They’re in the movies, on tv, grace the covers of magazines, they’re blogged about constantly, and now… they’re on Twitter. Yep. I’m talking about celebrities. For a bunch of people who are always crying about not having any privacy, they sure do want to make their lives public, don’t they?
But, really, let’s talk about this for a minute…..
Way back in January I wrote this blog post: Is This The End Of Twitter? In it, I mentioned how some characters on a hit ABC show had a conversation about Facebook and Twitter. In the post, I theorized that now that Twitter was getting so popular, everyone and their brother was going to start signing up for a Twitter account and that it would drive the long time Twitter “residents” mad, and that they would soon leave to start a new social network…
Once word got ’round that a bunch of people were leaving Twitter to go hang out on the new social network, the latecomers to Twitter would leave and head on over to the “new thang”…. and of course, that starts the cycle all over again…
Anyhow, long story short…. my theory did kind of happen. I have noticed a HUGE increase in celebrity tweeters. Once they started talking about it on prime time tv, well, it was an out and out free-for-all.
Obviously, it’s to get fame and attention. If they wanted to use it to just stay in touch with their friends, then they could make their Twitter feed private and make up Twitter names that weren’t easy to identify them with. Not these celebrities… they’re making it easy to find them by using their first and last names!
It does raise some questions, though…
Are we all doing the same thing as these celebrities by having Twitter accounts? Are we all just a bunch of fame-seekers?
We live in a voyeristic society, that’s for sure. We are used to being able to pick up tabloids and get the dirt on famous people. The talk shows of the 90s and reality television of the 2000s made it easy for anyone to get their “fifteen minutes of fame.” It’s no surprise that blogging took off around this time and the internet as we know it totally changed.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am definitely a part of the whole Web 2.0 transition and I think that bloggers, podcasters, and the like are GOOD for us. The ‘new media’ is able to deliver information from many different viewpoints that traditional media often miss….
Fame is a very fickle thing, and it’s also a ‘relatively speaking’ sort of term… Take for instance some of my favorite bands, Dinosaur, Jr and Sonic Youth. They’ve been making records for decades and while they may not be played on top 40 stations, they have huge followings… I know what the members of these bands look like and could easily spot them walking down the street. But the general population doesn’t know who they are. They can walk down the street, pretty much unknown.
But… when it comes to “well known” celebrities using Twitter to get more fame and attention, and then cry about their lack of privacy, well, I don’t want to hear about it.
Take for instance the whole Ashton Kutcher thing going on right now. Truth be told, I had to Google it to get the facts. Apparently, he is using Twitter as a popularity contest against CNN and is trying to get to 1 million followers . Other celebrities are throwing their hats in the ring and seeing who can beat him. It’s all pretty silly and stupid.
I have also seen other people on Twitter sending all these new-found celebrity tweeters @replies… I find this on one hand pretty cool that a barrier between fan and idol has been lowered and that the two can converse, but I also find it a bit sad and awkward…
You really have to wonder if the celebrity is reading these replies, and if they are, it’s kind of sad to think of these people, sitting arond their computers, geting off on all the replies they have. It’s essentially ego-stroking porn for them.
So, the next time you see a celebrity on Twitter, instead of sending them a big bunch of slobbery compliments, ask yourself why this person is really on Twitter… There are actually very interesting people on Twiter that you can interact with, who aren’t just sitting around trying to get to a million followers, and if you @reply them, they’ll actually respond.
So, let’s use Twitter for what it was created to be: a social utility. Social meaning actual interaction….
I’ve been feeling this way for a long time. Just the other day I left a comment on another blog something like “I wish the mass media, etc. would just STFU and get over their Twiter orgies already and accept it as a way we communicate now. Period.”
I stand by that.