In a recent show, Justin Bieber seems to have once again proved himself to be largely immature and abrasive. In the ever competitive music industry, it seems that he has jumped onto the fast track of pop sensationalism, and has captured the hearts of many young girls. With this youthful and impressionable following he has garnered, critics and parents alike have taken the liberty of very closely monitoring his behaviour as a way to protect fans from his over inflated ego. This monitoring brought about a very controversial year in 2013 when he, among other things, was caught on camera peeing in a bucket. His very smart PR team later seemed to talk some sense into the young star and orchestrated a roast earlier in 2015 that attracted some serious viewers. After the likes of Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Natasha Legerro etc. took the chance to aggressively humiliate Bieber, he formally apologized for his past behaviour. Months went by without an incident, until his recent out lash against the audience (of mostly young girls) of one of his live performances in Spain (2mins 40 seconds into the clip) :
“At least clap on the right notes,” he said, “c’mon, guys, stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop, it’s like this”—then demonstrated how to clap on the two and four.
On Oct. 30, 2015 Bieber shows more of his abrasive behaviour when he storms off the stage claiming: "I'm not doing the show" after unsuccessfully controlling the audience:
So why, WHY do his fans continue to love him? The reason I believe this mass hysteria has erupted around the young star is the incorporation and appropriation of technology into the modern home. My particular age group is one of the last to have experienced life without the immediate introduction of technology. There wasn't a computer in my home until grade 7, and the television was definitely not to be watched for extended periods of time. Those who are a 5-10 years younger than I am (the majority of Bieber fans) did not experience this gap in technology, and many were practically given iPads straight out of the womb. This immersion in the world of technologically driven communication, I would argue, has increased the importance of online interactions astronomically. Their social context is defined by the involvement of technology. This increased reliance on online communication propels the impression of a closed gap of time and space between other people and events on the internet. As Bieber made his musical debut on youtube, the idea of him as accessible became that much more real.
This accessibility made possible through communication technologies has proven to create intense false relations with the star. Of the most notable examples of this intense widespread hysteria are the death threats that beliebers seem to be issuing consistently against anyone who speaks against Bieber, or anyone Bieber 'dances' with:
This accessibility made possible through communication technologies has proven to create intense false relations with the star. Of the most notable examples of this intense widespread hysteria are the death threats that beliebers seem to be issuing consistently against anyone who speaks against Bieber, or anyone Bieber 'dances' with:
I would not, however, go as far as to say that this introduction to communication media at a young age has been the sole factor in producing such an audience. The theory of mass suggestibility by Mustenberg would say that the audience places themselves within the conceptual world of the visual images which would lead them to accept reality and leave them vulnerable to forms of psychological suggestion. This theory leaves out the social and genetic processes that have been proven to contribute to the way in which individuals understand, accept, or take a negotiated or oppositional position on a message or concept. I believe that a combination of many factors lead to the extreme nature of Bieber's audience, and one of the major factors that has driven this, is communication technology.