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The Social Science Journal 56 (2019) 21–29

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The Social Science Journal

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s o s c i j

oneliness and the use of social media to follow celebrities: A oderating role of social presence

ihyun Kim a,∗, Jinyoung Kim b, Hocheol Yang c

Nicholson School of Communication and Media, University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 161344, Orlando, FL 32816, USA College of Communications, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA

r t i c l e i n f o

rticle history: eceived 5 December 2017 eceived in revised form 8 December 2018 ccepted 20 December 2018 vailable online 22 January 2019

a b s t r a c t

Because social media provide users with the possibility of an easy way to communicate with celebrities in society, it has become a more common practice to follow celebrities through social media. However, there exists few studies that examine how people’s individual char- acteristics are related to their celebrity-following behavior. In this regard, the current study examines whether celebrity followers’ loneliness is associated with the following behavior of their favorite celebrity. Data were collected through an online survey (N = 210). Primary findings suggest that celebrity followers’ loneliness is positively related to frequent visits

eywords: elebrity oneliness arasocial relationship ocial media ocial presence

of their favorite celebrity’s social media, greater social-interpersonal motive for following the celebrity, and greater enjoyment of learning about personal life stories of the celebrity. Social presence is found to be a significant moderator that can intensify more favorable parasocial relationship perceptions with the celebrity.

© 2019 Western Social Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

. Introduction

Social media have been increasingly used among elebrity followers who want to know more about celebri- ies because users do not have to obtain permission to ccess the celebrities’ social media profiles to review their ictures and videos (Bond, 2016; Marwick & Boyd, 2011; tever & Lawson, 2013). Before the advent of social media, nformation about celebrities has been delivered to the ublic mostly through mass media such as television, radio, nd newspapers. That is, individuals who had a strong nterest in or admiration for celebrities could only receive

uch celebrity-related information from mass media (Click, ee, & Holladay, 2013). However, as newer media, such s social media, offer users a more open and direct way

∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Kim),

[email protected] (J. Kim), [email protected] (H. Yang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2018.12.007 362-3319/© 2019 Western Social Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc.

of communication with others, celebrities started sharing their life stories openly with their followers through social media (Brau, 2013). Hence, any individuals who wish to know about their favorite celebrities can easily find a way to connect them in a mediated platform.

The extant research notes that individual differences are important to consider in the understanding of people’s media use (Oliver & Krakowiak, 2009); particularly, per- sonal characteristics are related to social media use (e.g., Ross et al., 2009). Then, a question that naturally follows in the context of the current investigation is that if there is any particular individual characteristic among followers that may play a role in consuming celebrity’s social media. Research findings on parasocial relationships in traditional media imply that one’s feeling of loneliness is particularly related to media use. Specifically, lonely individuals are

found to rely on media (Rubin & Perse, 1987) and consume a heavy amount (e.g., Rubin, Perse, & Powell, 1985) to meet their interpersonal needs.

All rights reserved.

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Although the context is not about celebrity’s social media, an increasing body of literature has reported the same phenomenon in the overall use of social media. Specifically, lonely individuals have been reported to turn to social media to compensate for the lack of social skills and human connections with others in face-to-face set- tings (e.g., Kraut et al., 2002; Song et al., 2014). As the meta-analysis (Song et al., 2014) found, individuals who expressed higher levels of loneliness and lower social sup- port tend to use social media more often compared to those who felt less loneliness and received greater social support.

A celebrity–follower relationship can be thought of as another important human connection, which would reveal similar traits and patterns of the relationship. That is, celebrity followers’ loneliness might be related to their usage of celebrities’ social media to a greater extent. However, there is little evidence that can support this con- jecture. Further, it is unclear what motives are related to lonely individuals’ following behaviors and how they feel about their experiences as they learn more about the celebrity.

Considering the growing use of social media among celebrities and their influence on followers and society (e.g., Jin & Phua, 2014; Marwick & Boyd, 2011), it is worth examining the dynamics and nature of a celebrity–follower relationship in the domain of social media. In this regard, the current study examines how celebrity followers’ lone- liness is related to their use of and experiences with their favorite celebrity’s social media. Research indicates that the theoretical notion of social presence plays a crucial role for facilitating positive experiences in a mediated environ- ment (Biocca, Harms, & Burgoon, 2003). Thus, the current study also examines how social presence plays a role in the understanding of celebrity followers’ relationship percep- tions toward their favorite celebrity on social media.

2. Loneliness and social media use

2.1. Lonely individuals’ social media usage

The extant research has documented two models that explain people’s behaviors and uses of the Internet: the social enhancement model and the social compensation model. The social enhancement model explains that indi- viduals who perceive their offline social networks as well developed tend to go online to further amplify their social resources and extend their social networks (Kraut et al., 2002). In particular, the model posits that extroverted and outgoing individuals are motivated to go online to enhance their social resources and networks (Ross et al., 2009; Valkenburg, Schouten, & Peter, 2005).

Another model, which is more relevant to the cur- rent study’s context, is the social compensation model. The model holds the idea that individuals who lack social connections offline tend to go online to compensate for what they lack in an offline life (Kraut et al., 2002). That is, the model supports the claim that introverted, socially

anxious, and shy individuals are more likely to use the Internet because they can substitute online networks for lack of offline social networks (e.g., Morahan-Martin & Schumacher, 2003; Valkenburg & Peter, 2007). Specifically,

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lonely individuals are found to use social media more heav- ily compared to those who feel less lonely (e.g., Rauch, Strobel, Bella, Odachowski, & Bloom, 2014). Through a meta-analysis, Song et al. (2014) found a causal relation- ship indicating that loneliness leads to more Facebook use. That is, lonely people tend to use social media because it provides them with more opportunities to interact with others, which might be lacking in the offline life.

Thanks to social media, people can easily learn about celebrities’ professional and/or personal life stories and create some type of perceived relationships with them. In a popular sense, celebrity has a meaning of ‘a famous per- son’, but fundamentally, they are also normal people living their ordinary life with more popularity than others (Dyer, 2007). In that sense, mediated interpersonal relationships between people and celebrities (media personae) are sim- ilar to typical face-to-face social relationships (Rubin & Perse, 1987).

Research indicates that many celebrities use social media as a means of communicating with their followers (e.g., Jin & Phua, 2014). By acknowledging the popularity of social media use between celebrities and followers, the cur- rent study examines how celebrity followers’ loneliness is related to the following behavior of their favorite celebrity’s social media. In particular, based on the social compensa- tion model and the existing empirical evidence (e.g., Kraut et al., 2002; Song et al., 2014), the current study predicts that celebrity followers’ loneliness is positively related to the usage of their favorite celebrity’s social media. Taken together, the following hypothesis is proposed.

H1. Celebrity followers’ loneliness is positively related to the usage of their favorite celebrity’s social media.

2.2. Loneliness and motives for social media use

Uses and gratifications theory (U&G) argues that indi- viduals are an active audience, emphasizing the active role of a media consumer in their use and choice of media (Rubin, 2009; Katz, Haas, & Gurevitch, 1973). In particular, the U&G theory highlights that media users have willpower to resist what media propagates and they autonomously choose a particular medium to gratify their own needs. That is, individuals are highly motivated and proactively select a specific medium to satisfy their physical, social, or psychosocial needs (Katz et al., 1973; Rubin, 2009).

To further understand the core element of U&G theory that audience is active and media use is goal-oriented (e.g., Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1974), Blumler (1979) explains the notion of being active in various ways such as utility, intentionality, and selectivity. Utility refers to the idea that media has many different uses for people and people put media to those uses. Intentionality is concerned with the idea that media consumption can be directed by people’s motivations. Selectivity refers to the idea that people use media based on their existing interests.

The core element of the theory provides the framework

for the understanding of why people consume social media. Raacke and Bonds-Raacke (2008) examined why users are attracted to social media and found that the most salient motives are to stay in touch with their existing friends, to

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ost or view pictures, and to make new friends online. In nother research, Park, Kee, and Valenzuela (2009) found hat social media help users socialize with others and seek nformation about social issues. Generally, studies have ound that information and social-interpersonal motives re primary reasons for social media use (e.g., Krämer, inter, Benninghoff, & Gallus, 2015; Raacke & Bonds-

aacke, 2008; Schubert & Seyffert, 2017). On social media, a variety of stories are being shared.

ccording to social penetration theory (Altman & Taylor, 973), individuals “voluntarily and intentionally reveal bout themselves to others, including their thoughts, feel- ngs, and experiences” (Tang & Wang, 2012, p. 245). This act f self-disclosure varies in terms of topic and the degree of evelation about each topic (Altman & Taylor, 1973). Thus, edia users learn about a variety of aspects of social media

wners because self-disclosure appears in diverse forms evealing a variety of topics such as profession (i.e., profes- ional self-disclosure) and personal life including families nd friends (i.e., personal self-disclosure).

The same phenomenon seems to appear in the con- ext of celebrity’s social media. With regard to motives, esearch has demonstrated that primary motives for fol- owing celebrity’s social media are related to interpersonal nd information seeking motives (e.g., Schubert & Seyffert, 017). With regard to self-disclosed stories on social media, esearch has addressed different types of stories that elebrities share on their social media; professional (e.g., oncert, new TV shows) and personal events (e.g., birth- ay party, family reunion) (e.g., Stever & Lawson, 2013).

n this regard, it is questionable if celebrity followers’ per- onal characteristics such as loneliness would play a role n their following behavior. However, the extant research as not clearly addressed this.

Indirectly, part of these questions might be answered y the perspective of the social compensation model. As ddressed earlier, the social compensation model posits the dea that people who lack social resources offline tend to go nline to compensate for what they lack (Kraut et al., 2002). rom this perspective, it is presumable that lonely individ- als’ following behavior of their favorite celebrity’s social edia are motivated with gratifying social-interpersonal

eeds rather than information needs. Similarly, lonely fol- owers may enjoy learning about their favorite celebrity’s ersonal life stories rather than professional life stories to ulfill social feelings they may lack in the follower’s life.

Thus far, little has addressed this issue in the celebrity’s ocial media context. In this regard, the current research ims to fill this gap and advance the understanding of ocial media research in the celebrity–follower relation- hip. Specifically, based on the extant research, the current tudy focuses on two particular motives (information otive and social-interpersonal motive) and enjoyment

f learning about celebrity’s professional and personal life tories. Taken together, the following research questions re being sought.

Q1a–b: How is celebrity followers’ loneliness related to a) information motive and (b) social-interpersonal motive o follow their favorite celebrity’s social media?

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RQ2a–b: How is celebrity followers’ loneliness related to enjoyment of learning about their favorite celebrity’s (a) professional and (b) personal life stories shared on social media?

3. Social presence

In a mediated environment, people engage in social interactions with diverse groups of interaction partners such as people they have preexisting relationships with (e.g., friends, family) and people they interact with in a mediated environment only (e.g., celebrities, computer game partners in cyber space). Whether the interaction is one-way (e.g., reading a post on social media) or two-way (e.g., exchanging messages on social media), people might experience a certain degree of social connections to others in this mediated environment. Although their interaction partners are not physically around or present in the same space, people might feel as if they were socially around. This type of experiences can be understood as a feeling of social presence.

Social presence is part of presence experiences (Lee, 2004). Although the universal definition of social presence has not been agreed upon, it is generally understood as a feeling of socially and psychologically being connected to the other social actor without realizing the existence of the medium (Biocca et al., 2003; Lee, 2004). Acknowledging the importance of social presence for effective experiences in a mediated environment (e.g., Biocca et al., 2003), the notion has received much attention from scholars in diverse contexts (e.g., Lee, 2013; Kim, Merrill, & Song, 2018a; Kim, Song, & Lee, 2018b; Kim, Song, & Luo, 2016; Song et al., 2014; Song, Kim, & Park, 2018; Spence, Westerman, Edwards, & Edwards, 2014; Westernan, Spence, & Lin, 2015).

Considering that the core nature of social presence is in line with the feeling of social connection to oth- ers in a mediated environment, the notion is particularly important for lonely individuals online. As argued ear- lier, the social compensation model indicates that lonely people go online to compensate for the lack of compan- ionship in their offline life (Kraut et al., 2002). Supporting this argument, empirical research has documented posi- tive associations between loneliness and social media use (e.g., Caplan, 2007; Lee, Jung, Kim, & Kim, 2006; Morahan- Martin & Schumacher, 2003; Shapira, Goldsmith, Keck, Khosla, & McElroy, 2000). However, an important ques- tion is whether the use of social media would help lonely individuals develop positive relationship perceptions with others connected online.

Although there has been extensive research in this area, the findings are not consistent about the effects of media consumption on lonely individuals. For example, some research indicates that lonely individuals tend to use the Internet heavily, but this heavy consumption tends to

cause detrimental effects such as PIU (Problematic Internet Use) (Caplan, 2007; Morahan-Martin & Schumacher, 2003). Somewhat differently, other research indicates that the effects of lonely individuals’ social media use are not always

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harmful; it can be either positive or negative depending on media use patterns and experiences (Frison & Eggermont, 2016).

The extant research indicates that social presence is an important factor that could enhance benefits of going online (e.g., Kehrwald, 2008; Kim, Kwon, & Cho, 2011; Kim et al., 2016). For example, Kehrwald (2008) discovered that when people have familiar interaction partners in a mediated environment, which could create more comfort- able atmosphere, they can “overcome feelings of loneliness or isolation” (p. 98) and create socially safe space. Fur- ther, Kim et al. (2018b) found that lonely individuals enjoy media experiences when they feel strong social presence of others, which indicates that social presence can facilitate lonely individuals’ media experiences.

Pertaining to the celebrity–follower relationship con- text, the study particularly focuses on parasocial rela- tionship as an important media experience. Parasocial relationship refers to a fictional, one-sided, and non- reciprocal relationship in which a person thinks she/he knows someone well, but in actuality, that person does not know the other (Rubin & McHugh, 1987). This type of relationships often appears in the dynamics of celebrity–follower relationships (e.g., Rubin et al., 1985; Stever & Lawson, 2013).

Extant research has attempted to examine how loneli- ness is related to parasocial relationships, but findings have been somewhat perplexing. Traditional media research has reported that loneliness is positively related to media con- sumption (e.g., Rubin et al., 1985; Rubin & Perse, 1987), but loneliness has not been found to be significantly related to parasocial relationships (e.g., Ashe & McCutcheon, 2001; Canary & Spitzberg, 1993; Rubin et al., 1985). These findings imply that lonely individuals’ media consumption does not guarantee that they will develop positive parasocial relationship perceptions. In other words, the relationship between loneliness and parasocial relationship might be moderated by other factors.

In all, research informs that social media use could produce either positive or negative outcomes (Frison & Eggermont, 2016), and social presence would play a role in negating the harmful effects of going online for lonely media users and maximizing potential benefits of going online (Kim et al., 2018b). In this regard, the current study predicts that social presence would play a role as a moderator, such that when lonely people feel stronger social presence they would have more positive paraso- cial relationship perceptions. Taken together, the following hypothesis is proposed.

H2. The relationship between loneliness and parasocial relationship is moderated by social presence.

4. Method

4.1. Participants

Participants were recruited from undergraduate com- munication courses at a large public Midwestern university in the United States. A total of 344 participants initially responded to the survey. Among those individuals, 210

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participants who reported that they follow their favorite celebrities on social media were eligible for this study, while others were screened out. Among the 210 partici- pants, there were more females (n = 149: 71.3%) than males (n = 60: 28.7%), and one individual (0.5%) did not identify biological sex. The average age was 19.20 years (SD = 1.873). A majority of the participants were Caucasian (n = 166: 79%) followed by Asian (n = 17: 8.1%), African American (n = 7: 3.3%), Hispanic or Latino (n = 5: 2.4%), and other ethnic groups (n = 15: 7.1%).

4.2. Procedure

An online survey was conducted with a university- licensed survey tool (www.qualtrics.com). Followed by the university’s IRB approval, a primary researcher received permission for student recruitment from a course director. Then, a recruiting email with a link to the online survey was sent to potential participants via the university email account. Once participants opened the survey, they were asked to read and sign off the informed consent form before starting the survey.

At the start of the survey, participants were asked if they follow their favorite celebrity on any social media accounts of the celebrity. Eligible participants were led to complete the entire survey questionnaire. Those who were not eli- gible for the current study were led to a different survey questionnaire, which is not related to the current investi- gation.

Eligible participants were asked to think of one par- ticular celebrity that they are following on social media and provide the celebrity’s name and primary occupa- tion. These questions were asked to prime participants to focus on this particular celebrity. Then, participants were asked to answer the rest of the survey questions based on this particular celebrity. Participation was voluntary, and all participants received course credit. Confidentiality and anonymity were guaranteed.

4.3. Measures

The survey questionnaire included a set of items mea- suring key variables for the study. Loneliness ( ̨ = 0.83) was measured with six items selected from the UCLA loneli- ness scale (e.g., “I lack companionship,” “I feel isolated from others,” “I feel left out”) (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980). Responses were obtained on a 4-point Likert-type scale (1: Never, 4: Often).

Enjoyment assessed celebrity followers’ enjoyment of learning about their favorite celebrity’s life stories shared on social media. As addressed earlier, two types of enjoyment were measured: enjoyment of learning about professional life stories and enjoyment of learning about personal life stories. First, participants were given with a list of examples that included different types of celerity’s life stories shared on social media to help them under- stand the distinction between the two types. For example,

professional life stories refer to social media postings that include work schedules (e.g., concert, show); while per- sonal life stories refer to social media postings that include friends, family, hobbies, and other personal life-related

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Table 1 Correlation.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1 Social media consumption 1 2 Loneliness 0.07 3 Usage of their favorite celebrity’s social media 0.22** 0.21**

4 Information motive 0.25*** 0.11 0.35**

5 Social-interpersonal motive 0.16* 0.23** 0.44*** 0.49***

6 Celebrity’s professional life stories 0.17* 0.14 0.26*** 0.62*** 0.29***

7 Personal life stories of the celebrity 0.30*** 0.16* 0.28*** 0.56*** 0.26*** 0.75*** * 0. * *** ***

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8 Social presence 0.10 −0.18 9 Parasocial relationship perception 0.28** 0.14*

ote: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

vents. Then, participants were asked to indicate how uch they enjoy learning about these stories of celebrities

n social media. Enjoyment of learning about professional ife stories ( ̨ = 0.94) and enjoyment of learning about per- onal life stories of the celebrity ( ̨ = 0.83) were measured ith seven items, respectively, adopted from previous

esearch (Tamborini, Bowman, Eden, Grizzard, & Organ, 010) (e.g., “enjoyable,” “fun,” “entertaining”). Responses ere obtained on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = Strongly isagree, 7 = Strongly Agree).

Next, as addressed earlier, two types of motives for ollowing the celebrity’s social media were assessed: nformational and social-interpersonal. Information seeking

otive ( ̨ = 0.86) was assessed with four items (e.g., “I fol- ow this celebrity on social media because I get information n what this celebrity is doing that I can’t get elsewhere”). ocial-interpersonal motive ( ̨ = 0.80) was measured with wo items (e.g., “I follow this celebrity on social media ecause I can respond to what this celebrity has to say”). easures were slightly modified from Frederick, Lim,

lavio, and Walsh (2012) for a better fit to the current tudy’s context. Responses were obtained on a 7-point ikert-type scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 7 = Strongly Agree).

Parasocial relationship ( ̨ = 0.80) was assessed with five tems selected from Rubin et al. (1985) (e.g., “This celebrity

akes me feel comfortable, as if I am with friends,” “I feel hat this celebrity is like my friend”). All of the responses for

otives and parasocial relationship were obtained on a 7- oint Likert-type scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 7 = Strongly gree).

Social presence ( ̨ = 0.85) was measured with eight items sing a semantic differential scale adopted from exist-

ng research (Lombard & Ditton, 2000; Short, Williams, Christie, 1976) (e.g., I feel that this celebrity is unsociable–sociable,” “. . . unemotional–emotional,” “. . . mpersonal–personal”). Responses were obtained on a 7- oint semantic differential scale.

Usage of the favorite celebrity’s social media ( ̨ = 0.93) as measured with eight items adopted from Rosen, haling, Carrier, Cheever, and Rokkum (2013). Example

tems included such as “checking my favorite celebrity’s ocial media,” “commenting on postings, status updates, or hotos on the celebrity’s social media”. Usage of follower’s wn social media ( ̨ = 0.89) was also measured with items

dopted from Rosen et al. (2013) (e.g., “checking my social edia,” “commenting on postings, status updates, or pho-

03 0.19 0.09 0.35 0.28 39*** 0.55*** 0.43*** 0.51*** 0.51*** 0.29*** 1

tos on my social media”). Responses were obtained on a 10-point Likert type scale (1 = Never, 10 = All the time).

5. Results

When examining the relationship between celebrity fol- lowers’ loneliness and their experiences about the favorite celebrity’s social media, an important aspect that should be taken into consideration is that celebrity followers’ usage of the celebrity’s social media is not extension of that of their own social media. In other words, some people may argue that when people are consuming their own social media, they may have a high chance to click on celebrity’s social media because a posting about a celebrity appears or someone is talking about the celebrity on social media. To avoid any potential issue, the current study controlled for followers’ usage of their own social media. Before testing the hypotheses, a correlation analysis was conducted. See Table 1.

To test H1, RQa–b, and RQ2a–b, a series of regression tests were conducted. Usage of followers’ social media (control variable) was entered in the first step, and loneli- ness was entered in the second step. Findings are presented based on the results from the second step, which controls for usage of followers’ social media.

H1 predicted that loneliness is related to the usage of the favorite celebrity’s social media. A regression test found that there is a positive relationship [�R2 = 0.04, F(2, 196) = 9.10, ̌ = 0.21, p < 0.01]. Thus, H1 was supported.

RQ1a–b sought to ask about how loneliness is related to different motives: information (RQ1a) and social- interpersonal (RQ1b). Results found that loneliness is not related to information motive [�R2 = 0.01, F(2, 199) = 1.86,

̌ = 0.09, p > 0.05]. However, a positive relationship was found between loneliness and social-interpersonal motive [�R2 = 0.05, F(2, 197) = 10.73, ̌ = 0.23, p < 0.01].

With regard to RQ2a–b, which examined celebrity fol- lowers’ enjoyment of learning about the favorite celebrity’s life stories shared on social media, a set of regres- sion tests revealed the following results. Loneliness was not significantly related to enjoyment of learning about the celebrity’s professional life stories [�R2 = 0.01, F(2,

195) = 2.75, ̌ = 0.12, p > 0.05]. However, loneliness was pos- itively related to enjoyment of learning about personal life stories of the celebrity [�R2 = 0.02, F(2, 197) = 4.07, ̌ = 0.14, p < 0.05]. See Table 2.

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Table 2 Loneliness and celebrity’s’ social media experiences.

Loneliness

t ̌ Adj. R2 R2 change

H1: Usage of the celebrity’s social media 0.08** 0.04 Social media consumption (control) 2.79 0.19**

Loneliness 3.02 0.21**

RQ1a: Information motive 0.06** 0.01 Social media consumption (control) 3.46 0.24***

Loneliness 1.36 0.09

RQ1b: Social-interpersonal motive 0.06** 0.00 Social media consumption (control) 1.95 0.13 Loneliness 3.28 0.23**

RQ2a: Enjoyment of the celebrity’s professional life stories 0.03* 0.01 Social media consumption (control) 2.31 0.16*

Loneliness 1.66 0.12

RQ2b: Enjoyment of the celebrity’s personal life stories 0.10* 0.02 Social media consumption (control) 4.31 0.29***

Loneliness 2.02 0.14*

Note 1: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Note 2: Statistical information from Step2 is presented in the Table (step1: control variable; step2: loneliness added).

Table 3 Moderating role of social presence between loneliness and PSR.

b SE t LLCI LLCI

H2: Moderation effect of social presence Social media consumption (control) 0.11 0.03 3.35** 0.05 0.18 Loneliness −1.06 0.56 −1.88 −2.16 0.05 Social presence −0.25 0.25 −1.02 −0.74 0.23

*

Loneliness × social presence 0.28 Note 1: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. Note 2: Results are from PROCESS (Model 1).

H2 predicted that social presence would moderate the relationship between loneliness and parasocial relation- ship. In order to test H2, PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2017) was used in a simple moderator model (Model 1). The pro- cedure was based on 5000 bootstrap samples, and results were interpreted based on 95% of confidence interval (CI). Followers’ usage of their own social media was entered as a covariate. The result found a significant moderation effect of social presence. When examining loneliness and social presence on parasocial relationship, neither lone- liness (B = −1.06, p > 0.05) nor social presence (B = −0.25, p > 0.05) was significantly related to parasocial relation- ship. However, the interaction between loneliness and social presence revealed a significant relationship (B = 0.28, p < 0.05). This finding implies that when lonely celebrity followers feel stronger social presence of the celebrity, they experience more positive parasocial relationship percep- tions with the favorite celebrity. H2 was supported. See Table 3.

6. Discussion

This study examined loneliness of celebrity followers and their experiences with the favorite celebrity’s social

media. The results showed that celebrity followers’ lone- liness is related to different experiences with the social media of their favorite celebrity. Specifically, loneliness is positively related to consumption of the celebrity’s

0.12 2.30 0.04 0.51

social media, social-interpersonal motive for visiting the celebrity’s social media, and enjoyment of learning about the celebrity’s personal life stories. The study also found that the relationship between loneliness of celebrity fol- lowers and parasocial relationship perceptions with the celebrity is moderated by a feeling of social presence.

6.1. Primary findings

The current study reveals important findings. First, celebrity followers’ loneliness is positively related to fre- quent visits of their favorite celebrity’s social media. From a social media perspective, this finding is consistent to extant research that found the link between loneliness and social media consumption (Song et al., 2014). From a context per- spective, the result is consistent to the finding that lonely individuals often use mass media to meet their interper- sonal needs (e.g., Rubin & Perse, 1987). By investigating lonely individuals’ media consumption in the particular context of the favorite celebrity’s social media, the study provides meaningful findings.

Next, the study finds that celebrity followers’ loneli- ness is related to different experiences with their favorite celebrity’s social media. Specifically, celebrity followers’

loneliness is associated with different motives for vis- iting the favorite celebrity’s social media. Although no association was found with regard to information motive, loneliness is found to be positively related to social-

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nterpersonal motive. A similar pattern is observed with egard to the celebrity’s life stories shared on social media. elebrity followers’ loneliness is related to enjoying learn-

ng about the favorite celebrity’s personal life aspects while o significant association was identified with regard to pro-

essional sides of the celebrity’s life. These results imply hat lonely celebrity followers want to find a way to socially onnect themselves to the favorite celebrity and build a ersonal relationship with him/her. To some degree, it sup- orts the fundamental nature of the social compensation odel. That is, lonely individuals may visit the favorite

elebrity’s social media with the hope that they may get ocial interactions and experience social feelings that they ay not fully receive in their offline life. Further, the finding

hat lonely celebrity followers enjoy learning about per- onal aspects of the favorite celebrity, not professional side, urther emphasizes that celebrity followers go online for ocial and relational purposes.

Another primary finding of this investigation is that ocial presence plays a role as a moderator between lone- iness and a parasocial relationship perception with the elebrity. When assessing the relationship between loneli- ess and a parasocial relationship perception, no significant ssociation is found. However, when social presence is aken into consideration, the result reveals an interest- ng pattern. As found in the results for H2, the sign of , the product of loneliness and social presence, is posi- ive. This implies that when lonely celebrity followers feel tronger social presence of their favorite celebrity, they end to experience more positive parasocial relationship erceptions toward the celebrity. Although the context is ifferent, the moderating role of social presence is in line ith Kim et al. (2018b), which found that lonely individu-

ls enjoy social TV experiences when they feel strong social resence of others during the media experience. Overall, his finding implies that only when lonely celebrity fol- owers feel social connection (i.e., social presence) to their avorite celebrity, they develop a positive relationship per- eption with the celebrity.

.2. Implications and contributions

Collectively, findings of the current study suggest ignificant implications for and contributions to the under- tanding of celebrity’s social media research. Specifically, he current study sheds light on how celebrity follow- rs’ loneliness is related to experiences with their favorite elebrity’s social media. Considering the popular use of ocial media among celebrities (Jin & Phua, 2014), there as been some scholarly attention to the understanding of elebrity’s social media. For example, research has exam- ned how celebrities use their social media (e.g., Frederick t al., 2012; Kassing & Sanderson, 2010), how celebrity’s ocial media postings are related to celebrity followers’ per- eptions about the celebrity (e.g., Kim & Song, 2016), and hat motivates people to follow celebrities on social media

e.g., Hargittai & Litt, 2011; Sanderson, 2011). However,

imited information is available on how celebrity followers’ ocial well-being, particularly loneliness, is related to the ay celebrity followers consume and react to their favorite

elebrity’s social media. In this regard, the current research

ournal 56 (2019) 21–29 27

advances our understanding about social media research in the context of the celebrity–follower relationship.

Second, the current study provides important impli- cations for the poor-get-poorer and the poor-get-richer model drawn from the notion of the social compensa- tion model (Kraut et al., 2002). The poor-get-poorer model describes that lonely individuals, who lack social resources in their offline life, will be lonelier online while the poor- get-richer model implies that lonely individuals will feel less lonely online. This investigation found that although lonely individuals often visit their favorite celebrity’s social media, it does not guarantee a positive relationship percep- tion unless they feel a social connection (social presence) during the mediated experience. These findings indicate that neither the poor-get-poorer nor the poor-get-richer models works in a simple way. Depending on a social feel- ing that lonely individuals experience, they can experience a positive or negative relationship with others connected online. This finding signals that there is a need to examine ways to enhance a feeling of social presence during medi- ated experiences in order to help lonely individuals feel connected and receive benefits of going online.

Further, the current study expands our understanding of social presence. The extant body of research has investi- gated the role of social presence from diverse perspectives. Specifically, research has revealed that social presence is an influential predictor that increases positive mediated experiences (e.g., Kim et al., 2016) and a crucial outcome variable of mediated experiences (e.g., Edwards, Edwards, Spence, & Westerman, 2016; Spence et al., 2014). Further, a good deal of research has examined social presence as a mediator that links media/technology use and user experi- ences (e.g., Kim & Timmerman, 2018; Lee, 2013; Song et al., 2018). However, relatively little research has investigated social presence as a moderator that can maximize the ben- efits of engaging in mediated experiences. In this regard, the current investigation contributes to expanding the role of social presence.

6.3. Limitations and directions for future research

As with any study, this investigation has limitations that should be kept in mind when interpreting the pattern of results. First, future research should investigate a diverse set of motives for visiting celebrity’s social media. U&G the- ory explains that motives for using media could vary in a wide range, but this study focused on only two motives, information and social-interpersonal. These two motives are appropriate for the scope and the purpose of this inves- tigation. However, it should be acknowledged that lonely celebrity followers may have other motives to visit their favorite celebrity’s social media, and those motives may be related to different patterns of experiences. Thus, future research should expand its scope by investigating more diverse motives in order to establish a more complete understanding of this unique phenomenon among lonely celebrity followers.

Second, it is important to keep in mind that the degree of romantic attraction to the favorite celebrity may play a role. For example, romantic attraction to the favorite celebrity might influence their perceptions and responses toward

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28 J. Kim et al. / The Social S

the celebrity’s life stories shared on social media. Consider- ing that celebrity worship syndrome is an important factor in the understanding of the celebrity–follower relationship (Maltby, Day, McCutcheon, Houran, & Ashe, 2006), future research should further address this notion.

Next, researchers are encouraged to address patterns of social media use among lonely individuals by com- paring their experiences with the social media of others who they have personal and mutual relationships with (e.g., friends, family) in addition to experiences with social media of celebrities who they have one-way relationships with. Depending on the nature of the relationships and expectations that individuals have from the relationship, their experiences might be different. For example, consid- ering the nature of a two-way relationship with friends, people may have a high expectation of social connection with their friends in a mediated environment. When this expectation is not being met, their social media experi- ence might not be positive. However, with regard to the relationship with celebrities, given the nature of one-way relationships, where individuals expect that the celebrity may not respond to them, the level of expectation might be much lower compared to the one from two-way relation- ships. In this regard, it would be meaningful to investigate how these different natures of relationships and expec- tations would play a role in the understanding of lonely individuals’ social media use.

Moreover, it should be kept in mind that the sample lacks in diversity as it consisted of largely homogeneous college students in the U.S. Considering rapid globalization and influences of celebrities, there is a need for under- standing how different audiences respond to celebrities in other countries as well as in particular demographics (Brockington, 2015). Thus, future researchers should con- sider the importance of employing diverse samples.

Lastly, future research may consider investigating diverse personality types as well as other aspects of social well-being of celebrity followers. For example, an extrovert (one of the big five personalities; John, Naumann, & Soto, 2008), may report different motives for visiting celebrity’s social media and may show different levels of enjoying the celebrity’s life stories. For a more complete and bet- ter understanding, future research should expand its scope by investigating a variety of individual characteristics.

6.4. Conclusion

The current study examined how loneliness of celebrity followers is associated with their following behavior of the favorite celebrity on social media. The findings showed that loneliness is related to more use of their favorite celebrity’s social media, greater social-interpersonal motive for fol- lowing the celebrity, and greater enjoyment of learning about personal life stories of the celebrity. Additionally, the study found that social presence plays a moderat- ing role between loneliness and a parasocial relationship perception. Considering that research on the role of

social/psychological states including loneliness on individ- uals’ use of social media is still in its nascent stages, it is important to understand how social well-being transforms the patterns and traits of CMC, especially in the context of

ournal 56 (2019) 21–29

celebrity–follower communication. Based on the findings from the current study, researchers should further advance this area of research.

Disclosure statement

No competing financial interests exist.

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