Celebrities and Social Media

My first Twitter celebrity is Blake Shelton. I just recently started following him on Twitter. I had heard before that Blake Shelton's tweets were really odd, sometimes rude, but always very funny. I have to say that just by reading his tweets, this guy is hilarious. Yes, a lot of the things that he says can be offensive to some people, but it can't be denied that he is incredibly funny.In Blake Shelton's case, he is the one who is speaking; I don't think his handlers would say a lot of the things that he says, but his handlers do tweet sometimes, mostly to promote his new singles, his new show, or to remind everyone of his upcoming shows or television appearances. When Shelton's handlers tweet, his followers know it's not him tweeting. The language is much more impersonal, but still reflects some type of connection with the audience. Their tweets have good kairos because they alert Shelton's followers of his upcoming events. When Blake Shelton tweets about these events or about his music, he makes fun of it. He also makes fun of other artists that he follows. He has conversations with these celebrities or he mentions them in his tweets. He also retweets his followers and has conversations with them. He'll poke fun at some and thank (in a funny way) at others. He talks a lot about how he is drinking or getting drunk, and he is not afraid to express his opinions, not even when he knows he may be losing fans because of this. When people tweet him saying he just lost them as followers and fans, he responds by making fun of them. This may hurt his ethos with some of his audience, but for most, I think it helps because his followers seem to love how he is and what he says and how he says it. The background for Blake Shelton's page is very simple. It has no pictures at all, not even to promote his new album or anything. The only picture seen is his profile picture, although his face is very hard to see. This can be seen as him not paying too much importance on promoting himself, but connecting more with his audience.

The second celebrity I have chosen is Katy Perry.It is obvious that she is the one who tweets. Even when she is promoting her music or her new videos, it is she doing it, not her handlers. This connects her more to her audience because she is the one telling her followers and fans to go see her video or download her new song. She also addresses them directly in her tweets when she is about to do a show or when she os done with one. She always thanks her fans in her tweets. She uses good kairos when asking her followers to check out her new video. Katy Perry also makes herself more personal in her tweets when tweeting about her cats and her husband, Russell Brand. This conects her more to her audience because she not obly uses Twitter as a means to sell herself, but she uses it to allow her audience to view her in a more personal light.

Her page only has one picture, and that is her profile picture; there are no other pictures in her profile. Her background seems to be a candy background. This image of her is much more different than the image projected in other mediums like television, where she is seen everywhere, as an alien (because of her new video for her song E. T.)

The Twitter pages for both these celebrities are very different. Blake Shelton's is much more comical. Mostly all his tweets are very funny. He hardly ever does his own promotion of his music; his handlers do that. He is much more personal with his followers. He makes jabs at them and is very rude sometimes. Katy Perry, however, is very sweet with her followers, she hardly makes fun of them, and she is always thanking them for something, whether it be for a great show or for making her song go to the top of the charts. She doesn't seem to have any handlers that promote her music; she does this on her own. Both of their pages are very simple, with Katy's being a little more colorful.

Twitter is a huge aspect of celebrity culture. Almost every celebrity, famous or infamous, big or up and coming, has a twitter page. Mostly, Twitter is used as a means to promote different material for these celebrities. But it also brings them closer to the audience, some more that others. People can see what celebrities are up to by their own doing, not by tabloids. They get a sense that that information is real because it comes directly from the celebrities themselves. It is a great way to unite the audience with the celebrity. It also brings other celebrities closer to eachother.

screenshot, "Blake Shelton," http://twitter.com/blakeshelton

screenshot, "Katy Perry," http://twitter.com/katyperry