New power of making Stars
For the traditional media forms, they are
regarded as representational mode of media. They are film, televisions and
radio. However, nowadays, the presentational modes of social media sites, like
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, are surely the rising power. In the following
blog post, we are going to see the main differences between the two media
forms.
In the past, audience is always relatively “passive”.
People would just sit and watch the movies. We can see the stars and actors “on
the screen”. They are celebrities that we cannot get in touch. They are really
someone renowned. Instead of making someone a celebrity, the public would
accept the person who is being molded as a famous star. Jodie Foster is a good
example. She works extremely hard since she was a little girl, and finally
becomes an international star.
(photo sourced: http://www.childstarlets.com/lobby/bios/portraits/jodie_foster12.jpg)
Nevertheless, nowadays, new mode of media
leads to expansion of celebrity discourse. According to Marshall (2013, p.4), due
to the 20th century’s social and cultural movement, the celebrity discourse is
expanded quickly. The presentation modes of social media sites allow fans to communicate
with their idols closely. The celebrities can share their ideas through the social
network. They are not only people we can see on the screen. According to Marshall
(2010, p.43), The interactivity of on-line social networking identifies the new
need for celebrities to stay connected in some way to this shifted relationship
to an audience and a public. The new trend really interests the celebrities
since they can communicate interactively via the Internet with their fans. The
US President Obama is also one of the trendy celebrities who join the social
network.
(Photo sourced: http://images.politico.com/global/politico44/040511_obama_facebook_courtesy_283_regular.jpg)
Besides, the presentation modes of social
media sites make everyone a star to their families and friends. For instance,
in Facebook, your family and friends are just like your “fans”. They can read, “like”
and “comment” on your posts. They are developing their own circles. Meanwhile,
the new modes of media also helps make some new “stars”. Normal people could be
a celebrity overnight. Everything could happen on the Internet within a short
period of time, including making someone famous. They are different talented
netizens, like bloggers. They gain publicity when they are posting or tweeting
something on the social network. For example, we got a term “Youtuber”. It is
for describing person who often makes and posts some videos on YouTube. YouTube
is really a good platform for making someone a celebrity. Justin Biber has also
started his road to the world stage at YouTube. Through the Internet, the video
blogs can be watched worldwide. Now, we are not as “passive” as in the past. We
are joining the process of making people famous, or even being the famous ones.
Many Internet celebrities are developed upon the support of the other Internet
users, who are you and me.
(Photo sourced: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/801311124/myworld2.jpg)
All in all, due to the change of media
platform, the modes of media also changes. People now focus on the Internet
rather than the television and radio. Therefore, the presentation mode of media
of social network becomes dominant now. It is hard to determine if the
presentation mode of media would defeat the representation mode of media. At
this moment, we just know that the former is really a powerful one.
Reference
-
Marshall, P.D. 2013, “Persona
studies: Mapping the proliferation of the public self”, Journalism, vol.0, no.0, pp. 1-18.
-
Marshall, P. D. 2010, “The
promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational
media”, Celebrity studies, vol.1,
no.1, pp. 35–48.
I agree that nowadays the platform to shape and build up a star has changes. Stars are no longer unreachable. Not only the audience can look at them on screen but also interact with them via internet. Many stars have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, weibo etc. account to interact with their fans. These kinds of social media platforms are of paramount importance to them as they can promote and shorten the distance with their fan in order to gain public support to increase their popularity. Also, I like you make the point that audiences are no longer being passive. Everyone can be famous overnight like Justin Bieber. Without YouTube, he cannot be famous as now. As long as you are talent and have good skills using internet to promote yourself, you can be a next super star.
回覆刪除Hi Carol,
回覆刪除Firstly, an interesting and well-written post that has utilised worthy and interesting sources to highlight how celebrities act online, especially through social media. I enjoyed reading about your opinions on why celebrities interact with fans online, and how this affects not only their fan base but their career as a whole. You’ve used a varied amount of examples in regards to celebrities to draw some evidence from, however, I would have enjoyed some more examples from scholarly references in your discussion. Great use of imagery, it really makes a huge difference on the blog, and it’s also more appealing to read!
Hi there,
回覆刪除This was a great post and I enjoyed reading it. Firstly, your point about the creation of mini "celebrity-like" circles with everyday people was very valid. Indeed, our friends can be likened to our "fans" who can comment, like and interact with us, just like they can with celebrities. However, something that I believe this specular economy has caused is a trend of over-sharing. Specifically, this need to know exactly what a celebrity or friend is doing has led to a case of too much information, wherein private situations are made uncomfortably public! Perhaps social media can sometimes be a case of "less is more"?
Thanks for the post.
Julia