WHEN FANS AND HATERS ARE ON THE SAME BOAT: A DECONSTRUCTIVE READING OF BOWO AND TIK TOK

The Reflections for Active Netizens in Social Media from the Deconstruction of Paradox and Parallel

Abstract

This study analyses the viral impact of Bowo, a teenage celebrity from TikTok (a social
media site) as well as comments from netizens who happened to be Bowo’s fans or
haters. In addition, the study used theories of cultural studies from Derrida, Adorno and
Horkheimer to analyze the entertainment industry as well as netizens, both fans and
haters of Bowo. The role and judgments of fans and haters of Bowo will be shown to see
the paradoxes and parallel of this phenomenon. Thus, the study applied a descriptive
qualitative method to analyze data. The results indicate that although netizens know that
what they see in TikTok may be fabricated, some netizens still felt deceived by Bowo’s
appearances in TikTok. Those feelings were shown in their comments in social media. In
addition to feeling deceived, the results show how female teenagers who engaged in
online discussions regarding Bowo seemed torn into adoring and abhorring Bowo.