Why Celebrities Need Twitter

I was talking to Stephanie one day and she was telling me a story about her boss. He was returning from a trip to California when there was a bit of commotion near the security check point. A man was being followed by a small group, which appeared to be his entourage, and a gang of paparazzi. They asked if they could skip ahead of him in line and he obliged. It wasn’t until later that he found out it was Jon of the infamous “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ TLC series. While ultimately Jon’s scenario is a little different, this story got me thinking of the problems celebrities frequently run into and how one could take back their life using social media.

Exclusivity is probably the biggest driving force behind America’s obsession with celebrities. Americans (I’m generalizing) crave the scoop on their celebrity crushes. Where do they go? Who do they see? What are they doing when not on camera? Americans crave this, because it’s not information that’s generally available to them. Like any other resource in the world, scarcity creates value and that value is what produces things like US Weekly, National Enquirer and the ever annoying paparazzi.

But all the information we crave, is the same information that people liter twitter with. (OH I rhymed!) Imagine if you could connect with a celebrity, even if it was only one way. I’m not a celeb whore, but I have to admit that I get a kick out of knowing that Jay Cutler is in the film room watching some Cincinnati footage. (It didn’t help Jay) It gives me an odd sense of connection to Cutler. If I ran into him in the supermarket, I wouldn’t go all fanboy over him. He’s just Jay, a dude on Twitter who happens to have a really awesome job. Bad example? Let’s use our favorite (*gag*) twitter celeb aplusk or known to the rest of the world as Ashton Kutcher.

Ashton Kutcher has become somewhat of a Twitter maven these past few years. He and his seemingly ageless wife Demi Moore share quite a bit of themselves on twitter. Sometimes you’ll see a tweet about events they’re attending, what they’re doing for the day, even the occasional photo. By putting the information out to the masses, not only are they reducing the scarcity of these tidbits of information (therefore reducing the value) but they’re also capable of controlling what gets put out to the public. Nobody will pay $4.00 for a magazine with photos of Demi Moore grocery shopping when she’s putting other photos of herself in everyday life on the web, accessible to all for free.

By communicating with your fans/audience, you reduce the level of exclusivity. Exclusivity is what drives the majority of fandom. Sure you’ll still have your occasional nut job who wants to smell your socks but that’s showbiz. Celebrities need to begin controlling the information that gets out there and the best way to do that is to put the information out yourself. Twitter is a great way to do that and is easily accessible to your audience. No need to manage your friends or accept requests or setting up silly automated bots to handle it. It’s easy, it’s simple and it gives you the power to interact with your audience and adds some control to the information and images that are getting out there anyways. More celebrities need to realize that Twitter’s usage can go beyond branding. As crazy as it sounds, the tool many of them see as an invasion of privacy can lead to more privacy.

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Twitter: Knife or Screwdriver?

The butter knife, a part of every person’s kitchen, is a tool.  The most common usage for this tool is to spread butter, jams, jellies, peanut butter and a million other toppings on something. Well at least that’s how I use a butter knife. But how many of you have used this same utensil as a flat head screw driver in a pinch? Or used it to jimmy a door open when you lock your keys inside? Or decided to play a joke on your roomie by dropping it in the toilet and then placing it next to his morning toast? The butter knife is the same tool, but the user has modified its use based on the users circumstances.

Social media and this explosion of openness and entirely TMI on the web isn’t indicative of the tool, but how people have decided to use the tool. Lets take Twitter for example. I have a group of friends in New York who use Twitter amongst their private circle to share information, plan events, etc. They’re not really interested in finding people they don’t know and getting random updates about lives more mundane than their own. They took the tool of Twitter and used it in a way that fits their needs and circumstances.

Sticking with that example lets say a member of this group of friends is a private guy and protects his updates.  He doesn’t want the world to know that he’s just been assaulted by mutant tigers on his way to Jiffy Lube, but he wants a quick easy way to share that information with the friends he’s trusted. He’s extended that trust by allowing them to follow him. Is that breaking the rules? Should we get to decide how someone shares information about them? Is this in the Twitter Terms of Service? (I haven’t read it)

Why do people chastise others for how they use Twitter?  That’s the beauty of it, if you don’t like how someone is using the tool then why are you following them? Lets say someone you follow regurgitates Tupac lyrics and passes them off as famous Bob Barker quotes. That could get annoying really quickly. So why not unfollow them? Sounds like a simple solution to me. I try to make the rules for social networking the same rules I would use in real life. If you don’t like the conversation, move to another table or simply don’t partake in the conversation

If I’m at a bar with 3 of my friends and we’re cursing and talking about bare breasted Olympic pole vaulters, would you seriously come in and tell us how to conduct our conversation? How we should be communicating with one another? No, you’d either join in and accept how we communicate or you’d walk away and move to another table.

Some people aren’t promoting a blog or a podcast or a web project. Not everyone is looking to have their voice heard by as many people as possible. Some people just want to stay connected with friends and family. Some just want to keep a running log of their moods throughout the day. I think they should be allowed to do that if that’s what they choose.

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