Twitter is like a recently discovered playground for celebrities to play in all they like. From voicing opinions on social issues to joking around with their fans, twitter allows celebrities an easy way to connect with their fans in a casual manner. Nearly every major celebrity has a twitter now, even those who may not know how to completely work a modern computer such as Bill Cosby. Many others like Jewel choose to actively update their own twitter with news that gives their fans a little taste of what their life is like when they aren’t performing.
Bill Cosby’s twitter background looks like a scathing homage to himself and his legacy. A collage of photos featuring Cosby on the cover of Life magazine, standing with other movie stars and generally being a hilarious person. It’s hard to tell if Cosby’s genuine personality would really warrant him designing and uploading a collage of pictures of himself to twitter. In truth, Cosby is likely of a generation of celebrities who do not really connect with twitter, but must have one as mandated by their care-takers (publicists, PR people, etc). Cosby’s profile is often updated with philanthropic messages and several light hearted responses to fans who mention one of his jokes or reference pudding pops. It is hard to tell if Cosby himself actually updates his own profile, but this skeptic writer thinks Cosby has someone do his tweeting for him. It’s not hard to blame him either: he has over 1,600,000 followers that will see his posts. With so many friends, a personal twitter flub on behalf of a handler would look much better than an actual skewed comment by the legend himself.
Cosby’s messages directly indicate that his audience is highly engaged with his prior jokes, as many of his new posts reference his most famous comedic gestures. His twitter also indicates that his audience is well acquainted in today’s modern smart phone revolution. Several Cosby apps exist to keep his audience up to date and amused by the legendary comedian.
Jewel’s twitter is so truthful and innocent it’s borderline hilarious. As an iconic country singer/songwriter, Jewel has maintained a sweet southern belle image in popular media since her rise to fame at a young age. This can be seen in a very clean looking image of her on her twitter background. Jewel updates her twitter herself very often updating her friends and fans on what is going on in her life. This is made more credible by the ‘Sent from my Blackberry’ stamp that appears after several of her tweets. A tweet from just a few days ago features a picture taken from jewels porch of her cattle grazing near her house. The tweet reads: “Our cattle came by this evening- grazing by the fruit trees at the house.” The picture is a simple image shot on her blackberry of cows eating under a tree on Jewel’s wide expanse of land. In truth, the overall tone of the tweet has so much Americana behind it that it can’t help but affirm Jewels roots as a real country woman. Her audience likely consists of a large number of country music fans who also are well acquainted with things like livestock and fruit trees, making the Jewel seem average in her country-ness. In the tweet right after that one, a fan asks Jewel if she owns any horses. She responds simply by saying “Does a road worker have a sun tan?” This is so American it makes my head spin. More importantly, it asserts that Jewel is a witty country girl who uses euphemisms known mostly by other country folk, asserting her roots.
Bill Cosby and Jewel’s profiles represent the different ways celebrities approach twitter. While both see them as a way to connect with their audiences, Cosby’s lacks a personal touch to it. Instead, it reads a bit too well thought and calculated, seemingly the work of a paid publicist. Jewel’s on the other hand feels like an actual person’s twitter account, with hints of her personality everywhere. In the case of both of them, they realize that the best way to reach their fans on twitter is through humorous insights.
Overall, the twitter trend seems to indicate that the culture at large is finding a need to be more connected with their friends and the people they find interesting. Celebrities’ response is aimed at keeping the customer satisfied. The cases of Cosby and Jewel’s twitter accounts marks the difference in tone of celebrity run account versus a publicist run account. In the coming years where everyone will have social media accounts, will people be less trusting of a celebrity who pays a publicist to update only positive messages? Will the celebrity seem less human and more of a famous jerk? Probably!
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