Iranian Celebrities: Types, Strategies and Characteristics

Celebrities are one of the most important cultural features and social forces of our era. In a transnational-local context, they have imposed dynamics on our lives that is a part of our daily discourses. With the aim of typology and understanding the interactions between the celebrities and their audiences in everyday life, the current research analyzes the content of various text documents related to Iranian celebrities and their types of representations in the virtual space and their interactions with their audiences. The findings indicate influence management on the audience and themes such as originality, intellectualism, creating controversy and connection with political and economic power and strategies such as pride, haloizing for self, self-deprecation, changing roles, borrowing halo from accepting people and even entering the role of a social agent that is sometimes accompanied and sometimes not accompanied by the audience. In the identification process, we witnessed themes such as lifestyle, education, activism, and celebrity infatuation. Despite this audience, they usually identify with them in positive cases and for personal and social benefits. Seeking refuge in celebrities for reasons such as finding an identity, getting rid of everyday life, enjoying mental fantasies, gaining the way and customs of a privileged and luxurious life and becoming a celebrity and enjoying its social and economic benefits. Although the path to becoming a celebrity is smooth, there is a fierce competition to show one's originality and innovation to attract the audience, and therefore we see all kinds of celebrities borrowing from each other.