The other day an article ran in the NYTimes about celebrities using ghost writers on Twitter. Since then I’ve see dozens of tweets and other commentary about people getting all bent out of shape because they weren’t actually exchanging messages with the people they think they are. Since I know you are all sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear my take on this Tweet-tastrophy, I figured it was time I threw my 2 cents in to the mix.
OK, I get it. You’re bummed out that you aren’t exchanging tweets directly with Britney. But seriously, are you surprised at all? Think of how much time you spend replying to messages. How many followers do you have? A few hundred? A few thousand? Now, how much time do you think it would take to interact with a quarter million people? Can you see somebody may want some help trying to keep up with such a demand? Don’t forget, Twitter is just one of the many ways that fans try to interact with these people. I’m sure they have help answering fan mail, too.
Twitter can be used by celebs to help promote a project they are working on by giving a “behind the scenes” look in to their world. A photo from backstage seconds after coming off stage by your favorite performer, or a photo from the set of a movie or TV show scene being shot RIGHT NOW, does it really matter if the celeb themselves uploaded it? Not to me it doesn’t. I’m just happy to have access to the “exclusive” content.
A perfect example of this is Twitter user Greg Grunberg. You may know Greg as Matt Parkman from Hereos. Matt uses his Twitter account to promote TalkAboutIt.org (a dedicated to epilepsy awareness), he interacts with fans and he uploads shots like this from the set. I follow him because I enjoy the content that comes from the stream. If I found out tomorrow that he has an assistant who hangs out with him and tweets from 10 feet away, would that make the content any less cool? I don’t see how.
The content is the key. If you enjoy the content, the person who actually typed it in is secondary.
[header photo credit goes to Matt West]
Good post John. I agree with your take on this. I enjoy their posts for the info and entertainment. Who cares who really wrote it.
Most celebrities are a brand. The name, their public and film appearances, everything. Celebrities don't become famous all by themselves, they gain a little success and then hire a team of people to promote them to the top. PR firms have been around for decades, did everyone think PR just vanished? No, the PR person is now running the Twitter account, trying to promote their celebrity by getting noticed in the stream. Many celebrities that run their own Twitter streams post completely useless garbage: the cat rolled over, there was a noise outside, flying to Seattle, yawn. So I actually appreciate a celebrity assigning or hiring someone to post things of interest on a regular basis for their fans to read or download. That's actually kind of considerate, if you think about it. Anyone who insists that celebrities shouldn't hire ghost twitters is just trying to take down a good celebrity feed or promote themselves… as a whistle-blowing tattle-tale, I guess, but to each his own.
Thanks Lori for the comment. And exactly, WHO CARES who wrote it.
Dan, that's my point exactly. That's the roll of a PR firm. Once again it comes down to Twitter just being another marketing channel. It's the same as a blog. I promise you that 90% of celebs who run a blog have NEVER written a single post. But, assuming the content was entertaining, you'd still read it, right? I would.