LT Features

Tweet, Tweet It’s Social Media Week in New York City (speaking of, are you following EPIX and Inside Hollywood on Twitter?  If not, you should be!) and it has me thinking about how much Hollywood – and more specifically, the interaction between regular-ol’-folk and celebrities – has changed over the past few years.  Back in the day, we collected autographs and hung posters of Jonathan Taylor Thomas above our beds, but now we follow them on Twitter and fan them on Facebook.  We feel involved in their every day lives because we constantly know what they’re doing thanks to real time updates.  Obviously there are huge advantages to the recent developments in social media, like being able to create your own personalized newsfeed of whatever subjects and public personalities interest you most, but like everything in life there is also a downside.  For example, Courtney Love (I love you Court and I’m sorry I have to do this to you) keeps getting into confrontations over Twitter with everyone from Ed Norton to her own daughter.  Not cool, Courtney.  Another downside is that you become so familiar with these celebrities that if, by some strange miracle, you ever see them in real life you have a false sense of familiarity.  I don’t want to get into the gritty details, but I once saw a reality-star/lifestyle-guru crossing the street and struck up a conversation with her as if we shared a dorm room in college.  Muy embarazoso. But I have to give a shout-out to the celebrities that have really embraced social media and made it their own.  I hate to reveal the little man behind the curtain here, but some celebrities hire “experts” or let their PR team manage their accounts.  (Keep that in mind the next time you’re running out the door to buy a product that Kim Kardashian tweeted about).  A couple stars that deserve recognition for pioneering the new-wave-media path: Kevin Smith, Ashton Kutcher and Oren Peli, the Director of Paranormal Activity.   Kevin tweeted about being too chubby for a Southwest flight and got millions of followers up in arms.  (He also retweeted me twice, which automatically puts him first on my list of most influential tweeters). Ashton has been dubbed the King of Social Media for his bonkers number of followers and public embracing of the relatively new tool.  And finally, Oren for asking fans to demand his film be shown at their local theaters over Facebook.  Which celebrities do you think have made the best use of social media?  What about the worst?  Leave a comment below and let me know! L.T.

Tweet, Tweet

It’s Social Media Week in New York City (speaking of, are you following EPIX and Inside Hollywood on Twitter?  If not, you should be!) and it has me thinking about how much Hollywood – and more specifically, the interaction between regular-ol’-folk and celebrities – has changed over the past few years.  Back in the day, we collected autographs and hung posters of Jonathan Taylor Thomas above our beds, but now we follow them on Twitter and fan them on Facebook.  We feel involved in their every day lives because we constantly know what they’re doing thanks to real time updates.  Obviously there are huge advantages to the recent developments in social media, like being able to create your own personalized newsfeed of whatever subjects and public personalities interest you most, but like everything in life there is also a downside. 

For example, Courtney Love (I love you Court and I’m sorry I have to do this to you) keeps getting into confrontations over Twitter with everyone from Ed Norton to her own daughter.  Not cool, Courtney.  Another downside is that you become so familiar with these celebrities that if, by some strange miracle, you ever see them in real life you have a false sense of familiarity.  I don’t want to get into the gritty details, but I once saw a reality-star/lifestyle-guru crossing the street and struck up a conversation with her as if we shared a dorm room in college.  Muy embarazoso.

But I have to give a shout-out to the celebrities that have really embraced social media and made it their own.  I hate to reveal the little man behind the curtain here, but some celebrities hire “experts” or let their PR team manage their accounts.  (Keep that in mind the next time you’re running out the door to buy a product that Kim Kardashian tweeted about).  A couple stars that deserve recognition for pioneering the new-wave-media path: Kevin Smith, Ashton Kutcher and Oren Peli, the Director of Paranormal Activity.   Kevin tweeted about being too chubby for a Southwest flight and got millions of followers up in arms.  (He also retweeted me twice, which automatically puts him first on my list of most influential tweeters). Ashton has been dubbed the King of Social Media for his bonkers number of followers and public embracing of the relatively new tool.  And finally, Oren for asking fans to demand his film be shown at their local theaters over Facebook. 

Which celebrities do you think have made the best use of social media?  What about the worst?  Leave a comment below and let me know!

L.T.