Degree

BS (Social Sciences & Liberal Arts)

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Department

Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts

Date of Award

Spring 2024

Date of Submission

2024-09-08

Advisor

Rahma Muhammad Mian, Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences

Project Type

SSLA Culminating Experience

Access Type

Restricted Access

Keywords

K-pop, Parasocial Relationships, Visual Analysis

Abstract

This paper is an investigation into the media-based factors that enable the Korean-pop Industry to curate and maintain one-sided parasocial relationships between K-pop artists and their committed fans. This paper examines how K-pop companies benefit from this level of devotion by manoeuvring it to satisfy their capitalist interests or, in other words, showcasing more and more of their artists’ “visual” qualities to manufacture appeal. Moreover, this paper studies how social media helps in nurturing these tactics, especially in this age of irreversible digital footprint, using virtual discourse, misled affections, and unsolicited comments. Finally, this paper highlights the detrimental impact that these media-driven parasocial relationships have on the real and unfeigned parts of the lives of K-pop artists and their loved ones due to the encouraged existence of stalkers and other dangerous individuals. Ultimately, this paper aims to demonstrate the utility of the digital age for the K-pop world.

Pages

48

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