Throughout today’s digital technology
driven society, we are now living in what is known as a ‘specular economy’. This
specular economy has risen due to the technology that outlines the constant
need to interact via social media – especially when it comes to interacting
with and keeping tabs on celebrities via social media. According to Marshall (2010),
celebrities use social media in order to show how the ‘famous’ really live, and
to allow their fans to have an insight into their life. ‘ Celebrities are now
sharing their lives publicly online throughout social media platforms such as
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and it is out there for virtually anyone to
see.
Adding to the use of social media in order
to keep their fans up to date with their lives, celebrities are now also
utilizing social media in order to present themselves in a certain way that
they feel will benefit their public appearance, whilst at the same time
creating an online public version of themselves. According to Marshall (2010),
this ‘tactic’ is referred to as ‘presentational media’. This specular model of
how others perceive us encourages society to consume the celebrity culture that
is constantly being ‘fed’ to them, whilst at the same time articulates a
certain way of thinking about the individual self in the public world – as I
know I am constantly worrying about how others are perceiving my online self
through Facebook, it only makes sense that celebrities too are extremely careful
with how they present themselves online, given that they are often well known
throughout society, it is important for them to uphold a certain image of
themselves when posting online.
In my personal experience, I have also
found that celebrity Twitter accounts and online gossip pages have always been
something that I actively participate in. As much as I hate to admit it, ‘following’
celebrities on Twitter often provides me with a distraction from the everyday
stresses of work and uni life. I tend to follow celebrities with a comedic
aspect to them, or celebrities who are involved in television shows or bands
that I am interested in. A celebrity Twitter account who constantly keeps me
amused is Aaron Paul, who (seen below) is constantly updating his account with
a variety of comedic posts. This again reflects the notion that we as a society
consume ourselves with the online personas of celebrities.
Sources:
Marshall, P D (2010); ‘The promotion and
presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational media’, Celebrity
Studies, vol. 1, no. 1
Marshall, P D (2010), ‘The Specular
Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 489 – 502
Marshall, P D (2013) ‘Persona studies:
Mapping the proliferation of the Public Self, Journalism, June 4. Online
Edition
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