Overview
- Analyzes what happens when media is a constant in daily life, considering how communication that used to be one-way becomes interactive
- Engages with research and methodologies ranging from Communication and Media Studies to Celebrity Studies, Digital Sociology to Media Psychology
- Raises questions on the place of imagination in a world drive by virtual, digital interfaces
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About this book
Celebrity and Mediated Social Connections is a critical examination of the multiple realities of the mediated culture we traverse, extending from our imaginary inner worlds to the imagined communities of digital media. Chapters explore the dialogic at work when we connect with celebrities and internalize aspects of their personas due to the various social roles they serve within our everyday lives. What might begin as strong identification and internalization within our imaginary worlds, in this digital age, sometimes seeps out as we connect to celebrities, their fans, friends and followers in ways that were not formerly possible.
The book contains topics that range from the degradation of micro-celebrities, the role of celebrities in promoting prescription drugs and their role in contemporary social movements. The common thread that runs through the book presents a mediated world that paradoxically allows if not encourages people to daydream, engage in stream of consciousness thinking and fantasize about celebrities, all while concurrently compelling us to engage in a digitally based objective world. The possibility of interaction on and through digital media intensifies the emotional connection between celebrity and fan. The more personal details one gives up, the closer we feel we become—digital intimacy based on the excessive self. Digital media entice us to engage and remain tethered to technology, staying continuously connected so as not to miss the latest post or meme. To suggest we should build a proverbial wall between the two—imaginary and objective worlds—runs counter to the reality of an always on, always connected culture in which we presently live.Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Neil M. Alperstein is a Professor in the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland, USA. He is the founding director of its graduate program in Emerging Media. He is author of Advertising in Everyday Life and co-author of two books on online education, in addition to numerous book chapters and scholarly articles.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Celebrity and Mediated Social Connections
Book Subtitle: Fans, Friends and Followers in the Digital Age
Authors: Neil M. Alperstein
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17902-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-17901-4Published: 27 May 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-17904-5Published: 14 August 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-17902-1Published: 16 May 2019
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXI, 242
Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations, 21 illustrations in colour
Topics: Media and Communication, Social Media, Culture and Technology, Popular Culture, Cultural Studies