Understanding the Views of Tehran’s People on Celebrities in the Era of Virtual Media

Our age is the age of fame and celebrities are an inescapable aspect of our daily lives. Considering the high influence and popularity that celebrities have among the new generation, their activity is considered a serious challenge in Iranian society in recent years. The present research seeks to understand the attitudes of Tehran's people towards celebrities. The research method is documentary-survey, and the sample consists of 384 citizens aged 15 years and older living in Tehran, who were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling method. The data was collected using a questionnaire, and the analysis was conducted using SPSS software. The results showed that 72.7% of the respondents follow the news and sidelines related to celebrities, with cinema and TV actors, athletes, and domestic singers and musicians being the most liked celebrity categories, respectively. Television presenters and scientific and cultural celebrities are the least appealing categories to respondent. 'Success in their respective fields', 'popularity', and 'political and social stances' are important reasons behind people's interest in celebrities. The reasons that were least important to respondents for their interest in celebrities are 'showing the details of their personal life' and 'active presence on social networks'. Respondents have indicated that they would like celebrities to model charitable activities, their type of speech, political and social positions, and family life, including issues around marriage, divorce, and other personal matters. The consumption of advertising goods based on celebrity patterns is the least important factor in respondents' interest in modeling and imitating behaviors, which suggests that they are more interested in emulating behaviors that are more prestigious and prevalent. Based on the results, adolescents are more likely to follow celebrity news on Instagram compared to other age groups. Additionally, "success in the field of job" and "charitable" activities are the most important reasons that contribute to their interest in celebrities. The finding that people are searching for identity during adolescence is significant, particularly given the crisis of identity that many people experience at this age. Therefore, it is important that cultural institutions, particularly educational institutions, make efforts to introduce suitable patterns of behavior that align with Islamic and Iranian cultural values, in order to build trust and foster positive behaviors among teenagers. The current research findings indicate that 68.9% of respondents have a 'low' or 'very low' level of interest in celebrity news and sidelines. An additional 18% of respondents have an 'average' level of interest, while only 13.1% of respondents have a 'high' or 'very high' level of interest in celebrity news and sidelines. The tendency towards celebrities can be seen as a reflection of the intense and extreme feelings and emotions that people experience when they follow celebrity news and sidelines. Following celebrity news and sidelines forms a spectrum of behavior, ranging from simply keeping up with celebrities to extreme and harmful states of fascination and illusion. The current research findings suggest that while respondents are interested in following the news and celebrities, this interest often stems from a desire to participate in social conversations and find pleasure in engaging with celebrity topics. On a scale of 1 to 20, respondents had an average score of 6, indicating a relatively low degree of orientation towards celebrities.
Introduction:
In the modern era, as proposed by Baudrillard in his concept of 'the era of simulation', postmodern aesthetics have had a significant influence on numerous aspects of both art and media. Postmodern aesthetics have often sought to deconstruct traditional notions of authenticity and meaning, utilizing the concept of hyperreality as a means of ridicule. According to Bauman, this 'destructiveness' has the potential to obliterate everything in its wake. As Bauman put it, 'Postmodernity most clearly embodies a destructive character; a destructive tendency that mocks and destroys all that it touches'. The deconstructive and style-oriented nature of postmodern aesthetics is evident in the numerous works produced and shared via social networks and other digital platforms. In the postmodern era, the media has evolved to possess its own unique aesthetics, which set it apart from traditional modern aesthetics, not just in terms of format but also in terms of meaning. As a relatively new social media platform, Instagram has become a breeding ground for postmodern aesthetic visual works, characterized by their representation of meaningless pieces. This particular aesthetic rejects traditional modern aesthetic precepts, favoring style over substance. It exemplifies the rise of a distinctively postmodern aesthetic, one that challenges the status quo and stands in contrast to classical notions of beauty and meaning. Similarly, the postmodern aesthetic's rejection of accepted notions of meaning and content extends to knowledge and truth, embracing relativism and uncertainty in their stead. It challenges conventional ideas of what constitutes knowledge and truth, ultimately replacing them with a fluid and ambiguous perspective.
The widespread adoption of postmodern aesthetics in modern media has given rise to a culture of fame and celebrity that has experienced rapid expansion in recent times. Adolescents tend to seek validation and admiration, especially through social media. They gravitate toward a culture of celebrity that caters to these desires, discarding the modernist aesthetic's emphasis on 'desirable, deeply serious, cohesive, innovative, influential, abstract, and under the influence of personal genius' in favor of a more postmodern aesthetic. Instead of embracing the modernist aesthetic's emphasis on depth, coherence, innovation, influence, abstraction, and originality, adolescents who seek validation and admiration through social media find themselves trapped in superficial echo chambers, where they attracting like audiences and become increasingly dependent on that attention. Baudrillard argues that this dominance of mass media images can 'confuse our perception of knowing what we want' (Baudrillard, 1985: 129-132). As a result, both the adolescents and their audience can become disoriented and disconnected from reality.
A significant aesthetic element of social media platforms is the phenomenon of the 'individual-turned-brand', where users transform themselves into pieces of consumable media. In visual-focused social media platforms like Instagram, the focus is often on how the celebrity presents themselves; as a result, 'views' are seen as the most important concept in virtual representation. In these virtual spaces, where 'views' are the primary currency of engagement, individuals may feel compelled to do whatever it takes to become more 'viewable' in order to enter the world of 'brands', displace others, and reach the top tier of virtual exhibition.
Research Question(s)
In this study, we approach the analysis of postmodernism's aesthetic components through the use of rhetorical analysis, specifically in the context of one highly popular Instagram page for teenagers. This exploration helps us to gain a more precise understanding of the adolescent Instagram pages that produce content in this particular postmodern aesthetic style. In this study, we seek to answer several questions, including: What are the differences between postmodern aesthetics and modern aesthetics, and what are the key components of postmodern aesthetic representation? Second, what is the relationship between postmodern aesthetics and the content creation of young micro-celebrities on Instagram? Third, what is the main fantasy or dream these pages sell? And finally, what place does quality artistic style and meaning have in the content of these micro-celebrity Instagram pages?
Literature Review
Many scientific studies on the intersection of adolescents and social media tend to focus on the impact of social media on the lives of adolescents. While the majority of studies on postmodern aesthetics are focused on the realms of cinema, architecture, and visual arts, there remains a lack of representation in the scientific community of the postmodern aesthetic discourse in the field of social media studies. Consequently, there remains a dearth of significant scientific research on the topic of the impact of postmodern aesthetics on adolescent social media pages. Additionally, a lack of representation of these themes in the broader social media studies community has meant little attention has been given to the role of the micro-celebrity and the role they play in adolescent social media pages. While there is a lack of scholarly representation on the subject of the impact of postmodern aesthetics on adolescent social media pages, there is some general background research available on the themes of 'social media aesthetics' and 'self-representation in social media' that may be helpful in understanding the broader social media context that are as follow:
Mohammadvali and Sojjudi (2014) approach the question of authorship and presence in social media by reconsidering the issue in the context of two key areas: content and audience. In their work, they highlight the potential for creating and perceiving new aesthetics through social media and challenge traditional notions of authorship and identity.
As per the work of Manovich (2001) in "Postmedia Aesthetics", the concept of media is replaced with new concepts derived from computer and network culture in order to explore the nature of postmodern media aesthetics. Specifically, Manovich suggests that these aesthetics should focus on the organizational structures behind the presentation and structuring of data within a cultural object, as well as the way that the data is perceived by the user. It should include new concepts, metaphors, and functions of the computer and network era. It must focus on the capabilities and behaviors of users, knowing that user tactics follow specific patterns.
Mehrpour (2019), in "The Representation of Everyday Life on the Pages of Instagram Microcelebrities," explores six major themes through the analysis of popular pages: consumerism, luxury-orientation, pretense, ancient rituals, creativity, and breaking norms. These themes help to provide a deeper understanding of the everyday lives of microcelebrities as reflected through their Instagram pages.
Methodology
The present study aims to examine both the form and content aesthetics of Instagram microcelebrity pages. To analyze the content aesthetics, we will employ the fantasy-theme method of rhetorical criticism. On the other hand, to understand the form aesthetics of these pages, we will focus our attention on technical codes through the lens of video semiotics.
Rhetoric is defined as the 'effective use of language for persuasion' or 'the study of style and structure in writing or speech' (Ilie, 2008: 42). Fantasy-theme critique is one of the rhetorical critique methods developed by Bormann as a means of examining the worldviews of individuals, groups, and institutions. This approach focuses on the use of the fantasy genre to convey deeper cultural meanings and messages to audiences. Fantasy refers to imaginary or fictional stories, it actually refers to the widely shared cultural perspectives present in an artist's works. This use of "fantasy" as a rhetorical device enables us to gain a deeper understanding of the artist's worldview and the cultural contexts that shape it.
According to Foss (2009), the process of artifact analysis in the method of fantasy-theme critique consists of two distinct phases:

Encoding the artifact based on character, setting, and action. These three components are the main factors in creating a fantasy.
Reconstructing the rhetorical conception based on the fantasy.

To analyze the postmodern aesthetics of the "pooorblack" page, it is necessary to analyze the "form" and "content" of the page alongside each other. Thus:

To analyze the "content" appeal, the method of fantasy-theme critique has been used. In this method, sixty artifacts uploaded over ten months (June 2021- March 2022) have been examined. In the first stage, the triad of character, setting, and action has been investigated in each artifact. In the second stage, the main themes of each artifact have been extracted based on the first stage. Then, by categorizing the themes of the artifacts, we reach the general themes or the main fantasies of the artifact. Finally, by considering the frequency of each theme, character, and setting we reach the final analysis of the page's appeal based on its main fantasy.
To understand the form aesthetics of this page, we have examined the appeal of the page based on these technical codes.

Results
The results show six primary themes within the examined artifacts: parent-child, school-student, and peer relationships; self-mockery; exaggeration of everyday clichés; meaningless joy; representation of contradictions; and categorization. Based on the frequency of these themes, it can be concluded that the primary fantasy-theme of this page is "Dissatisfied Youth: Joy in the Moment". Self-mockery and acceptance of disappointment are the only observed actions in response to these disappointments.
By considering the frequency of each theme, character, and situation, we reached thought-provoking results. As shown in the table below, "parent-child challenges" and "self-mockery" are the most frequent themes on the page. Parisa, mother, father, and school staff are also the most frequent character artifacts, respectively. "Home" has been repeated more than others in different situations.




Main themes frequency


Character frequency


Location frequency




Parent-child challenges


School-child challenges


Peer relationship challenges


Self-mockery


Meaningless joy


Representing contradictions


Exaggerating everyday clichés


Categorization


Parisa


Mother


Father


School Staff


classmate


Friend


Neighbor


crush


other


Home


School


Other (street, park, car, barber shop, desert...)




25


6


8


14


8


5


10


5


24


23


12


9


4


6


2


2


13


38


6


17




Based on the frequency of the themes, characters, and settings observed, the most prominent fantasy-theme on the page appears to be "Parent-Child Challenges". The characters Parisa, mother, father, and the home setting are also the most frequently occurring concepts.
Based on the observation, one of the crucial challenges in the parent-child relationship that appears frequently on the page is the previous generation's denial, ridicule, and neglect of adolescents. This, in turn, leads to a sense of dissatisfaction, which is compounded by the pleasant relationship with the previous generation and the desire to rebel against conventional family and social frameworks. Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that "pooorblack" does not explicitly encourage the audience to take rational action to establish the independent character of adolescents. Instead, it presents self-mockery and acceptance of dissatisfaction as the only actions that are evident in response to the challenges of the parent-child relationship and the previous generation's neglect, which ultimately results in a sense of dissatisfaction. Self-mockery is presented as a response to the previous generation's denial and ridicule of the adolescent's character, implying that the adolescent takes on a self-criticism that contributes to a greater feeling of dissatisfaction. Therefore, the solution "exhilaration" provided by empty fun and meaningless jokes may ultimately be temporary escapes from the challenges of life, perpetuating a cycle of denial rather than encouraging constructive change.
Discussion
The phenomenon of microcelebrities, microbloggers, and even less famous individuals who have not yet fully entered the realm of micro-celebrity, all fall within the broader framework of the culture of fame and self-branding. The use of social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok enables these individuals to curate content and connect with like-minded individuals, helping them to build their personal brands and online presence. They, as consciously or unconsciously, are the artistic and media limbs of the capitalist system, injecting momentary pleasures to control the dissatisfaction of socially unequal classes. According to Adorno, "Gradual, the audience of this media becomes indifferent to reality, instead focusing on a kind of entertainment that doesn't require much attention" (Adorno, 1961: 309-310).
These types of pages are entirely based on the distorted tastes of the audience dwelling in this postmodern era. Living in the moment, seeking immediate gratification, ridiculing life's greater concepts, and lacking purpose are the intellectual underpinnings of postmodernism that have seeped into art and cultural institutions. We can witness these signs in phenomena like Instagram pages. In today's visual media landscape, many adolescents enter social media with the dream of 'being seen' and becoming an online celebrity. They partake in creating low-quality content while doing so. These forms of media bypass the strict scrutiny of traditional media, such as television and cinema. Content is produced rapidly and without significant resources, knowledge, or effort. This content can be accessed directly by the audience without the requirement of screening licenses. Furthermore, creator feedback and audience engagement occur instantaneously through direct channels.
To engage with the youths of the postmodern era, it is important to appeal to national values and cultural heritage. Identifying genuine Iranian heroes who can compete with the superficial celebrities of the postmodern era can be an effective step towards reducing the disillusionment of Iranian youth and directing them towards impactful individual and social initiatives.