Little Monsters is the term used to describe any Lady Gaga fans.

As we can learn from Gagapedia (I didn’t knew it exists):

“While working on her second album, Lady Gaga developed the theme of monster, both in physical form, and to describe her inner fear (Monster of Death, Alcohol, Drugs, etc.). During the summer of 2009, she first started to use the name during her live performances to refer her fans. The name fit them well because her fans crawl and scream during her show like monsters would do.”

These little monsters have been subject of a new study by University of Missouri communication researchers. Investigating Gaga fans, they have found that online social media gives users an outlet to embrace their differences and provide emotional support to others while deepening perceived relationships they feel they have with celebrities.

From the press release:

Our work tends to focus on studying audiences who are maligned or consider themselves awkward,” said Melissa Click, assistant professor of communication in the MU College of Arts & Science. “In our study of Lady Gaga followers, we found that she uses social media not for promotion but rather as a communication tool with her fans. She shares personal and ‘insider’ information through social media and develops feelings of intimacy with her followers. By revealing her embrace of her own differences and unusual behaviors she allows her followers to embrace their own differences.”

Click and her team found in some cases emotional support was a matter of life or death. Researchers interviewed several fans who identified as gay, who had eating disorders, who considered themselves different or who were taunted relentlessly. They reported that Gaga instilled strength in them through her acceptance of their differences, which gave them a reason to live. In addition, the social support network Lady Gaga fosters encourages her followers to be more charitable to each other, Click said. Often fans create support communities that allow her followers to encourage and inspire others in times of difficulty.

“We found that among the more salient themes that emerged from our research was that participants’ perceived relationships with Gaga affected how close they felt to her,” Click said. “They felt that she is the voice who celebrates their differences instead of mocking them, and this was a very positive thing.”

Researchers conducted one-on-one interviews with 45 self-identified “Little Monsters,” or followers of Lady Gaga, who ranged in ages from 14 to 53, were equally male and female and who equally identified as gay or straight. Using software including Skype and Google Chat to communicate with followers from the U.S., Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa, among others, researchers asked how social media impacted their interest in and relationship to Lady Gaga. Researchers also asked interviewees about their feelings toward Lady Gaga’s social activism.