Anais
Resumo do trabalho
Marketing · Cultura e Consumo
Título
MAYHEM ON THE BEACH: AN ANALYSIS OF LADY GAGA FANS' INTERACTIONS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PARASOCIALITY AND PARTICIPATORY CULTURE
Palavras-chave
Fandom
Participatory Culture
Parasocial Relations
Autores
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Tyson AntonioUNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE PERNAMBUCO (UFPE)
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Nelsio Rodrigues de AbreuUNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DA PARAÍBA (UFPB)
Resumo
Introdução
Over the last few decades, pop music has consolidated itself as a space for identity and emotional expression, especially among young audiences. Lady Gaga is seen as a central figure within pop culture, the artist has built her career on messages of acceptance and empowerment, which leads fans to create illusory bonds with the artist. In 2025, her free performance at the “Todo Mundo no Rio” event brought together more than two million people on Copacabana Beach, turning the show into a social phenomenon.
Problema de Pesquisa e Objetivo
Pop music fans create emotional connections with artists that go beyond admiration, shaping their identity, feelings and forms of sociability. This study seeks to understand: How do fans interact and co-construct meanings in posts about Lady Gaga's concert in Brazil? The aim is to identify the types of interactions and co-constructions of meaning carried out by fans in posts about Lady Gaga's concert in Brazil, in the light of the theories of parasocial relations and participatory culture.
Fundamentação Teórica
The Parasocial Relations Theory is based on explaining how individuals create affective bonds with media figures in one-sided but emotionally significant relationships (Horton & Wohl, 1956). In this context of imagined relationships, Participatory Culture emerges, analyzing how fans not only consume but also produce content, participate in communities and build collective meanings around cultural objects (Jenkins, 2006).
Metodologia
The methodological approach used is qualitative. The data was collected between April and May 2025 from virtual communities on Instagram. The data corpus consisted of 50 posts, the main source being the community profile @rdtgaga, recognized as one of the artist's biggest fan sites. The data was analyzed through content analysis.
Análise dos Resultados
Fans' interactions reveal that the parasocial relationship with Lady Gaga is a place where fans see how the artist has influenced their lives, self-esteem and overcoming traumas, and within this imagined relationship there are expectations and frustrations that are triggered when fans expect something but the artist doesn't perform as expected. The comments revealed emotional tensions due to the lack of pre-show interaction, expressing both criticism and empathy. Within participatory culture, there were practices such as creating memes, videos and organizing collective actions for fans.
Conclusão
The study shows that Lady Gaga fans build a symbolic and emotional relationship with the artist, sustained by parasocial and participatory practices. These relationships transcend the music scene, becoming tools for belonging, identity expression and emotional support. In addition, participatory culture emerges as a field of engagement, co-creation and mobilization of collective meanings.
Contribuição / Impacto
This article broadens the understanding of parasocial relationships by revealing how one-sided links with media figures structure collective identities and offer emotional support, highlights participatory culture by demonstrating fans as content producers and digital mobilizers, guides marketing professionals and event organizers by mapping expectations and criticisms regarding accessibility, logistics and security, and demonstrates the economic and social impact of free cultural events on democratizing access and urban development.
Referências Bibliográficas
Horton, D., & Richard Wohl, R. (1956). Mass communication and para-social interaction: Observations on intimacy at a distance. psychiatry, 19(3), 215-229. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, bloggers, and gamers: Exploring participatory culture. nyu Press.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, bloggers, and gamers: Exploring participatory culture. nyu Press.