Early Adolescent Behavior on Media Toward Idol Figure (Parasocial Study on Preliminary Youth as an Effect of New Media)

Adolescence period is the transition period from children to adulthood. Teenagers tend gather with a group of friends who have the same interests and tends to listen their friends more. Supported by globalization and advancement in information technology, media usage rate among teenagers is increasing. Through such conditions, many teens now rely on the media as a tool to get rid of boredom and loneliness. In the parasocial interaction between fans and their idol, the role of media is very important, considering the fans are not able to meet directly with their idols. The problems of this research departs from various types of fans's media behavior, especially teenagers towards their idol, this also leads to the parasocial behavior of the fans towards their idol figure. Issues that will be examined here is to find out how the behavior of early adolescents on media towards their idol, and their contribution to the parasocial behavior interaction with their idol. This study used qualitative approach and descriptive methods as data collection through interviews with several informants who are in early adolescence (female) and fans of singer group One Direction whose age are around 11 to 15 years. The results of this research are all the informant in this study is a spectator or active audience that watch and always updates the latest news about their idol and that media consumption behavior led to parasocial interaction. Parasocial interaction behavior that is found on the informants in this study are: pseudofriendship, social interaction (making friends), empathy for the performers (sense of companionship), the competence of the performers, the reality of the relationship, the Code of Conduct as well as pathological audience.