The rapid social change taking place with the advent of the IT Revolution and, more particularly, the rise of social media platforms is beyond theorization. Entertainment media was dominated by television when the world was taken up by a storm with the exponentially growing popularity of smartphones. Streaming films, fictional as well as reality television content that was previously available solely on television began to be easily accessible through a portable device.
With the advent of social media applications as a form of mass communication, celebrities are seen to migrate to stay relevant to new populations. Moreover, their self-disclosure on social media psychologically impacts these populations by giving way to the formation of parasocial relationships. In this day and age, where reality television stars are rapidly becoming social media influencers and social media content creators are migrating to reality television shows, the psychological impact on the youth media content consumers is bound to be graver than ever before.
The social media sphere witnessed fast growth from its advent to becoming a prime source of advertising and public relations by organizations and successful individuals. During this period, attempts to shorten the wide gap between the influencers/ celebrities and their audience have emphasized keeping the content consumers invested for more extended periods of time. This has led to varying degrees of self-disclosure on the part of social media celebrities. This self-disclosure, among other practices, entices the audience and gives birth to parasocial relationships that persuade viewers to believe they have a close and personal relationship with their social media idols.
Yet another source of content generation that makes its audience feel personally connected to the people they observe through media is reality television. Consuming content that portrays a seemingly unfiltered version of celebrities for a considerably long period on a daily basis can also create parasocial relationships.
Reality TV has continued to be consumed by many individuals across households even during times of content overload with numerous options, which has been further boosted by the ease of consumption of content on the go via mobile streaming services and better network environments. It is essential to underline that mainstream reality television content is seasonal. Still, certain consumers engage with various kinds of reality television shows that are telecasted at different durations of the year.
Onboarding influencers is a direct way to approach the youth and help channel them into reality TV content consumption. Social Media Influencers of varying fields open up an entirely new audience category. They have a substantial fan following across different social media platforms, so by featuring them on reality TV shows, the network can tap into the influencer’s existing fan base, potentially bringing in new viewers interested in seeing their favourite influencer in a different context. Further ahead, it brings diverse demographics of audience. Thus, TV shows appeal to a broader and more varied audience by including influencers with various fan bases.
Parasocial relationships undoubtedly establish a connection and relatability that can positively influence purchasing patterns. Still, they are one-sided, lack the essence of interpersonal relationships, and create illusory and unrealistic expectations in people’s minds. Podcasts, especially members-only narrowcasts and accessibility through joining Discord, Instagram live streams, YouTube membership, etc., increase the degree of parasocial relationships.
Social media does have a considerable psycho-physical impact on the users. Including social media influencers is just a strategy producers and media networks use to receive a cross-platform advantage to attract a larger and more diverse audience. The influx of reality TV stars can saturate the influencer market, making it more competitive for existing social media influencers and potentially reducing their earning potential. Many brand deals and collaborations start to approach these reality TV stars turned influencers because of old acquaintances, creating a shortage of paid collaboration for the old influencers. There’s a concern that reality TV stars may prioritize quick monetization over creating high-quality and engaging content, potentially lowering the overall quality of influencer content.
It is note-worthy that the transformation and cross-platform permeation are currently in their nascent stage. Yet, there are considerably high percentages of youth already conforming their consumption patterns in accordance with the inter-platform permeation of influencers. This showcases the tremendous potential of these statistics to grow exponentially.
While sociologists around the world appear to be struggling with conceptualizing, theorizing, and comprehending this issue, it is perhaps imperative to acknowledge that the quick-rising convergence, interdependence and inter-platform permeation in reality television and social media has begun to impact the way audiences consume media content significantly.
More importantly, youth consumers should be educated on media literacy to recognize such patterns in their behaviour and take a constructive route to avoid falling prey to parasocial relationships.
Author is post-graduate student of journalism and mass communication, Sharda University.