What’s the obsession with celebrity gossip?
Are Jack and Dani on? Which Loose Women panellist and former X Factor star got a pie in the face recently? Which singer will be making a cameo appearance in the Four Weddings and a Funeral sequel?
In answer to the above questions: yes, Stacey Solomon and Sam Smith. How do I know this? Thanks to the best celebrity gossip magazines and newspapers of course.
Many Brits live and breathe celebrity gossip. Whether it’s via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat, news producers such as The Sun and Daily Mail (MailOnline) are on hand to ensure that no matter what platform, audiences can access the latest celebrity news at a click of a button.
Widely recognised scholars in journalism Tony Harcup and Deirdre O’Neill, believed that ‘celebrity’ was a twenty-first-century addition to the ‘taxonomy of news values’. With such a demand for celebrity journalism, it poses the question, why are we so interested?
Human nature
Humans are good at gossiping. In fact, we have been gossiping for over 13 million years. Although back then, it was more of a ‘grunt’ as opposed to, “did you see what she was wearing last night?”. Neuroscientist John Hardy claims that historically, gossiping allowed humans to figure out their place in a social environment and increased chances of finding a partner, as gossiping people found out who was paired up, who was influential and who to disassociate themselves from in their village. In more modern times, he believes that our brains are in fact wired to absorb celebrity news which satisfies a “primal evolutionary need”.
Social currency
When you’ve already spoken about the weather and have embarrassingly run out of things to talk about, celebrity news can save any awkward silences. A social currency almost, you can often ensure that many people know the latest affair scandal hitting Hollywood or which TV personality has recently been caught drink driving.
In case you have never heard of the water cooler effect before, it’s the social phenomenon in which staff in an office gather around a water cooler to chat about showbiz and entertainment news. As discussed, gossiping is indeed human nature but, if you’re the only one in the office who can’t get involved in the celebrity news discussion because you’re not caught up, you could get serious FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and that’s never nice.
Bad news
Humans are said to have a real interest in bad news, meaning anything from celebrity law breaking and court cases to other wrongdoings are of some “public interest”. If you look at any news website or social media channel today, there is bound to be something negative about a well-known star. Medical Daily speculates that we love to see the mistakes celebrities make, as this can help to make us feel better about our own lives.
To cater to the publics love of bad news and celebrities, no wonder journalists live their day-to-day lives striving to get the first slice of celebrity mishaps.
Escape from reality
After a bad day, sometimes it’s nice to get into bed and have a catch up with celebrity gossip. The Uses and Gratifications model provides a framework to understand what people do with the media and why they use it, with celebrity news serving as two purposes. Firstly, it’s entertaining. Celebrity news stories can come in all shapes and sizes — they can make us laugh, make us sad, tug on our heartstrings and make us think ‘what on earth?’.
Secondly, celebrity news is a form of escape. Reading about the lives of others allows us to imagine we are someone else and forget about the trials and tribulations of our own lives. Just imagining ourselves in those situations for a moment or two can make us forget about our own worries, even if it is just a story about a celebrity popping into Starbucks.
And there you have it, both theoretical and scientific evidence why we are so obsessed with reading about the rich and famous.
Now if you don’t mind me, I’m off to have a cuppa and read the MailOnline.
Keep up to date with all things celebrity on Twitter: @Faye_Stammers
