CHUNG Wing Man, SID:20031961, Blog Post 2

The Interaction between Celebrity and Public in Social Media Environment of 21st Century

Social media site is part of people life. This is a generation that everyone can be a celebrity. Celebrity life is so conceal in the past but now is different. Celebrity present something fantasy and gossip consumption in the social media site to increase their popularity. Equally is that what they present in the internet is real? As Marwick claims that the ‘authenticity’ of these performances appeals to some audiences. Therefore paparazzi is passed away and lost their mainly superiority, also celebrity share personal information with the public, the public feels as though a personal connection has been created. Moreover celebrity is inaccessible in the past but now they like your friends, share their life, their feeling or send you a direct message. Also fans can leave a message on social media platform to their idols. This interactive mode is common in these past few years. Marwick describes that networked media is changing celebrity culture.

(Kevin Durant)

You may say Kevin Durant is the recipient of Internet micro aggression. He is the most attention NBA star. Since he has joined the Golden State Warriors on July 2016 then he received a lot of criticism on social media. He closed his Instagram account on September 2016 afterwards. There is a Parasocial Interaction between celebrity and fans. Celebrity connects with their fans, build their brand, and divert them from the real world in social media platform. In this case, public do not like celebrity do something what they hate so they leave some harsh messages to complaint that. Otherwise is that public control the celebrity to become what they want to be? The answer should be yes, it is because not many celebrities can keep their principles.

Social media platform is shaping society and affecting relationships as stated. As Marwick assert that even the famous must learn the techniques used by ‘regular people’ to gain status and attention online. If you would like to be a celebrity, you should have great public relationship skill to build up your own imaginary “authenticity” image. World is changed, there are not only one way to allow public know who you are. However if you are celebrity, could you well manage your fans in social media platform? And not controlled by your fans? This is an awkward question that every celebrity confronts with their “post” in their social media platform.

Reference

Benjamin Hoffman. 2016. “Kevin Durant to Join the Golden State Warriors.” The New York Times, July 4

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/sports/kevin-durant-to-join-the-warriors.html?_r=0