Instagram/@ashleytisdale
Recently, an Instagram post of Ashley Tisdale’s prompted a wave of nostalgia among her fans. Covered in memories of what once was, the High School Musical star reminisced about the heyday of summer and its end. Tisdale’s “Soaking in the last bits of summer 💙” post spoke to the last, most exotic embers of the season, and drew a lot of nostalgic sentiment from her fans’ comment section.
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Tisdale’s post depicts her indoors, casually leaning on a wooden door. The singer and actor wears a white loose sweatshirt with a blue shabby graphic of a ship and the words, “THE GREAT. MALIBU,” which evokes a relaxed feeling to the coast. Tisdale’s post, the calm vibes of the commenters, and the peaceful surroundings together set an atmosphere of calm reflection. It portrays Tisdale deep in contemplation as the season and her post draw to an end, a feeling that her many fans’ and followers deeply relate to.
There is a clear pattern regarding Ashley’s posts, that her ardent fans feel the need to comment on every one of her posts. This one, just like the rest, garnered a significant amount of attention in the comment section, mainly due to the fact that people rejoiced over the star, and everything she has cultivated of herself since the days of High School Musical. A user commented, “how does one look so stunning oh my gosh 😩😍🔥❤️,” which sums up the fact that Ashley looks better with age rather than worse. Another comment further explained the level of trust and connection Ashley has built with her audience. The statement “I love 💘u from my teenage, I can’t express my love for u, just to say May God bless u” emphasized the unconditional and overwhelming feelings people have towards Ashley.
While many of the comments were in praise of Ashley, one particular comment was distinct both in its nature and in the manner it connected Ashley’s career with something her younger and older followers could relate to. The mention of Ashley’s name by a user called ruben_on_the_drums led to a blast from the past when he asked a question of nostalgia. Everyone’s favorite social media user for memes is well known for asking questions people cannot answer, but this reignited a strong feeling by asking, “Do you remember when we used to talk on MySpace?!” His attempt to remember an old social media site known as MySpace served as a sign of how Ashley has been around for a very long time and how living has evolved.
Among the numerous good and positive comments, there was a random, off-topic and distressing comment that broke the flow of the stream. One of the comments looked nothing like the rest of the comments. It looked like a hopeless cry from a user, who said she was a mother to four children and had a dire humanitarian predicament. The suffering and emotionally graphic details of the user’s experience was starkly different from the melancholic summer vibe, which was filled with a shower of nice words. The commenter described extreme military violence, a bombarded family, injured family members, and children who were starving. All of it was a desperate cry for assistance. The comment drew attention to the bizarre nature of the internet. People who are in dire situations apparently get help from bizarre places, where outcries during help-seeking go unnoticed in the ocean of comments.
Another user took a more direct approach, commenting, “I wanna see her in Playboy ❤️🔥😍.” This is the kind of comment users typically leave on female celebrities accounts, which almost always triggers unnecessary conversations about the limits of fan behaviour and the degree of objectification towards public figures, even in the most supportive environments.
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Tisdale has evolved from her Disney channel fame to become an entrepreneur and influencer. She is publicly known as the co-founder of Frenshe, a wellness brand, and openly shares pieces of her life, including her motherhood journey, with her Instagram followers. This quiet mark of the changing seasons is yet another example of how she is able to openly share life’s moments with her audience, drawing admiration and nostalgia and in some misplaced instances, cries for aid. As seen in the comment section, her audience is unwaveringly dedicated to her, and there is a marked difference in the way any two strangers choose to communicate with a celebrity. This combination of authentic support and random, intense outbursts is quite illustrative of today’s digital-age celebrity fandom.