researchers name TV shows such as Keeping Up With the Kardashians and its stars as some of the most influential trendsetters. Such trends range from innocuous, such as nail design or haircuts, to extremely invasive, potentially unhealthy, and posing a danger to one’s mental and physical health. Celebrities set beauty trends that their followers, especially females, try to emulate. It is important to note that celebrities are responsible for the normalization of many behaviors that may have been previously perceived as unusual or unwanted. Thus, youth lives vicariously through celebrities and may later make similar choices if they are happy with the perceived outcomes of their lifestyle. Among other things, observational learning is persistent due to its efficiency and “time effectiveness.” As Gergely (2017) puts it, an observation often occurs in place of experimentation. According to the social learning theory, a person acquires new behaviors through observing and imitating others (Gergely, 2017). Gergely (2017) discusses this phenomenon from the standpoint of the social learning theory put forward by the renowned psychologist Albert Bandura. While youth turn to peers for approval, they choose celebrities as the often unattainable but desired ideal. In part, this process is natural as the onset of puberty is often marked with a young person’s departure, if not an active rejection of their parent’s authority. Young people are not yet set in their ways, and, as they do the necessary soul-searching, it is the lifestyle of the rich and famous that often becomes their North Star. The youth of today does not just admire celebrities – they are seeking to mimic their habits and adopt their values. Considering the aforementioned points, young people constitute the most considerable social group influenced by celebrities on the Internet. While the healthy recreational screen time is no more than two hours, teens easily spend up to seven hours per day on their gadgets (Orben, 2020). Orben (2020) synthesizes evidence gathered over the last ten years and reports that between 69 and 90% of teenagers aged 13-17 have at least one social media account. Aside from teenagers’ inclination to seek role models, such figures can also be explained by the demographic’s increased activity on social media as compared to people in other age groups. On the Internet, celebrities reach a whopping 72% of users aged 16-24, and 64% of individuals are between 25 and 34 years old (Clement, 2019). Clement (2019) reports that the majority of the global Internet users who partake in social media activities to keep up with and follow celebrities are young people. Famous people have never been as visible as they are today, which gives them an unprecedented amount of influence.įurthermore, researchers observe record social media use rates among young people who, as explained previously, are the most impressionable and malleable demographic. The football player Cristiano Ronaldo is followed by 238 million people, the pop singer Ariana Grande – 203 million, and the makeup mogul Kylie Jenner has 196 million followers. According to Clement (2019), the most popular Instagram accounts belong to celebrities. This level of access is only one click away, which explains their massive followership. At the same time, fans have become even more intimate witnesses to the previously private parts of celebrities’ lives. The Internet and social media changed the situation dramatically as today a single post can gain millions of views in a matter of hours. Readers and viewers only had news highlights, occasional documentaries, and magazine stories to learn about their idols. Previously, even though celebrities were in the limelight of public attention, the speed at which the information would spread was slow. The rise of social media is one of the reasons why celebrities should pay attention to their image and reputation now more than ever. ![]()
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