Naeemah Clark pens book chapter on ‘Scandal’s’ online community

Naeemah Clark, associate professor in the School of Communications, has published a book chapter, titled “Connecting in the Scandalverse: The Power of Social Media and Parasocial Relationships,” in “Digital Technology and the Future of Broadcasting,” edited by John V. Pavlik. The book is a part of Routledge press and the Broadcast Education Association’s series on electronic media research. The series includes the work of scholars who study how digital technology is changing the media landscape.

Clark’s chapter analyzes the online community of “Scandal,” an ABC television program starring Kerry Washington. The members of this community, many of whom are African-American women, build relationships through Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube that blur the lines between fact and fiction, friends and enemies, and celebrity and fanatic. 

​Clark was invited to submit a chapter after presenting at the Senior Scholar Research panel at the Broadcast Education Association’s annual conference in Las Vegas.