In case you haven't noticed, Twitter has been making headlines. For instance, some congressmen/women were publicly criticized last month for twittering during President Obama's speech. Also, Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban was just fined $25,000 for his "tweet" about the refereeing of his team's 103-101 loss to Denver. In addition, rock musician Courtney Love is being sued for defamation because of some recent messages she posted on Twitter.
Like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter--a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time--has taken the world by storm. While the majority of people utilizing the network are random citizens of the world, several celebrities (both A-list and D-list) are using it as well. As such, we might ask ourselves how the platform affects (if at all) our relationship(s) with Hollywood stars and the star system. For instance,
- Does Twitter truly allow for any barriers to be broken down, and if so, how?
- Do we now see these people in a different light because of what they say as opposed to what the media and paparazzi say about them?
- What does it mean (if anything) when celebrities respond to their "followers," non-celebrities and celebrities alike?
Then, by 11:59 PM on Saturday, April 11, collect enough data to answer any or all of the above questions regarding Twitter and its (possible) effects on stardom. Here, data means actual "tweets" (postings) by those whom you are following.
I think that Twitter does allow for some barriers to be broken down between regular people and celebrities. On twitter, celebrities write small messages that come directly from them. The candid way that celebrities speak on twitter brings them to the normal person’s level. A good example of this is Shaq. He is on twitter and after following him for a week I felt I obtained a better idea of his actual personality. He is actually a pretty funny guy and seems like he likes to joke around and have a good time. Twitter makes the celebrities appear to be normal people as opposed to these great untouchable beings that we see on television or in movies.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely see these people in a different light because of what they personally say as opposed to what the media says. With twitter, celebrities speak freely and uncensored. We experience their true personalities as opposed to the personality made by the media or the public relations people that the celebrities hire.
Celebrities make themselves seem much less conceded and more like regular people when they respond to their followers. I think that by responding to these non-celebrity followers that they really help their images. While following Jimmy Fallon, I noticed that he used his twitter to tell fans about where he would be and different events that were happening in which people could see him. By doing this he creates a closer connection between him and his fans. Overall I think that twitter is definitely a good way to shed a better light on celebrities and bring them closer to their fans.
Though Twitter could be used effectively to allow fans greater access to celebrities, I don't really think it's actually breaking down any barriers. Maybe it was just the people I followed, but it seems more like a promotional tool for celebrities. For example, half of Britney Spears's posts were written by her manager Adam Leber, and not her. While she had the occasional personal account of something, such as going to see a movie with her dancers, or going to a restaurant, most of her posts were about where and when her concerts were. Jane Fonda, another person I followed, was slightly better, in that it was more personal, but many of her posts involve a play she is currently in, and who came to it on what night (Carole King was apparently blown away by it!). The most personal of the people I followed, was surprisingly Martha Stewart. While she still often promotes her TV and Radio shows, by talking about upcoming topics and giving links to recipes, she also posts very frequently, and is more personal than expected, such as when talking about her dogs, or her dinner with Ted Turner.
ReplyDeleteBasically, Twitter is a good way for celebrities to promote themselves even more, while making non-celebrities feel like they're more connected with them. It doesn't really make me see celebrities in a different light though, it just makes them seem more boring.
I believe that Twitter is indeed breaking down barriers. Unlike facebook and myspace, the celebrities are actually running their pages. On myspace/facebook commonly celebrities will just have fan pages that they hire someone to update and run. On Twitter, the celebrities are actually interacting, talking on it and reading fan mail. It is breaking down barriers for fans to interact with their favorite celebrities. Fans are becoming more involved and finding out how celebrities truly are.
ReplyDeleteWhat the paparazzi displays about celebrities is what will sell. They will make any story so that the public will be shocked or surprised to read the news article or watch a show. With Twitter it shows fans how celebrities really are and how they act/talk/ and feel.
When celebrities respond to their followers, they are replying and interacting to their dedicated fans. Followers are the people who tweet with the celebrity or just like to check in on them. Commonly celebrities will respond or interact with their fans on Twitter.
I followed Shaq, Lance Armstrong and David Lynch. Shaq is incredibly funny and very random, David seems very busy with work and flying, and Lance seems like a pretty cool guy and fun. Following these celebrities got me a closer look at their true identities and not what the media has portrayed them to be.
The use of twitter does not seem to break down the barriers of celebrity. That is unless one has a jet on standby to follow each celebrity to them from where they are posting by analyzing what location they give. Otherwise it seems to give little insight into the barriers between people and celebs. This is due to the semingly irrelevant nature of the tweets. They usually cover topics ranging from what they are eating or looking at, who they are saying hi to or where there at, or some other random line they jsut want to post. So it gives little to advance closeness to the celebrity.
ReplyDeleteAs far as seeing the celebrity in a different light, I would say no. I followed Shaq, Britney Spears, and Jimmy Fallon. For Shaq he seems pretty normal, he texts about where hes at or doing, and occasionaly says hi to someone, nothing very special. Britney Spears just gives updates on her tour and things and events she liked, also seemingly normal for a pop star. And Jimmy Fallon just seems to be in the category of twitter users that just like to post strange lines of situations or thoughts, which for a comedian like him does little to change one's thoughts on him.
As far as what would be implied to be a connection when a tweeter responds to a fan, it seems like no bigger a deal, than getting a autograph or picture with the celebrity. So it might give them a good feeling but really is just a line of text and seems to be very little in the way of really sincere acts. The creator of Twitter on the Colbert Report seems to want to dismiss this making the celebrity have a very close relationship to fans and how it takes away from the paparazzi. In actuality it doesn't seem to give that great if any connection at all. Though clearly he was prone to say this due the fact that he was marketing twitter, though it just seems like another venture in filling up free time, and in the future charging people money.
I followed Ashton Kutcher's twitter for God knows why. I don't believe that twitter breaks down barriers at all. It just makes a lot of these people seem really pretentious. For example: Ashton made all of these posts that were saying things along the lines of "Donate to this cause" and then he made SEVERAL posts that were incredibly misspelled, which leads me to believe he really is incredibly dense. "How do they get the cafiene out if decaf coffee! Why can't they get the nicotine out of cigarettes. Denic smokes." Seriously? Come on Ashton. "U have 2 say Texas separate cause it's like it's own country. There r Differnt rules in Texas. Differnt dialect.U can wear those big hats." I feel I see Ashton in a different light based on what HE said. The media seems to glorify him when really he is intensely unintelligent.
ReplyDeleteWhen he goes out of his way to talk to someone who is not a celebrity, I am completely unphased by it. I don't think he is a better person for it. I don't think any of these celebrities are better people for talking to us "Common folk." It just shows that they either have a bit more time or a better sense of caring for their audience. Overall though, I view it as straight publicity. That's all celebrities on twitter are doing. Gaining massive amount of publicity. "Look at me, I support the rainforest! Look at me!!!! LOOKATMELOOKATMELOOKATMELOOKATMELOOKATME!"
The celebrities I followed seem to be more laid back than the paparazzi says they are. They even thank people for things and express their emotions on tweeter like friends do on myspace or facebook. For example, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, whose film "Race to Witch Mountain" recently premiered, thanked people for going out and watch the film. He also expressed his gratitude of returning from UK and at the success of the 2009 Kids Choice Awards.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Dylan and Cole Sprouse are really funny guys. Unfourtunately, they seem to have internet problems just like the rest of us. Dylan lost all of his posts on Wenesday for some reason. He was not happy, like the rest of us would be. Cole cracks jokes all the time and sometimes leads some of his followers on crazy stories where he would say on thing than a follower would say another. One of the funniest was the "what happened to my hot dog?" question that somehow ended up in a suspense story of the "evil ice cream man." Strange, yes?
Twitter.com gives people the perspective of celebrities as "regular" people with a job just like everyone else. I never thought that "The Rock" would be so...like my uncle when talking about award ceremonies so casually. Also Dylan and Cole seemed to act like my prankster twin cousins. It was a little strange, yet enlightening at the same time. They treat us like they are just "normal" civilians instead of top-notch stars. Twitter gives them the great oppurtunity to interact with their fans without the use of the media and without the press messing up anything they say.
I believe that twitter can allow the barriers to be broken down. snoop dog talks to people on his twitter as if they were friends, and he even tells other people to say hello to his family and friends. If that is not inviting the world into his life, and breaking down the performer/audience relationship what is? Also Weird Al actually told his followers that he just bought a new car, and like the rest of us, it will take him "3 to 5 years to pay it off." This again keeps the stars in a very normal sense.
ReplyDeleteWhen it came to Weird Al, I honestly didn't think any different of him. He would always crack jokes. Thats just him. Snoop Dogg, well... we all know him as a pot head, and on 4/20 he openly admitted he was going to smoke some. Also, Snoop cleared a rumor that had started about his wife. Twitter allows celebrities to clear up any false info that the paparazzi spread.
For celebs, to respond to their followers, it is somewhat of an intimacy that not all stars can give to their fans. Snoop Dogg responded to a fan and told her " soon baby girl." It had to have made her day. It is very nice for the stars to respond because then they don't have to crush people's dreams. When you meet a star and they aren't what you think, it makes you sad. Twitter just gives people a chance to get to know the star before they begin idolizing them.
For my three celebrities I followed these three:
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/RobPattinson_
http://twitter.com/britneyspears
http://twitter.com/OfficialJoBros
Twitter does offer the chance for celebrities to engage in light banter with their fans, bypassing their agents trying to cultivate a certain image and cutting through the screen of the media. This opportunity is not necessarily taken, as with the case of the Jonas Brothers and Britney Spears Twitter pages. They are clearly meant to be advertisements for the celebrities and the Britney Spears page openly admits that people other than Spears herself are using the page. This brings doubts to whether or not the stars themselves are ever actually doing the "twatting". On MySpace for example it is common practice for a celebrities page to be run entirely by a lackey with not involvement with the actual celebrity (e.g. Sarah Silverman's myspace). The Robert Pattinson page looks as if it might be a fan pretending to be Pattinson, but there's not really anyway to tell.
From gathering information from my three Twitter pages there isn't any different light presented because for the most part it seems that the pages are controlled by the celebrities agents and used for promotion; with the exception of the Robert Pattinson page that seems to be either written by a fan, or not having any twats revealing anything about the actor's personality. They are all simply mechanical responses to fans' comments, as with the other two pages when the fans get a response.
When celebrities respond to followers it is my guess that employees of the celebrities are are the ones doing the actual typing and the sole purpose is to generate a buzz and excite the fans. Why would the celebrities themselves post the comments? How would anyone know it wasn't them actually posting them? Twitter offers celebrities the chance to express themselves without the bias of agents keeping up an image or sensationalist media reporting but overall it seems to just be a tool for advertisement.
http://twitter.com/SongzYuuup [Trey Songs]
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/LTLline [JD]
http://twitter.com/nachojohnny [Bryan-Michael Cox]
Twitter allows celebrities in the music industry to give their fans a more personal connection. Following R&B singer Trey Songs, the fans can keep up with news and what he's doing next. The same is for music producer's Jermaine Dupri and B-Cox (Bryan-Michael Cox).
When they respond, it's just like a normal conversation, and the fans always have something to ask them. This excites the fans even more, and brings "new" followers to check out what's going on. It's not much of a big deal for celebrities to be on twitter, because they are regular people, who just live in a different life style. We can see them in a new light, because we now have the chance to follow and read what they are up to daily.
All the celebrities I followed, were cool regular people. The great thing about it, is that the follower can read "official" messages from the real celebrity, and try to get their comment or question responded to. Twitter is a good place for famous people to talk with their fans without the issues with paparazzi. Barriers in a way are down, because fan's can be responded to, but they still exist because not everyone's message can be responded to when more than 10,000 are following the celebrity.
In the past two weeks I followed Kevin Smith, Shaq, and Weird Al Yankovic. In these two weeks I feel that barriers are way down through this website. When these celebs post a blog it is usually a short thought on what they are feeling, a website that has caught their eye, or its a response to a follower's comment. Twitter creates what seems like a personal link between fans and celebs, rather than fanmail that might just get read by a team of people reading all the mail. And it is completely different from what the paparazzi tell us that the celebs are thinking or doing.
ReplyDeleteTwitter helps people see these celebs as the real people that they are and not the bigger than life stars most people see them as. One post by Kevin Smith does this perfectly as well as humorously, "ThatKevinSmith: Wheeee! Gonna beg wife for sex, then shower and record new SModcast. I like to be productive even when impaired." And the impairment he is talking about is being high which he also posts on Twitter, "ThatKevinSmith: I've got a free Friday. No real work to do today, just a SModcast later. Question on the floor: dare I wake and bake and Twitter results?" The following is about 2 hours of posts from him while high and it is quite humorous.
When the celebs respond to follower's questions it must actually feel like you are personally communicating with the celeb. However since most celebs have hundreds of thousands of followers, they are not able to respond to everything. But the feeling when they do must be great because that fan gets to personally ask a celeb a question and get an answer that everyone else following can see.
Twitter does in my point of view does allow some barriers to be broken. Twitter is just like the other message board website like Myspace and Facebooks. But if can Twitter can really let some barriers to be broken, then it might just over pass its other competitors Myspace and face books. Some things on Titter may have some things that may be controversial but if twitter is what they say it to be then it might do just fine. That’s what I think when twitter will allow barriers to break.
ReplyDeleteWith twitter celebrities can now express themselves as they want to be. Also we can now see celebrities as they truly are and not the people the press or magazine says about them. That why I think celebrities are more interested with twitter.
I think when celebrities respond to their fans and followers is because it shows how many people are the biggest fans of the celebrities. It also shows how celebrities care about their followers and fans and their question they ask about them. That’s what I think it means when celebrities respond to their ffans and followers.
Twitter does break down the barrier between celebrity and fan. The prime example of this is Jimmy Fallon. He uses twitter to talk to fans and to ask them for ideas for his show. He talks about anything. He once did an interview with someone and the interviewer used twitter for fan’s questions. He interacts with the fans more than anyone I could find. There are more responses on his page than there are his own messages. Another twitter I followed was Kevin Smith. He is exactly the same as the media perceives him, a laid back cool guy. He uses his twitter for quick jokes or updates of his day. He sometimes says he will be doing something online and give his screen name so anyone can join him. There are other celebrities that don’t interact with the fans, like Britney Spears. She uses her twitter to tell fans about where her next show is and plugs her music. She is trying to shed the crazy image and uses twitter to post pictures of her having fun and all the celebrities that love her. The paparazzi do a very convincing job of making any celebrity look insane, but in the case with Britney, she helped out a lot. So twitter is a good way of connecting with fans and letting them know that she is ok and is very active in her career. I don’t believe that twitter changes how people see them, because for the most parts it’s the fans that follow them and they already have a high opinion of them. Although I have come to like Jimmy Fallon more than I did before I followed his twitter. I just thought he was unfunny and although that has not changed much, I have more respect for him to take the time to talk to people with his busy schedule.
ReplyDeleteTwitter does not actually break down barriers, but lets celebrities be their own spokes person. You can’t tell what type of person they are just by online blogging. You have to meet the real person to learn who they really are. Now some celebrities may be genuine and true on Twitter, but we don’t know how we would change if we had fans to talked to. Do people act the same with a real friend and Twitter followers? John Cleese mostly sent messages to his friends when he twittered, but just reading the messages doesn’t tell us how they act with their friends. We only see what they talk about, if they are being genuine.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Fallon leaves messages to his followers about what he is doing, and what is important to him. He asked about how to cure mosquito bites, which says what about Jimmy’s personality? He also refers to his talk show and the projects he is working on. These would be his interests and priorities, not his personality. Someone can argue that spending time twittering for your fans can tell you about a person, but no one can be 100 percent sure about someone’s agenda on Twitter.
Now unlike Jimmy Fallon and John Cleese, Greg Grunberg just twittered a lot that does not talk about his personal life. Greg leaved a bunch of messages that are advertisements for his popularity and stardom. He also asks people to sign up for Yowza, which means that he is using his influence to sell stuff as well as himself. Many celebrities are doing this to help themselves, which does not seem appealing when you look at their agendas. If people believe that Twitter does reflect the celebrities’ personalities, then these stars would be self-absorbed and shallow people that use others to further better themselves. Twitter is just an opportunity for celebrities to advertise and to talk about themselves.
Who am I?
ReplyDeleteI think that Twitter does allow for some barriers to be broken down between the star and the fan. I think that this happens because sometimes it is the actual star who controls the twitter page and they can post whatever they want. Their feelings, their thoughts and sometimes the media refers to them as "something" different, but through Twitter they can show alittle bit of who they really are.
I think that we can actually look at people from a different point of view than just throught the media point of view. Because, honestly the media is biasedm, they either like you or don't like you. But Twitter doesn't care who you are,you can post whatever you want and you can say whatever you want without other people choosing what is going to show about you, or in this case, them.
Well I didn't see anybody responding to their Twiiter followers, but I did some of them foregetting that they had a Twitter and barely using it.
I think that Twitter allows people to see the real "person" behind the characters in movies that they adore. I think it is a good thing (though some would argue it to be a bad thing) to expose these stars. When people look at Twitter feeds for celebrities they remember that they are as normal as other people. This is important. Stars often have a persona built up for children however, which I feel is likely to be crushed by Twitter. But I still think it is a positive thing in the long run.
ReplyDeleteTwitter is also a great place to get quick accurate information, firsthand, from celebrities; despite the many "fake celebrity" profiles which can cause some confusion.
I think that Twitter allows people to understand celebrities better as people, we get to look into their life just as we would our friends life on Facebook or Myspace. It certainly makes people see celebrities in a different light; the paparazzi is so full of lies and exaggeration.
Twitter really does allow barriers to be broken down because it eliminates the negative approach of paparazzi and tabloid magazines. This direct or nearly direct contact to your favorite celebrities can remove any misunderstandings spread through paparazzi and tabloids that may appear true. Celebrities are now viewed in a whole new light as "real" people enjoying activities that we do as well. Previous to this experiment I thought Twiiter was nothing more than a place for obsessed fans to know more useless facts about their favorite stars than what is necessary. But now after using Twitter and following some tweets (and twats) I have grown to know that this new tool can be used to help us realize that celebrities are no different than us other than thier paychecks. These celebrities are now being represented as people that we can relate to. After all is said and done Twitter is helping celebrities gain popularity and business from us average people believing that they are average.
ReplyDeleteI suppose from a certain angles, certain barriers might be able to be broken down, but overall its just another flavor of the month mankind typically falls for. One could argue it allows for a more personal interaction with people one might idolize but from what i gather, its just a bunch opines from people who's opinions i dont really value. I followed NBA star Baron Davis's twitter postings and i could have gotten more interesting information from a gas station attendant. I may sound negative but im just tired of famous people spewing uneducated opinions all over the place just because they can.
ReplyDeleteDepending on what someone says its going to shine a different light on what someone might have previously believed about that person, but to my earlier point, i dont really care what some millionaire has to say about the economy or something else that doesnt effect them or if some spoiled starlet like Obama, i just have enough to do in my own life that i dont waste my time following things like "tweets". For someone who does value this sort of thing though, i certainly see how a fans perception of a star could change based on what their favorite star posts.
I think responding to your fans should be an obligation considering a fans devotion pays the stars bills, so them taking a few minutes to post something that speaks to their fan base certainly seems prudent and right to do. More so it humanizes the star as opposed to the perception of their on screen or state persona.
It varies if Twitter does break down the barrier between stars and celebrities and the common people. If the stars are willing to update their status frequently, then you have a connection with them. On the other hand, I think it's the opposite if they post something one day and nothing new until next month.
ReplyDeleteOne example of this was when I tried to follow George Lucas for a week and I had to change to someone else after he didn't post anything for two days; only to find that his last post was register two years ago.
I tried even following Lindsey Lohan for lack of anyone I can think of and still information was difficult to keep up with (although her breakup with a partner was all over the tabloids)
In the end, I think Twitter is just like Myspace and Facebook and celebrities only use these functions to only promote themselves to the media. There might be a few and I mean a FEW celebs that may tried to reach a connection to the public, but for all that we know, it could be a PR person we're talking to on the other end.
The three people I followed were:
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/aplusk
http://twitter.com/mrskutcher
http://twitter.com/johncmayer
I believe twitter really does give fans and celebrities a better way to communicate with each other. In my followings of Ashton Kutcher he seems to be very community oriented when it comes to twitter. He had many post replying to and asking questions to other tweeters. He even went as far as to come up with or atleast be a part of a "platinum tweet award"
*send nominations 4 the next recipient of the platinum tweet award to me tag #pta 4 the rest of the month. Then we will narrow it down & vote
6:07 AM Apr 5th from TweetDeck
*Just 4 clarity we invented the platinum tweet award. I'll be passing it on soon. It's the flat stanley of twitter. http://bit.ly/15GzJW
5:50 AM Apr 5th from TweetDeck
*having a little I chat session w/ mila kunis. She's the best. anything you wanna know?
7:15 PM Apr 9th from web
John Mayer was also community based in alot of his posting but also very political. He is a better example of me seeing him in a different light. I am a fan of john mayer and while some of his songs are political like "waiting on the world to change" many are just love songs and things of that nature. I think i would have expected a very laid back chill kind of guy but after reading his post though he is a somewhat excentric political person. Never the less he often expresses his love for his music aswell.
*Listening to some D'angelo live tracks. I love hip hop and R&B but we all know who the real king is.
2:24 AM Apr 4th from TwitterBerry
*does cable news tread lightly on gun control discussion because they know their core demo would take it as an affront to their rights?
12:06 PM Apr 4th from web
*I just played a guitar solo on a new Spinal Tap record. I have arrived.
11:09 AM Apr 7th from Tweetie