Why oversharing has shortened the lifespan of modern celebrities
The power of mystery
Psychologists have long argued that mystery sustains attraction. The same principle that makes cliffhangers compelling or scarcity valuable also applies to fame. What you do not see often carries more weight than what you do.
This is why celebrities of the 1990s and early 2000s appeared so untouchable. Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp and Kate Moss revealed only fragments of themselves, carefully chosen and tightly controlled. The rest was left to the imagination, and that space allowed audiences to construct myths. The projection was often more glamorous than reality, and it was precisely that illusion which kept their status intact.
The rise of the overshare
Social media dismantled that model. Platforms reward immediacy, intimacy and constant output. In response, many celebrities began to emulate influencers, offering up daily routines, car journeys, supermarket trips and late-night livestreams. The logic is that this kind of access makes them authentic. In practice, it removes the distance that once created allure.
Studies of parasocial relationships, the one-sided bonds formed between fans and public figures, suggest that intimacy strengthens identification. Yet there is a paradox. When too much of the curtain is pulled back, admiration collapses into familiarity, and familiarity rarely inspires long-term devotion. What once seemed extraordinary becomes merely ordinary.
Fandom and faith
This is most visible in extreme fan communities. Lady Gaga’s “Little Monsters,” Madonna’s loyalists, Taylor Swift’s devotees, or Queen fans who have sustained their passion for decades. These audiences are not simply consumers of music, they form identities around their chosen figure.
The psychology has often been compared to religion. Devotion thrives on distance. God is unknowable, and it is precisely that unknowability which sustains belief. Celebrities operate in a similar way. When they maintain mystery, fans can project greatness onto them. Once oversharing strips away the mystique, the illusion is broken. A celebrity navigating the self-checkout queue does not inspire the same fervour as one whose life can only be imagined.
Why some are drawn in and others are not
Not everyone is susceptible to this instinct. Personally, I have never idolised celebrities. I work with them daily, yet I do not experience the excitement many others do. I know people I would never introduce to certain clients who have become friends, because their behaviour around celebrities would be embarrassingly excitable. Some people seem wired to see fame as extraordinary and to react accordingly, while others are not.
Psychologists would attribute this to individual differences in need for external figures of admiration. For some, the impulse is satisfied by politics or religion. For others, it is channelled into celebrity worship. For those without the instinct, the entire phenomenon can appear baffling.
What I see behind the curtain
Working with politicians, singers, actors and sportspeople, one thing is consistent: behind the cameras, their lives are strikingly mundane. Often they are less spontaneous than the average person, since simple errands or social outings are complicated by recognition. The irony is that the reality of celebrity life is frequently duller than the fantasy.
This is why oversharing is such a strategic misstep. If reality fails to live up to the myth, it is the myth that should be protected.
The problem of entitlement
Oversharing also changes the balance of power between celebrities and their fans. When a public figure shares intimate details of their life, audiences can begin to feel a sense of ownership. They believe they know the person, and with that comes entitlement. Fans start to demand explanations or access, as though the celebrity owes them more than performance. By contrast, stars who maintain mystique appear only on their own terms, which reinforces control and sets boundaries.
Why less is more
When advising clients on social media, my position is always that less is more. Nobody gains from seeing endless footage of daily routines, household interiors or childcare moments. Aside from diluting the mystique, it is also a safety issue. Revealing where you shop, where your children go to school, or what your home looks like can expose vulnerabilities that extend far beyond reputation. Audiences already know too much about celebrities. They do not need, and do not deserve, complete access.
The Kardashians are often cited as the exception, yet even they turn the mundane into theatre. A staged “shopping trip” complete with bodyguards and designer outfits is not authenticity, it is irony.
The rare exceptions
A handful of figures still understand the value of scarcity. Beyoncé curates her public image with rare precision. Adele shares just enough to maintain warmth without sacrificing privacy. Their restraint preserves their aura.
Relatability may generate rapid popularity, but it does not create icons. Mystery is the condition that allows celebrities to transcend the ordinary. Human beings are wired to look up to figures who feel greater than life, not those who replicate their own routines. The less we know, the more we imagine, and imagination is a far more enduring currency than reality.