Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
8-2025
Abstract
One of the most interesting aspects of adolescents’ use of social media is the dynamic drama that occurs between followers of social media influencers in the wake of controversial actions performed by social media influencers themselves. A content analysis of followers’ comments about influencers’ and social media personalities’ scandalous romantic entanglements indicated that close to 90 percent of commenters were female and, in keeping with followers’ loyalty to their favored influencer, the highest proportion of comments were negative to the influencer’s adversary in the romantic dispute. A detailed analysis of the moralistic aspects of followers’ comments offered additional insights.
Recommended Citation
Canfield, Grace; Colon, Sage K.; Denholm, Mollie M.; Freese, Ava; Salter, Grace; Saplak, Abigail M.; Skocic, Alex N.; Williams, Derek M.; and Perloff, Richard M., "The Interactive Soap Opera: Deceit, Romance and Abuse" (2025). Student Scholarship. 7.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/stu_pub/7
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Comments
Richard Perloff, Distinguished Professor of Communication, Psychology, and Political Science, Levin College of Public Affairs and Education, Cleveland State University, is the student advisor for this project under Levin College of Public Affairs and Education at Cleveland State University