Tall poppy syndrome would suggest that celebrities and other notable figures would be the target of far more abuse online than ordinary people.  While that may be so, research from the University of Glasgow suggests that the perceived attractiveness of celebrities also helps to protect them from such abuse more than the rest of us.

The authors argue that the perception we have that celebrities are more attractive than the average person makes any abuse they experience online seem far more severe than if an average person was on the receiving end of it.

Protective halo

The study suggests that celebrity status affords famous people something of a “protective halo” due to the perception that whatever is beautiful has to be good.  The only exception to this general rule was when the celebrity had initially posted something negative, which typically resulted in them having to shoulder the blame.

“Our research found that celebrities appear to be held in higher regard and considered more attractive than other social media users, affording them protection when abused online,” the researchers explain.  “Our studies were very carefully controlled. The only things that varied were the names and profile pictures of the victims. This ‘celebrity’ status was enough to dramatically shift viewer perceptions of blame and severity.”

Interestingly, it also appears to matter “who” was actually viewing the abuse, as those who scored more highly in areas such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy were found to have much less sympathy for the victims of the abuse, and generally saw it as less severe.

“Although celebrities are viewed as attractive, the public recognize that their motivations for using social media are more self-serving that the average user, so if they post negative or insulting content and receive abuse as a result of this they are seen as ‘fair game,'” the researchers continue.

Online abuse

As the use of social media and other online fora have grown over the past few decades, the instances of online abuse have also grown.  Previous studies have examined the impact of anonymity online together with the behavior of victims themselves.  They also highlight the amount of abuse aimed at the victim influences how people perceive the severity of the incident.

The research builds on this previous body of work by comparing the perceived severity scores and the amount of blame aimed at the victim themselves.  They then compared these with the perceived attractiveness of the victim.

“By better understanding how victims of online abuse are viewed, and often blamed, by observers we will be better-placed to minimize the blame attributed to victims for such incidents and mitigate against potential negative fallout,” the authors conclude.