After 20 seasons of airing on E! Network, the infamous reality TV show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians has come to an end. The show allows us to get a look into the Kardashian and Jenner families’ lives as they conquer the world of fame. On the show, there are a lot of people introduced, from friends to makeup artists of the Kardashians. However, the show primarily focuses on the lives of the oldest Kardashian sisters, Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe. Their mother and manager, Kris Jenner also constantly makes an appearance. After 14 years of air time, their influence has grown tremendously, even outside of the show.
Prior to contrary belief, the Kardashians were not just famous in the 2000s. The Kardashian’s father, the late Robert Kardashian, was a well-known lawyer for his time. He was one of the main defense attorneys during the O.J. Simpson trial. The Kardashian’s stepfather and Kylie and Kendalls father, Caitlyn Jenner, was a household name after becoming an Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete in 1976. Apart from their parents being rich and famous, they have always been in social groups with influential people, from athletes to public figures. Throughout their lives, they have been able to create their own empire within their family. They have modeled, created makeup and clothing lines, and even crafted their own brand of alcohol. This can explain their influence on millions of people across multiple platforms, as they have capitalized and branded themselves well.
After watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians in its entirety over the years, I have been able to pick up on a number of their communication patterns. From the way they interact with others, to how they use nonverbals to communicate emotion, it has revealed certain communication theories at play. This has enabled me to take a better look into their personality structure, as their personalities are revealed deeper on platforms like social media as well, rather than just their TV show. Through accessing their lives through different modes of media, we have been able to grasp certain “layers” of their lives which can help us better understand and “know” them.
One of the concepts in the Social Penetration Theory is personality structure. Mead defines personality structure as, “Onion-like layers of beliefs and feelings about self, others, and the world; deeper layers are more vulnerable, protected, and central to self-image” (94). You truly will never know someone right off the bat, it takes time. Especially if their relationship, is only online and through television. However, as humans, and even reality TV stars, we are also hesitant to tell people deeper thoughts quickly, as we are still unsure of theirs and the reaction it may initiate to a group of people. Over time, however, we become less vulnerable to share emotions and grow more comfortable with one another or our audience. This is when we are exposed to self-disclosure. Mead says self-disclosure is, “the voluntary sharing of personal history, preferences, attitudes, feelings, values, secrets, etc., with another person; transparency” (94). As we become more transparent with people, they are able to relate with us on more topics, as they begin to understand our belief system and the emotions that arise when expressing that. As a relationship develops over time, it is natural to go through the process of the law of reciprocity. Mead explains this law as, “A paced and orderly process in which openness in one person leads to openness in the other” (96). As you reach the inner layer of people’s lives and learn more about them, you can feel a sense of connection with that person. Even though reality TV, you can feel a connection with the person.
With so many seasons, the Kardashians have revealed a lot about their lives through the show. Keeping Up With The Kardashians has focused on a number of elements and events that have occurred in the Kardashian’s lives. From pregnancies, marriages, divorce, and buying houses, viewers have been able to capture very intimate details of their life, which enable them to shape their view of the family’s personality structures. In the first season, however, the family did not mention these sorts of things as the future of the show was not certain. So that can explain why they may have been more hesitant to share this information, as the development of the relationship with their viewers was not fully established. Naturally, self-disclosure with the family and viewers been to occur. With their lives being so public, they had to have transparency with their viewers. Their platforms with millions of fans, have enabled them to be willing to share more values and beliefs they can carry. It is super important that they are transparent in certain circumstances, as if they are not it may be detrimental to their relationship with the public. This can explain some of the elements of the law of reciprocity in their relationship with the viewers. Breakups and family drama can resonate with almost every viewer of the show. As they display their lives and steps in the process of dealing with these certain issues, it enables a connection with the Kardashians and their fanbase. At the end of the day, they are human too, which can become easy to forget as they are so famous. However, a level of empathy can be expressed towards them as the feelings they express can be relatable to the viewers.
Although the Kardashians have a show, there are many forms of media and outlets of communication in which they use to communicate and share their lives with their audience. They have a number of social media accounts. From Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, to TikTok, the family is very active on all these platforms. This enables their viewers and the public to take a deeper glance into their lives, other than what they choose to film on the show. These platforms are often more casual than the show and can provide elements of their lives that are more real, like their humor. Ultimately, it is a genius marketing strategy, as they can provide a lot more direct information to their audience immediately. On these platforms, they can show information about product launches, magazine editorials, etc. The more fans follow them across the platform, the more access they have to the Kardashian family’s lives.
Connecting ties with one another is important, it can better help us understand one’s lives and beliefs. After following the family for years, even though I do not know them, I was able to understand their associations with certain brands and people they are connected to. The proximity of ties within relationships can be explained through the Media Multiplexity Theory. Mead defines media multiplexity as, “Strongly tied pairs use more media to sustain their relationships than do weakly tied pairs” (161). Within media multiplexity, we often communicate and interact with one another across more platforms as we develop a sense of care towards individuals. Within communication, Mead states that a strong tie is, “A relationship involving a large investment of time and emotional energy” (159). These strong ties are people we usually know. However, we are able to connect our relationships with strong ties to weak ties, which can be considered as bridging ties. Mead says bridging ties can be considered as, “Weak tie relationships that enable information and resources to pass between groups of people” (160). This can be with people we have a connection to in real life as well as online.
With the modes of media the Kardashians use on a daily basis, it is easy to keep up with their lives. They use a number of platforms that can better understand their behaviors and emotions. A fan of the family may be inclined to follow them on more media outlets versus one who may not care too much about them. Fans have stronger ties and bonds with the family inclining them to follow them, which can help us understand the Media Multiplexity Theory at work. People who really enjoy the content they promote may invest more energy into information into the family, strengthening that tie. Although the family is very active with the media, they most likely do not have strong ties with certain news platforms, as multiple reporters publish information about them daily. However, as the fans have strong ties to the family, and the media does not, they can bridge ties over information shared. The fans of the show will often turn to these news platforms to gain resources that access more information associated with their stronger tie, like their dedication to the Kardashian family.
As the Kardashian family’s life is often prevalent in the public eye, it may be difficult for them to maintain a sense of privacy with one another. Unfortunately, the media intrudes on the family’s privacy often as people are constantly engulfed with every aspect of the family’s lives. This can be difficult for them to have intimate moments with one another and control what information they want to be known. Tabloids have created rumours about the Kardashian family as well as other celebrities for years. It can be damaging to their confidence as well as to the public eye, as some may perceive these rumours to be true. I can imagine it is difficult to live a life where your privacy is invaded as much as theirs.
A majority of the time when communicating we others, we have the ability to present want information we want to be known or spread. This is one of the elements of the concepts presented within the Communication Privacy Management Theory. The Communication Privacy Management Theory (CPM) describes the three parts of a privacy management system, and how to handle what information you want to be disclosed in certain relationships or what you want to share with the public. It is in human nature to possess our own thoughts that we may not want to be shared, which is focused on in the first part of CPM, privacy ownership. Petronio defines privacy ownership as, “Our privacy boundaries that encompass information we have but others don’t know” (145). The human mind is so complex, there is no way to ever know everything that a person knows or thinks. However, we are capable to some extent to share personal information with whom we choose. Privacy control is the next part of the CPM system. Petronio states that privacy control, “involves our decision to share private information with another person” (145). When sharing a private thought, it is very important to build boundaries and trust with the person with whom you are sharing information. When things do not go as planned when sharing information with an individual, it can lead to privacy turbulence, which is the last part that can occur in the CPM system. In order to not create turbulence, you must be careful of all the points leading up to interaction. Petronio says, “The decisions you make in the aftermath of the breach are directed at reducing turbulence” (146). Being aware of sharing information is important, however, sometimes you may be required to share information you may not be comfortable with to others.
As privacy is very important in some instances, we all have our own boundaries. In the show Keeping Up With The Kardashians, they choose what information they want to be known. However, what they do not show, the family most likely does not want to be made known. This can explain several of the elements expressed in the Communication Privacy Management Theory, which is privacy ownership and privacy control. They have control over what they communicate directly to the public, despite what the media publishes about them. However, their privacy is often infringed upon due to them being so prevalent in the public eye. In 2016 Kim Kardashian went through a traumatic event as she got robbed when visiting Paris. This was not a minor robbery however, her privacy within her hotel room was infringed upon and lost items worth several millions of dollars. This also was not a sudden event, the robbers and stalkers had been planning this a long time. They had been tracking her everyday movements for years prior, leading up to this. This is one of the more negative concepts of CPM, privacy turbulence. The stalkers completely violated her privacy in this instance, which can be very traumatic for any individual, especially to this degree. However, she handled the situation very professionally. Instead of harassing the people who infringed upon her, she decided to stay very quiet about the burglary, limiting information about it to the public. She wiped the situation out of the public eye and expressed that this was very difficult for her to discuss, which the public very much respected.
As the Kardashians are a household name, their influence is very much prevalent in pop culture and business ventures. Through the show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the family has been given a platform to reveal information about their lives more than the common person. This can help us better understand their personalities and methods of communication to a certain degree. Although their show may not be so “real” and slightly scripted, I believe there are very real elements of their personality displayed, as they have been filmed daily for the past twenty years. Their lives are so fascinating and extraordinary, which I believe draws viewers in and can help us better understand the methods of communication they display to the public and media.