The political field is going through a complete transformation, and many factors we considered irrelevant to an election are now game changers. We’ve always looked to celebrities as references in fashion, culture, lifestyle… even in politics. However, the growing digitalization has increased the role of social media in public matters, making these public figures way more influential.
PARASOCIAL RELATIONS
It is no lie that we consume media in an absurd way and a great amount. As a result, there can be a certain confusion between the persona shown on TV and our social life, they can even be perceived as intimate to the audience.Â
Horton and Wohl (1956) were the first ones to notice that. In their studies, they observed that people have tendencies to talk back to their televisions. The audience feels and acts as if they know the celebrity, like they’re friends or even family. It was from this study that the term Parasocial relationships emerged.Â
But that concept closest to our reality that we imagined, in March of this year the lead vocalist of Aespa, Karina, had to public apologize after her fans discovered she was in a relationship. They protested with a truck in front of her house, they questioned “The love you fans give to you isn’t enough?”.Â
SOCIAL MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS
Social media was created in order to optimize relations, in other words, celebrities use digital platforms as a way to interact with their fans the same way they used to interact with their friends and family. This has strengthened the idea of closeness between people, even if you never met them outside the digital world.
According to professor Daniel Lacerda, Montpellier Business School, who is a researcher in Organization Theory, Humanities and Public Management, “Social media makes people more receptive to political messages, because they don’t understand that they are consuming political messages, they think they consume entertainment. This makes them put down their guard. It facilitates more movement messages to penetrate certain bubbles that otherwise are more resistant to this movement.”
CULTURAL CAPITAL
Public personalities can also use their influence as cultural capital, which means, non-economics assets that people possess can help them gain social advantages. This scheme affects the political context in which the celebrity plays a role in endorsements.
As the professor explained: “They can have a significant impact on young voters, those who are experiencing first contact with politics and who might not have a lot of information about politics. They choose candidates through those celebrities and in that way, the endorsements can boost the candidate’s popularity and shape how the public perceives them. Political communication, but the success of these endorsements depends a lot on how much the public identifies with the celebrity”.Â
When a celebrity supports a politician, what they’re doing is linking the connection of how the public feels about them to the politician. The thing is that this connection is shaped by the potentialized parasocial relationship. But the professor explains how it isn’t that simple: “It’s pretty layered, celebrities have become big players in political marketing obviously these days because they use their fame in voting preferences quite explicitly. They don’t hide it anymore, they don’t pretend they’re not campaigning to certain groups like young voters or people who feel strong emotional connection with celebrities”.
THE TAYLOR SWIFT IMPACT
Taylor Swift has been involved in politics many times. An example is when she showed support for Democrats in Tennessee, contributing to a boost in voter registration, especially younger voters. In 2020, she continued this tendency with public opposition to Donald Trump. In both scenarios, she was able to make a difference.
However, in the 2024 elections, the result wasn’t the same. Dr. Lacerda outlined “At the beginning, when she campaigned, she aimed to switch their positions towards the democratic candidate. But after two years,most of the people who followed Taylor Swift had already proven themselves democrats anyway. So now if she says something it doesn’t make a big difference if she’s trying to convert people, the ones that are republican have already abandoned her”.
SO, CAN CELEBRITIES IMPACT AN ELECTION?
To sum up, social media has potentialized parasocial relationships, and that confusion between public people and friends contributes to the embracement of political ideas. The main factor is that on the internet, we don’t always see political discourse as one, sometimes it can camouflage itself between the lines of what your favorite artist is saying.Â
Fame certainly has an advantage when it comes to influencing others, but isn’t a certain science. Many factors have to be taken in consideration in this game, must of all, who you are trying to influence.
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The article above was edited by Maria Esther Cortez.
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