Celebrity and the Public Persona

The celebrity economy and that of normal individuals in society are now more connected than ever before. I believe that this is due to Globalisation. Globalisation has many different definitions throughout time and each refer to different aspects of life. For this blog I have chosen one that I feel conveys how celebrities and everyday individuals are now closer through globalisation.

John Thompson (1995, p. 149) argues that “Globalization refers to growing interconnectedness of different parts of the world, a process which gives rise to the complex form of the interaction and interdependency”. My interpretation of this is that due to technology we can connect with people on the other side of the world and because of this we have become increasingly conscious of the world as one. Celebrities can now interact with their fans on social media wherever they are in the world and can do this independently. Everyday citizens feel more independent as they are able to interact with others through the creation of an online persona.

The celebrity economy, media changes and the creation of personas through the specular economy will be explored, finding that these are building on globalisation, which I believe is ever changing.



Celebrity Economy

The celebrity economy has changed much over the years and David Marshall (2010, p. 498) believes that technological advances have instigated two changes that have caused growth in the celebrity economy. The first Marshall (2010) acknowledges is the ability to send messages, images and video, avoiding the gatekeeping element and other controlling mechanisms found in broadcast and print media. I believe this is a critical instigator of change for ‘the famed’ who are now able to construct and publish their own public image. In the past it was very crucial for celebrities to have teams managing their public image, but today, celebrities are “at the forefront of the expansion and use of social media and networks for reputation management”, (Marshall 2010, p. 498), “Celebrity culture in its intensified growth over the last century has always been a very elaborate discourse on what the famous are ‘really’ like”. The paparazzi and gossip magazines are known to for their work in trying to find out what celebrities are really like, but today with social media, celebrities can post their own personal photos and show what they are doing themselves sometimes in their own home which is something that the paparazzi is unlikely to capture and deliver to audiences.
Like this post of Kate Ritchie in her Pyjamas:

Kate Ritchie (Image:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=371133712989573&set=a.253212438115035.38315.249920431777569&type=1&theater )

This picture was taken by Kate Ritchie and published on her Facebook page for her fans to see. Therefore this exemplifies the first change due to technology that has altered the celebrity economy.


Although in saying this, there are some celebrities who have not jumped on the social network band wagon and rely on others for their reputation management. For example in 2005 Rebecca Hewitt signed a contract with Australian magazine, Woman’s Day, allowing them to provide the ‘inside scoop’ on the Hewitt family from their wedding, the births of their children and everyday life. This information would have been edited by many employees at the magazine with some information being included and other parts excluded probably with Hewitt having little say. This example contradicts Marshall (2010) as Hewitt does not use social media (Twitter or Facebook) and still works with Woman’s Day by providing them with an inside scoop into her life as seen in this article published a few months ago.

Hewitt Family (Image:http://www.okmagazine.com.au/insider/232-meet-baby-ava.htm )

Barbour and Marshall (2011) argue that “The risk of not taking control of one's own online academic persona is that others will create one for you. This is what we are terming the 'uncontainable self'’”. This is evident when the name ‘Bec Hewitt’ is searched on Twitter and Facebook as there are many pages that have been created for Hewitt by her fans. This can be detrimental to the celebrity if the fans who control the social media page post inappropriate information. This problem can be rectified if the celebrity creates a real page in which fans can follow in order to create the public persona that the celebrity is after.

The second change that Marshall (2010, p. 498) believes has caused a growth in the celebrity economy is the fact that ‘not only is there a surplus economy of personalities, there is now an expectation of social interaction through social media’. This means that as the public, we expect to be able to interact with celebrities through social media. Click on this link to find out how to interact with celebrities on Twitter.

Marshall (2010, p. 500) states that ‘celebrities can be collectively “stalked” by fans and their whereabouts relayed quickly through a connected social network’. I won tickets to Jason Derulo’s exclusive performance in Sydney and uploaded a video whilst I was still at the event. Footage can be seen below.

Professional images weren’t available online until 3 days after the actual event and can be seen here. This is an example of Marshall’s (2010) previous statement as Jason Derulo’s whereabouts were relayed quickly through Facebook. Professional image seen below.

Jason Derulo Exclusive Performance (Image:http://www.2dayfm.com.au/scoopla/galleries/house-of-hits-with-jason-derulo/ )

Representational Media and the emergence of Presentational Media
These changes that Marshall (2010) argues is instigated by new technology can be seen as going from representational media (film, television, journalism and advertising) to presentational social media (Twitter and Facebook). Marshall (2010, p 499) discusses that “instead of television or magazines organising a sophisticated panoply of idealized representations of ourselves through famed and celebrated people, we now have an incredibly complex presentation of the self through the screens of social media via the Internet and mobile communication”. This means that in the previous examples, some celebrities like Kate Ritchie are seen to be moving into presentational social media by publishing her own material and not relying on representational media like magazines (as does Bec Hewitt) to define her public persona.



Specular economy

The specular economy is explored by David Marshalll (2010, p.499) to be ‘where collectively we are becoming more conscious of how we present ourselves and how others perceive us…’ Just like your day to day routine where you get ready to present yourself to the outside world and check that you have done so by looking at your reflection in the mirror. This is the idea that the specular economy is based on. Today, unlike the years before, we have to present ourselves to the public on social media. We ‘pose’ for our friends on Facebook, for our employers on LinkedIn and for our fans on YouTube. Marshalll (2010) believes that the specular economy which is produced by the media means that we continuously construct ourselves to be viewed in a certain way.

In relation to my own social media use, I choose not to post the fact that I reversed into my partner’s car today because I do not want to be seen as an incompetent driver by my ‘friends’ on Facebook. I also chose not to post that I can’t be bothered going to work on the weekend because I want my colleagues and managers to see me as a motivated employee who enjoys my work and the workplace. Yes, I have now shared two facts on the internet about myself that I did not want my ‘friends’ to see. But they will not read this blog post, nor will they even know that I have blog because I have chosen not to share this site with them because I feel that my scholarly postings may not be good enough. Can you see a pattern? I have chosen to hide negative aspects (aspects that I perceive to be negative) about my life because I am constructing my persona to be more positive than it really is.
Click here to find out how to make you more attractive on Facebook.

Marshalll (2010, p.499) believes that “The online and mobile media screen as mirror has to be thought of as producing ‘persona’”. This is exactly what I am doing, using Facebook and other social media sites to develop a certain persona and pose to be a specific way for my audience

Many people, who use social media, thrive for more friends, more likes, more comments and overall more attention. Therefore many people act in a highly individual way on social media sites to achieve this. This hyperindividuality is seen across social media, particularly on YouTube in an aim to become well known to many people globally.

Christopher Lasch (1979) argued that at this time, Americans had developed a form of narcissism. This means that people were searching for constant validation. Lasch (1979) called this the ‘me generation’ and included the quest for wealth and fame just like many people today that use social media, particularly YouTube.

There are so many different YouTube channels about so many different topics. Gone are the days when we were limited to the channels on our televisions. One of the first channels I started watching in high school was GabeandJesss a 21 year old mother of 4 children under 4. So I ‘subscribed’ to her channel and every time she would publish a video I would be notified. She is now known by 113, 830 subscribers and her private moments are now made public. We know a lot about Jessica Shafer as she publishes videos about her day to day activities, updates on her children and personal life as well as weight loss and beauty tips. This article about Shafer and her ‘GabeandJesss’ channel says that the American mother has received “gifts from as far away as Ireland”.

Therefore private information like this is not only published about celebrities like Bec Hewitt but of normal everyday people who have become famous through ‘presentational media’, broadcasting themselves. I think we could call the young people of today the ‘me generation’ with many people like Shafer also making YouTube channels and becoming famous. These people are on a quest for wealth and fame and today with YouTube and social media, it has just gotten a lot easier.

Jessica Shafer and Family (Image:https://www.facebook.com/pages/GabeandJesss/136509159703383 )

Hyperindividuality is seen widely across the use of social media ensuring the growth and strength of micropublic networks. Marshall (2013, p. 12) believes that the “micropublics identify a newer duality: these are the followers and friends that are connected to a range of content via a particular individual”. Micropublic networks enable intercommunication through “the way that information about the self migrates through online culture and occasionally produces moments of real fame for participants as cultural memes” (Marshall, 2013). This is true in that the things I post on Facebook will not only be seen by my 300 friends, but by many more through connected networks. If I ‘like’ my friend Taylar’s photo, another friend of mine, Kerrie, who is not friends with Taylar, can see Taylar’s photo.


Social media enables a variety of media like images, video, sound and messages to be publicised on social media, direct from the source, avoiding the messenger, the middle man who can change or control the content. This is what Marshall conveys which I believe is only part true. A lot of what is shared from user to user on social media is media from news sources that has been filtered. So content is still being filtered, although the audience/social media user is able to choose the information they wish to digest and prioritise news that is of interest and of high importance to them.


The celebrity economy has changed due to today’s technology with more people learning more about the famed through the celebrity’s posts on their own social media pages. More celebrities are taking on the role of creating their own online persona like Kate Ritchie. Although others, like Bec Hewitt are not interacting with fans and allowing representational media to maintain their public persona. Normal everyday people also make public personas on Facebook by being conscious of the public version of them and then constructing an image they are after. Some people like me leave out certain facts about myself in order to control how others see us. Then, there are people like Jessica Shafer who go as far as sharing very intimate details about their lives on YouTube, similar to the ‘me generation’ acknowledged by Lasch in 1979. Just like celebrities, everyday people are creating public personas online and are becoming connected with a global community.




References

2day FM, 2013, ‘House Of Hits with Jason Derulo’, 7 October 2013, <http://www.2dayfm.com.au/scoopla/galleries/house-of-hits-with-jason-derulo/ >

Aquilina, M 2013, ‘Facebook: Melissa Aquilina’, 7 October 2013, <https://www.facebook.com/melissa.aquilina.7>

Aquilina, M 2013, ‘Jason Derulo’, 7 October 2013, <https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201644209739550&l=4488029405292560052>

Barbour K. and Marshall P.D. 2012, The Academic Online: Constructing persona through the world wide web, First Monday, vol 17, no. 9, [available: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3969/3292]

Hatch, A 2010, ‘Oh, Baby: Teen mom blogs pregnancy on YouTube’, 7 October 2013, <http://www.parentdish.com/2010/05/14/oh-baby-teen-mom-blogs-pregnancy-on-youtube/15#c27929091>

Lasch, C 1979, ‘Culture of Narcissism’, W.W. Norton, New York

Marshall, P.D. 2013 , Persona Studies: mapping the proliferation of the public self, Journalism, June 4. online edition.

Marshal, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502

OK!, 2010, ‘Meet baby Ava’, 7 October 2013, <http://www.okmagazine.com.au/insider/232-meet-baby-ava.htm>

O’Neill, N 2010, ‘5 Ways to instantly make yourself more attractive on Facebook’, 7 October 2013, <http://allfacebook.com/attractive-facebook-profile_b12124>

Ritchie, K 2013, ‘Facebook Timeline Photos’, 7 October 2013, <https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=371133712989573&set=a.253212438115035.38315.249920431777569&type=1&theater>

Thompson, J. (1995). ‘The Globalization of Communication’ In Thompson, J. The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media, (pp.149-173). London: Blackwells.

WikiHow, 2012, ‘Make a celebrity follow you on Twitter’, 7 October2013, <http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Celebrity-Follow-You-on-Twitter>

Wikipedia, 2013, ‘Bec Hewitt’, 7 October 2013, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bec_Hewitt>

Women’s Day, 2013, ‘Bec Hewitt: Why I don’t call Australia home’, 7 October 2013, <http://womansday.ninemsn.com.au/celebrityheadlines/8667863/bec-hewitt-why-i-dont-call-australia-home>

Women’s Day, 2013, ‘Home’, 7 October 2013, <http://womansday.ninemsn.com.au/ >

Shafer, J 2013, ‘GabeandJesss’, 7 October 2013, <http://www.youtube.com/user/GabeandJesss>