There Is No Plan

whither twitter as celebrity mouthpiece

PREAMBLE

We, the people who populate Twitter, in pursuit of a more perfect and democratic social media world, believe that all twitterers are created equal. Twitter is a community, vibrant, electric, ever-changing, and not necessarily like-minded, nor in agreement about anything at all, but for one inviolable truth, that all twitterers are created equal, that the moment you add your username and password, and for the duration of your active use of Twitter, you become part of the community, or “conversation” as it is known among Tweetsters.

But as in all communities, there are those who choose to abuse the proud and ennobling rights of expression granted to them as Twitmeisters. Among those whose action we twitsters do not condone are spammers, overt marketers and proselytisers and most importantly those who take from Twitter but give nothing to its community in return.

THE STATE OF TWITTER

As Twitter has risen in cultural importance, it has attracted a group of people who often, although by no means exclusively, fall into this final category.

This group of people is known as celebrities. Celebrities come from many walks of life, but included among them are the following; performers of popular music, actors in feature films or television programs, leading professional sportsmen and women, popular newscasters and anchors; and politicians or other public figures. Celebrities, by definition, share one trait. They are famous, and as such create a variety of often conflicting impulses in those blessed by anonymity. These include a desire to welcome, please, serve and otherwise connect with a given celebrity on the one hand, and the desire – often borne of schadenfreude or jealousy – to tear down said celebrity.

The traits listed above, exhibited by most non-celebrities in one form or another, even those who profess disinterest in celebrity, are borne of the fact that celebrities are regarded as different, in some ways superior, by virtue of their fame. There is nothing wrong with this phenomenon in itself. It might indeed be an unavoidable, perhaps even primal human response. However, in certain fora, this form of social stratification has no place. Read the rest of this entry »

anonymous

not anonymous

I didn’t start out wanting to be anonymous, but as I get older and realize it’s my future, I am beginning to realize that it has some distinct advantages.

Take Angelina Jolie. An illuminating article in today’s New York Times outlines what she does to burnish her public image. Read the article if you want the details, but wow, it sounds like hard work. All those phone calls, negotiations, and machinations, just to ensure that the public think you’re fabulous. And to what end?  Why does it matter what the public think of you unless you’re running for office? Is it so important to be loved by autograph hunters and part-time paparazzi? The answer has to be no. And yet people like Jolie work hard to perfect the art of publicity.

The reason is simple. Fame is a drug. Once you have it, you can’t get enough of it, and dread the idea that it’s taken away from you. Being a celebrity is a like being transformed into a human painted egg, with the yolk and white sucked out. Pretty on the outside, empty on the inside, and very, very fragile.

I wonder if Angelina Jolie ever wishes she were anonymous too.