The Commercialization Of Idols:A Study Of The Phenomenon Of Contemporary "Internet Celebrity"

With the development of Internet technology,the number of Internet users in China has increased dramatically,and various online media platforms have emerged and gradually replaced the role of traditional media in public life.At the same time,the explosive growth of information and the growth of individual consciousness have brought the decline of elite culture in the mainstream discourse of society.In this context,the unique product "Internet Celebrity" of this era was born,and with the participation of various social forces,internet celebrity was created as the idol occupying the dominant position in the modern idol pattern and becoming the center of public life.As a unique phenomenon of this era,internet celebrity is a subversion of the image of traditional idols.Under the influence of consumerism,internet celebrity is constantly constructing self-consumption symbols,which brings about the commercialization of social idols.Therefore,this paper takes consumerism as the research perspective,and adopts the combination of literature analysis,interview method and case analysis method.And mainly studies the formation process of the commercialization of the network red idol and the social impact it brings.Through the research of this paper,the following findings were found:First,in the historical idol pattern,the dominant idol status is changing,mainly due to the change of shaping power behind the idol.The network red idol is becoming the mainstream of idol worship in contemporary society,and gradually dispels the cultural example power of traditional spiritual idols,presenting a commoditized development trend.Secondly,based on the perspective of consumerism,this paper finds that the commercialization of online red idols mainly occurs through the construction of idol self-consumption symbols and the interaction of consumption symbols with the audience.Under the influence of consumerism culture,under the influence of consumerism,under the stimulation of various social forces,the network red idol voluntarily made itself a symbol of consumption,and continued to construct symbolic meanings in order to meet the consumer demand of the audience.The audience receives the consumption symbol of the internet celebrity through the network platform,and participates in the consumer carnival of the net red symbol under the stimulation of various psychological factors and the consumption symbol of the net red,and uses the consumer network red as the main way to follow the internet celebrity.This led to the further spread of social consumerism and accelerated the commercialization of social idols.The cultural symbolic meaning of idols no longer exists under the deconstruction of consumerism.Behind a feast of symbolic consumption,it is actually reflected the emptiness of people’s spiritual world and the loss of faith in the contemporary society.When social idols are gradually commoditized and can no longer afford the role of spiritual leaders,what brings to the whole society is a spread of consumerism and a spiritual crisis.In this age of entertainment to death and consumption,in this era of symbolic manipulation,how to fill the emptiness of the mass spiritual world,how to save the loss of faith behind idol commercialization,how to rectify the cultural chaos behind the feast of consumption is worth considering.