Alumna Nadzira Discusses the Transformation of Celebrity-Fan Dynamics and Fan Communities in the Digital Age

An alumna of BINUS University International, Nadzira Zafina, took some time out of her busy schedule to share her experience in the public relations industry with the students of the Society and Digital Culture course taught by Dr Annapurna Sinha, one of our lecturers.

Nadzira specializes in public relations, and currently, she is pursuing careers in event marketing & social media marketing by freelancing in the skincare and fitness industries, including well-known names like Base and Plie Studios.

She started her career in event and marketing with Heroleads as a copywriter intern and Polibeli as an event and partnership intern. She worked as a media and event specialist at Imajin Indonesia for a brief period of time. She also made a strong entry into popular culture research with her recent exploration of celebrities and fans’ para-social relationships. Her work on Taylor Swift and Indonesian Swifties is gaining popularity in academia (Zafina & Sinha, 2024).

Students enjoyed interacting with her about celebrity and fan interaction on social media and how this leads to a para-social relationship between them. The session was informative and fun for the students who themselves engage with their favorite celebrities and idols online. Her discussion on old-school fandom and new-wave fandom intrigued the students. Their active participation in the quiz created by  Nadzira on ‘How chronically online are you?’ especially turned into the most exciting part of the session as it led to self-reflection and the magnitude of fandom.

Thank you so much, Nadzira, for sharing your insight with us. We hope to see you around BINUS University International soon!