ABSTRACT
The study of involvement with celebrities has grown substantially during the past several decades, coinciding with the expanded opportunities that fans have to stay engaged with the celebrities whose lives they have chosen to follow. During the golden age of mass media in the last quarter of the twentieth century and before the permeation of the Internet, becoming emotionally and psychologically attached to celebrities occurred through mass communication processes that afforded minimal interactivity. Fans could listen to, read about and watch their favorite celebrities and the most engaged fans could write letters to celebrities, but seldom did fans receive any communication directly from celebrities.
