Social Media for the Famous

With the omnipresence of mobile devices and the need to use the channels of mass communication to keep the world up to date with your movements this has not excluded the famous; if anything it has birthed a world lacking even more in privacy. The only difference now is that as opposed to it being the media, the paparazzi, keeping tabs on the rich and famous for the general public they are informing them themselves. 

Twitter and Facebook allow fans to ‘follow’ or ‘like’ official pages dedicated to their favourite personality whether it is sports, arts, film, music, whatever, there are pages with information and updates about them. In many ways this is just a very modern version of the gossip columns that were in newspapers and magazines but often it takes it to another level allowing their ‘followers’ to know precisely where they are and what they’re doing at all times.

A strange concept that the human brain can struggle to comprehend on occasions; being watched all the time, but at least it is personal choice just like it is for the rest of the world. The social media sphere has closed the gap between the general public and elite members of society, the rich and famous, the talented, the ones that inspire awe. It is most commonly used in a positive way and is used to create hype around an event for example and this is brilliant and succinctly articulates the reason social media has been such a success but because it’s controlled by humans, it can have its flaws; errors can be made. 

This most often happens when people are cross, their tolerance levels drop and they want to vent. All of a sudden the quality that makes social media so good is the thing that causes the most harm; the ease within which you can reach thousands of people. The main thing that’s highlighted in situations like this is how fickle the public’s perspective of those in the perpetual spotlight is. If a famous actor sends out a Tweet about the fact that they left a supermarket and their carrier bag broke, spilling their groceries everywhere – the public find it endearing. They are as human as the next person and that appeals to ‘normal’ people. Term used loosely. However, if they Tweet about not being cast in a role they wanted or arguing with a director they are petulant and the Tweet is distasteful, they will also probably be asked to delete the Tweet because it is offensive to another person.

There is no way of having your cake and eating it too. A personal Twitter or Facebook account is just that: personal. It should matter not whom the account belongs to.

All of the major mobile phone companies have a data allowance included in their monthly contracts and it is this that allows you to use social media for mass communication. To remain up to date with the companies’ business dealings, visit the following page http://www.customerservicescontact.co.uk/news/o2-service-update-o2-4g/. For more thoughts on the role of social media, read our articles on Ezine.