In my last post I spoke about how fast news can travel around the world because of social media and the potential of that too, what the future holds for the way we will use social media to communicate. I also mentioned a few celebrities and their own potential impact on the millions of followers they have. I ask a question to all of you reading this:
Can celebrities that use social media really influence our lives?
I don’t want to talk about Lady Gaga or Justin Beiber anymore. I have no interest in what they say or what they do because I’m not a fan of either. But they can influence others, there’s no doubt in my mind about that. When I was younger, I fondly remember seeing a print advertisement from the American ‘Got Milk’ campaign which had WWE superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin with the famous white moustache. I idolised him as a kid and I swear it made me drink more milk! But that’s advertising and marketing.
On Twitter, a celebrity interacting with their fans has never been so open before because of social media, some of them will respond to their fans frequently whilst others may not be so snobby but the fan interaction might be a bit too much for them. If one of your favourite actors or artists follows you on Twitter, it will be a highlight of your day because it’s just not common. All we ever do is read what they say and do what they tell us to do; we don’t expect them to want to know more about us. This is called Parasocial Interaction (I obviously didn’t know this term before I wrote this entry, thank you Wikipedia). To my surprise, there’s another term which is similar to parasocial interaction but a bit creepier; Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS), I don’t think CWS needs much explanation.
The young are exposed to a lot of nasty things on the internet; we have all been through it. Social media might be the most detrimental thing to them compared to online gaming or pornography. The worrying thing is that parents might not see how much of an impact social media and celebrities have on children growing up because they are probably on the same boat as them! They too are in danger of allowing Britney Spears to influence what perfume to buy for their wives or what book to buy for their husbands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction
I get the point of what you are saying, and I really don't believe it makes things much different. We all have been influenced as kids, because we need someone to idolise, someone to show us how to behave.
ReplyDeleteTwitter and other social networks (specially Twitter) can have a deep impact in the younger generations, but in the end is the same story. As long as we educate our sons well, it shouldn't be a problem.
so true, its almost ashamed how young teenagers get easily influence by celebrities they idolise.it just shows the force of power the social media can hold towards the public's eye.
ReplyDeletei think as Fran stated, we need to educate the younger generation to have a mind of its own, but the million dollar question is how?
maybe check this out: http://cs3010sw2011.blogspot.com/2011/12/way-that-teens-can-flourish_06.html
Great post Alain. Valid comments Fran and Twinke_Toes, as I also feel education is the key. Here's my take on it.
ReplyDelete‘Parasocial Interaction or Celebrity Worship Syndrome’. These are very interesting terms. Yes, I totally agree with you, that social network does play a big part in peoples’ lives, particularly adolescents, as majority of the teenage population these days are more concerned with being like their favourite celebrities, than they care about being an individual. Not to mention like you said, that most parents aren’t any better, which makes it an unfortunate situation. This is why it is crucial for carers make it a priority to ensure that their children are being influenced by the right things.