Lady Gaga and Fan Indentification

Click, Melissa A., Hyunji Lee, and Holly Willson Holladay. "Making Monsters: Lady Gaga, Fan Identification, And Social Media." Popular Music & Society 36.3 (2013): 360-379. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. 

Melissa A. Click, et al. loos at fandom surrounding Lady Gaga. In exploring the relationship between Lady Gaga and her fans the authors draw from three areas of research: fan identification, monsters & the monsterous and the celebrity and social media. They also interviews fans. Fans, according to Click, et al., identify with Lady Gaga through her message of empowerment and self acceptance. The authors note the work of John Caughey in examining the fan and fan object relationship. Caughey writes that over time, fans will often incorporate a celebrity’s values into their own attitudes. With Lady Gaga many of these values are already present and are validated and strengthened by Lady Gaga’s engagement with her fans. Fans of Lady Gaga call themselves “little monsters” and consider Lady Gaga the “mother monster”. Perceiving themselves as outcasts, this is a way for fans to embrace their differences. Monster generally has negative connotations in our culture and this is a way for fans to own this word. With Lady Gaga as “mother monster” and protective mentor she becomes almost a parental figure further strengthening a fan’s identification with her. Click, et al. notes the importance of social media in the popularity of Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga is very active on social media and goes beyond the self-promotion of most celebrity’s. She often will interact directly with her fans, most often through twitter. She will respond to a fan’s artwork or cover of her song. This response to the interpretive aspect of her work allows fans to “see the real authentic person behind the celebrity.” This social media engagement with Lady Gaga “both enable and amplify” the identification fans have with her. 

I thought this article was very interesting in that the authors find a very strong fan identification when a celebrity validates their values, particularly when it is done through personal engagement on social media. This, they find, empowers the fan base.