Marshall (2013, p.1) describes a celebrity as a
‘particularly powerful and pervasive trope for contemporary culture.’
Whilst the topic explores how celebrities have changed in response to social,
digital or mobile media, I think we need to take a step back and really look at
what classifies a celebrity in the first place. In the 90’s we may have
considered Princess Diana a celebrity in terms of representational media, for
example, magazines. In contrast, Marshall (2013, p.8) believes that as a
society we are moving away ‘from a representational media and cultural regime
to a presentational media and cultural regime’. Where presentational media is
identified as media that is produced and presented by the individual (Marshal
2013, p.8). What must be understood is that there are certain cultural and
social elements that are shifting the way we communicate in the 21st
century (Barbour and Marshall 2011, p.14). The world has become more global allowing
for a new breed of civilization to develop and within it are tech savvy
individuals.
Pew Internet Research (cited in Lundby 2008) revealed
that more than two-thirds of American teenagers have uploaded and published
self-produced material ranging from YouTube videos to the infamous ‘selfie’ on
Instagram. With the popularity of social
media, everyday people can post a six second video (vine) and become ‘famous’
or post a Harlem shake video and become an Internet sensation. Furthermore, a
study conducted in May 2013 found that approximately 72% of American adults use
social networking sites which is a dramatic increase compared to the minute 8%
of adults who used social networking sites in 2005 (Pew 2013). It comes to no surprise that the most popular sites are
Twitter and Facebook. Not only do
individuals participate in social media, they have also become micro publics in
this increasingly interconnected society. They, including myself, have become
‘followers’ and ‘friends’ connected to a range of content via a particular individual that is
simultaneously a ‘private’ network, but regularly and publicly updates
information (Marshall 2013, p.12). For the average individual, we use Twitter to
keep in touch with people, including the famous, and current affairs whilst
sharing our thoughts in 140 characters or less…of course. But I wanted to
delve deeper into the use of Twitter by celebrities and political leaders.
Marshall (2010, p.502) uses the term specular economy to
describe how as a society we are becoming more aware of how we present
ourselves online and how others view us. Now, onto the more interesting
analysis of the so-called ‘celebrity’ that Marshall (2010,p.500) believes have
become an effortless part of the ‘new specular economy, [however], has changed the way that
public personas are conveyed and celebrated’. The rise of social media,
such as Twitter, ‘pushes celebrity culture into a constant and accelerated game
of recursive revelation of the private and the intimate’ (Marshall 2010,
p.498). The funny thing is, as Marshall so perfectly states it, we get so
wrapped up in presentational media that we constantly degrade a celebrity’s
value, are quick to judge them but at the same time raise their
profile/significance in regards to the time and focus we give them (Marshal 2013,
p1). As a society, we continue to watch and discuss a celebrity’s online use,
which can only lead to one thing… the continuation of the celebrity culture.
Now lets take a look at two individuals who were already
celebrities but thanks to Twitter it has given them a new platform to reinvent
themselves whilst gaining a larger audience. The first individual is Miley
Cyrus. Oh Miley, where to begin…
First of all if
you don’t know who Miley Cyrus is, I forgive you… if you live under a rock.
These days everywhere you turn is Miley, Miley, Miley and something she has
said or done. Do we all remember the days
of Hannah Montana and the ever so sweet and innocent Miley? Well I’m here to
tell you that those days are long gone. She has been in the spotlight for all
the wrong reasons lately and I for one always love finding out what’s new with
her or what crazy antics she has been up to, especially her ‘twerking’
(kidding!). And it comes to no surprise that sometimes she tweets things
that normal individuals would find quite personal. In one tweet, she accidently
tweeted a picture of a phone conversation stating she had been crying herself
to sleep and was taking pills to try and pass out. She told her fans she had
been hacked but soon admitted the text was hers.
But I guess all the controversy surrounding her has
possibly worked out in her favor. By using her Twitter and Instagram she was
able to promote her Wrecking Ball video clip and gain 100 million views in 37
days. Not to mention, that the Wrecking Ball clip became a viral parody with hundreds
of memes! Her latest tweets consist of promoting her release of her new album.
source: https://twitter.com/MileyCyrus
In regards to the specular economy we not only see a
complex presentational of the self through social media but we also see a
transformation of individual into the consumer. It is not ‘the shift to consumption from
production but a shift to a wider and more pervasive production of the self’
(Marshall 2013, p36).
Now let’s take a look at the video below:
This was uploaded by Miley herself in 2009 after she
deleted her Twitter account. She explains her reasoning’s for deleting the
account including ‘she wants her private life to stay private, she isn’t living
for the tabloids and no more feuds with other celebrities.’ Really? Sinead
O’connor anyone? Oh Miley, contradicting yourself there? Look how far you have
come…. It seems all you use your twitter for these days is for the exact reason
you deleted it in the first place! It is interesting, however, that she
mentions she misses looking at Brittany Spears and Katy Perry’s Twitter
accounts so I guess for a ‘celebrity’ she is also somewhat a micro public.
I know I have had much fun analyzing Miley (probably
more than I should of), but there is another celebrity we are forgetting about,
Amanda Bynes. Similar to Miley, she was once an innocent and loved teen star on
The Amanda Show. But since she started her Twitter page, the world has
witnessed her downfall one tweet after the next. Her tweets are sexually
explicit, uses vulgar terms and she often tweets ‘selfies’ with minimal
clothing. Her actions are so extreme that some believed it was all a publicity
stunt but in fact it’s just a train wreck waiting to happen. She has become a
‘celebrity’ for all the wrong reasons. Similar to Miley Cyrus, I have included this
YouTube clip of an interview in 2007 where Amanda Bynes explains why she has
been able to stay out of trouble and will not become the next Lindsey Lohan.
Yeah right! It begs the question, is the rise of social media to blame for
Bynes’ downfall? Is this ‘mirror’ we are faced with too much to handle?
I guess what should be pointed out that both videos were
made in 2007 and 2009 where social media was only in early stages. Fast track
to a couple of years later and we are witnessing the ‘staging of the self as both character and
performance’ (Marshall 2013,p.40).
I think the before and after picture says it all.
source: http://au.eonline.com/news/422642/amanda-bynes-the-troubling-events-leading-up-to-her-nyc-arrest
(It’s ok she wont bite)
Ok, so I wouldn’t say the use of Twitter in the
celebrity world is all doom and gloom because I could take another route and
focus on Obama. Yes, up until now I wouldn’t have actually called him a
‘celebrity’ but after my research on his Twitter use, he has changed the
landscape of political campaigning forever, catapulting him to a social media
king. In his bid for re-election for presidency in 2012, his use of social
media as stated by his campaign manager Jim Messina, ‘will
make 2008 look prehistoric’ (telegraph 2012). And of course he is correct
because in 2008 Twitter was still in its infancy. Obama’s Twitter account
provided links to their campaign, about Obama himself, various news articles,
reminders and daily activities. In one way, you almost feel like your involved!
Obama currently has over 36 million followers on Twitter and tweets regularly
(whether its tweets by himself or his team is besides the point). Campaign
managers were able to follow election tweets with the hashtag #Obama2012.
Whilst researching this topic I found this
article (link here),
which explains the incredible power of his Twitter campaign. In 2012, when
Obama was re-elected he posted the above picture with the comment ‘Four more
years’. This tweet actually became the most popular tweet ever! It had 507,745
retweets and was favourited 173,028 times. Not to mention the picture posted to
his Facebook was shared by ten of thousands of people. Similarly, the
announcement of his victory sent individuals into overdrive with 327,452
election related tweets per minute.
These examples demonstrate how Twitter has the ability to construct a
character for a kind of ritual of the performance of the self. Whether that is
Miley promoting her album and ultimately herself, a bid for re election, or the
downfall of a Disney child star, celebrities must remain aware of Twitter’s
potential audience ‘as much as it is a careful preening and production of the
self’ (Marshall 2010, p.40).
I think it’s safe to say its not how celebrities have
changed in regards to presentational media, it’s how social media allows us to
classify who is a celebrity and who is not. Will we ever find a balance on how
we present ourselves online and how others view us? I guess only time will
tell.
References:
Barbour K. and Marshall P.D. 2012, The Academic Online:
Constructing persona through the world wide web, First Monday, vol 17, no. 9,
retrieved 9th October 2013, https://d2l.deakin.edu.au/d2l/le/content/143750/viewContent/1986662/View
Lundby, K 2008, Digital Storytelling, mediatized stories:
self-representations in new media, Peter Lang Publishing, retrieved 9
October 2012, http://seminar.net/index.php/reviews-hovedmeny-110/157-digital-storytelling-mediatized-stories-self-representations-in-new-media
Marshal, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol.
47, no. 6, pp. 498-502, retrieved15 September 2013, https://d2l.deakin.edu.au/d2l/le/content/143750/viewContent/1985498/View
Marshall, P.D. 2013 , Persona Studies: mapping the
proliferation of the public self, Journalism, June 4. online edition,
retrieved 15 September 2013, https://d2l.deakin.edu.au/d2l/le/content/143750/viewContent/1985497/View
Marshall P.D 2010, The
promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational
media, Deakin University, retreieved 8 October 2013, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19392390903519057
Pew Internet & American Life Project 2013, 72% of Online Adults are Social Networking
Site Users, retrieved 8 October 2013, http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/social-networking-sites/Findings.aspx
Telegraph 2012, 'Barack Obama's 'for more
years' tweet most popular ever' retrieved 30 August 2013, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/9660533/Barack-Obamas-four-more-years-tweet-most-popular-ever.html
YouTube:
Good-Bye
Twitter 2009, YouTube, mileymandy, 9 October, retrieved 7 October 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSOTQPUQoU
The
Amanda Bynes lost interview 2012, YouTube, HLN, 18 September, retrieved 7
October 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpVHQnIvTXo
Images:
E Online! 2013, ‘Amanda Bynes the Troubling
Events leading up to her nyc arrest’, retrieved 15 September 2013, http://au.eonline.com/news/422642/amanda-bynes-the-troubling-events-leading-up-to-her-nyc-arrest
Ortiz E, Osterhout 2012, 'Four more years:
'President Obama's tweet as final results come in on Election Day the most
popular of all time', retrieved 30 August 2013, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/celebrities-tweet-vote-president-article-1.1197761
Monde, C 2013, ‘VMA’s 2013: Miley Cyrus, Robin
Thicke performance draws negative reactions from fellow celebrities’, retrieved
15 Septemeber 2013, http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/vmas-2013-celebs-react-miley-cyrus-robin-thicke-performance-article-1.1437027
Tate, A 2013, ‘Miley Cyrus Butt Tweet: Singer
Accidentally Posts Private Conversation Referencing Depression and Drugs
[PHOTO], ‘retreived 15 Septemeber 2013, http://www.ibtimes.com/miley-cyrus-butt-tweet-singer-accidentally-posts-private-conversation-referencing-depression-drugs
Yelmasri, I 2013, ‘Med Cocktail Appears To Be
Working For Amanda Bynes’, retrieved 15 Septemeber 2013, http://www.rick.com/med-cocktail-appears-to-be-working-for-amanda-bynes/
0 comments:
Post a Comment