From hot rodent men to golden retriever boyfriends
ARU symposium will examine the Internet Boyfriend phenomenon and what it signifies
Keanu Reeves - one Hollywood star who has also achieved Internet Boyfriend status
The Internet Boyfriend – a viral phenomenon that is reshaping ideas of masculinity, desire and celebrity – will be put under the microscope at a free one-day symposium in Cambridge on Friday, 22 May.
Hosted by Anglia Ruskin University’s Centre for Media, Arts and Creative Technologies (MACT), the event will examine how digital culture, fandoms and platform algorithms are transforming public figures into objects of intense, but often short-lived, collective affection.
Friday’s event brings together speakers from the UK, Ireland and the United States to explore how actors such as Paul Mescal, Jacob Elordi, Josh O’Connor, Michael B. Jordan, Andrew Scott, Dev Patel, Tom Holland and Keanu Reeves have all become Internet Boyfriends – and why their status is often fleeting.
The event builds on MACT’s previous symposium on AI slop and brain rot in December, and continues the Centre’s focus on unpacking fast-moving online trends and their wider social and cultural impact.
The concept of the Internet Boyfriend can be traced to the 2000s and it gained real traction in the early 2010s with Benedict Cumberbatch, who is regarded as one of the first major Internet Boyfriends following his success on Sherlock and his devoted fanbase on Tumblr.
Today, it is driven by a mix of meme culture, fandom, platform economics and contemporary expectations around gender and romance.
British Vogue describes the phenomenon as the “fast fashion of crushes”, observing: “We maximise their exposure until we’re collectively exhausted, at which point our affections shift to the next big thing.”
The symposium will look at the Internet Boyfriend from multiple perspectives, including class, race and masculinity.
“Internet Boyfriends are often characterised as emotionally available, gentle, well-groomed, articulate, and caring. They tend to meet the criteria of what magazines like Glamour and Cosmo describe as a ‘green flag boyfriend’.
“Celebrity crushes are nothing new, but the internet has multiplied and accelerated them. Back in the day, heartthrobs were cute, but now there are literally dozens of labels online – “hot rodent men”, “golden retriever boyfriends”, “softboys”, “cinnamon rolls”, “nerdboys”, “prestige stars”, “slightly alien British character actors” – the list goes on and on.
“While some of these sound amusing, they point to something more significant. Social media algorithms don’t just reflect desire, they amplify and accelerate it. Rather than treating the Internet Boyfriend as a joke, it’s actually a figure that reveals how intimacy, masculinity and authenticity is being reshaped in the digital age.”
Tanya Horeck Professor of Film and Feminist Media Studies at ARU and Director of MACTFriday’s free event takes place at ARU’s Cambridge campus and is open to the public, but places must be reserved at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/internet-boyfriends-a-symposium-tickets-1983769992449