‘I love you, please notice me’: the hierarchical rhetoric of Twitter fandom

Abstract

Since its 2006 debut, Twitter has emerged as the primary online space for communication between celebrity and audience. Yet scholars are conflicted on whether Twitter’s expanded interaction is actual or merely perceived. Some contend that the social media site represents a democratised public square in which the borders between ordinary and extraordinary are flattened, while others argue that Twitter encompasses synthetic personalisation: hierarchical power dynamics masked by simulated interconnection. Assuming that Twitter communication is an extension of traditions of letter-writing by fans and fan clubs, this study utilises a framework for rhetorical arrangement drawn from medieval work on the ars dictaminis, or the art of letter-writing. Informed by Cicero, the ars dictaminis divided the letter into five parts, including exordium (opening), captatio benevolentiae (capturing of goodwill), narratio (background), petitio (petition/request), and conclusio (conclusion). Tweets directed at the top five most-followed Twitter accounts (Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Barack Obama, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift) are classified by which of the ars dictaminis elements they accomplish. The findings suggest that, given the limitations of the medium, Twitter users focus on captatio benevolentiae and petitio in addressing stars. It is particularly startling that users often construct their Twitter handles as a reference to the star, thereby soliciting goodwill in the rhetorical space of message sender rather than content. The apparent emphasis on captatio benevolentiae – or facework – suggests a maintenance of hierarchical borders among Twitter addressers and addressees in line with synthetic personalisation. Implications are discussed for the future study of the rhetoric of fandom and parasocial interaction online.