When parasocial relationships turn sour: social media influencers, eroded and exploitative intimacies, and anti-fan communities

ABSTRACT Whilst social media influencers (SMIs) excel at establishing positive parasocial relationships with their followers, they can also provoke intense negative responses, as evidenced by the prevalence of SMI-focused anti-fan communities. Prior research does not explain how consumers’ parasocial relationships with SMIs become negatively charged, nor does it explain why this shift may fuel anti-fan community participation. Drawing from a netnographic study of two SMI anti-fan communities, we reveal that eroded reciprocal and disclosive intimacies, as well as exploitative commercial intimacies, can lead consumers’ positive parasocial relationships with SMIs to become negatively charged. We demonstrate that anti-fan communities provide opportunities for consumers reluctant to sever ties with the SMI to sustain their negative parasocial relationship by rebuilding eroded intimacies whilst avoiding and/or retaliating against their exploitation.