Our society I filled with famous people, socialites, and artists who are often termed as celebrities.
These celebrities have an impact on the culture and behavior of the society members as many people view them as role models. There are social networks where people get to talk about these celebrities popularly known as gossip. This paper analyzes the impact of this celebrity gossip on the society today relating to structural functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interactionism theories.
Structural Functionalism
Structural functionalism views the society as an intricate system with parts that work together to form a stable environment. The theory focuses on the interaction of the social institutions that form the community (Kingsbury & Scanzoni, 2009).
One of the functions of celebrity gossips is to make fun of people, to update the fans on the latest information usually celebrity's personal life, his/her travels, et cetera. The gossips also serve to inform the followers of the latest trends (especially fashion) of the celebrities. For example, Rihanna's new haircut (Weiner, 2018).
Gossips help maintain stability in the society by letting people know what to do or what not to do. Celebrities can use their popularity to spread peace in the community.
The fans also use gossips for entertainment and make fun of other people or other celebrities. One of the visible function of celebrity gossip is the spread of a particular belief, notion, or new fashion trend. Some other sites have a hidden purpose of spreading lies and thus undermining the popularity of a celebrity. Often, when the gossips are used to demean a person, the conversations in the gossips may use profane and vulgar languages. This way, these gossips portray an adverse effect on the society. Sometimes, the discussions may depict adult content irrespective of the audience.
The Social Conflict Theory
The social conflict theory states that the members of a society interact based on their differences instead of their consensus. The theories view social life as a competition (Coser, 1957). The following paragraphs explain how this theory manifests itself in celebrity gossips.
Often, the gossips portray the celebrities living a high standard of life compared to most of their followers. Often the celebrities are seen driving expensive cars, living in high-class houses and mansions. The gossips often talk about how one star has bought a new car in an attempt to "defeat" his or her fellow celebrity.
One of the gossips about Kim Kardashian said that the only way one could get intimate photos of her is by being black (Fourwinds13, 2011). Often, the female gender is the ones who are often insulted. One blog post talking about Kim refers to Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton as fug whores (BuzzFeed, 2018). This post indicates how the author thinks about these celebrities in particular and women in general.
Everyone suffers from the posts. The vulgar posts degrade the self-image of the authors. The celebrities' public image is also destroyed. The children also suffer from having bad role models. Nevertheless, the gossips may have some benefits. When the gossips are used to spread peace, the readers benefit. Decent posts also help the children by having them follow decent role models. Lastly, the celebrities benefit when good gossips about them are spread; they gain popularity among the people.
Symbolic Interactionism
This theory sees the society as a product of the social interactions of the people. The theory also defines their interpretation of the symbols involved in the communication to create meaning (Carter, & Fuller, 2015).
In general, the society takes gossip as a means of passing the time, getting updates on the current celebrity trends, and a way of defining whether something is "cool" or not. However, to different individuals, the gossips may have various meanings. Some may take it as a source of entertainment while others take the posts as a source of knowledge and a standard of living. To the celebrities, the gossips can be a source of popularity while to others the gossips can be degrading. Most posts, especially those with adult content, have deleterious effects on the younger generation of the society. Therefore, celebrity gossips can have different meanings to different individuals. These different views on the same content are constructed during conversations as the readers react to the posts. Celebrity gossips influence our daily life by redefining the way people dress, the choice of food et cetera. Ladies, for example, may adopt new hairstyles based on a celebrity's hairstyle.
The three theories try to explain how the society views the influence of celebrity gossips on the culture. The three theories' views do not clash at any point. The theories work together to define how the different social aspects of the community and therefore, according to my analysis, none of the approaches is superior to the rest.
From the three theories, it is clear that celebrities have a significant impact on the society we live in. Their lives often serve as an example to many of the people, especially the younger generation. What the people talk about in the lives of these celebrities have as much influence as the celebrities themselves. Therefore, bad gossip will mean a bad influence in the society.
Printouts for the stories Retrieved 2 September 2018, from https://fourwinds13.blogspot.com/2011/01/
Retrieved 2 September 2018, from https://www.buzzfeed.com/wwtdd/kim-kardashian-is-good-at-twitter-quz?utm_term=.ro1ZKO35aL#.loxyqANv4w
Retrieved 2 September 2018, from https://www.allure.com/story/rihanna-summer-bob
References
BuzzFeed (2018). Kim Kardashian Is Good at Twitter. Retrieved 2 September 2018, from https://www.buzzfeed.com/wwtdd/kim-kardashian-is-good-at-twitter-quz?utm_term=.ro1ZKO35aL#.loxyqANv4w
Carter, M. J., & Fuller, C. (2015). Symbolic interactionism. Sociopedia. isa, 1, 1-17.
Coser, L. A. (1957). Social conflict and the theory of social change. The British Journal of Sociology, 8(3), 197-207.
Fourwinds13 (2011). I started something I couldn’t finish. Retrieved 2 September 2018, from https://fourwinds13.blogspot.com/2011/01/
Kingsbury, N., & Scanzoni, J. (2009). Structural-functionalism. In Sourcebook of family theories and methods (pp. 195-221). Springer, Boston, MA.
Weiner, Z. (2018). Rihanna Just Chopped Her Hair Into a Brand-New Bob for Summer. Allure. Retrieved 2 September 2018, from https://www.allure.com/story/rihanna-summer-bob
