Social Media, PR, & Celebrities
February 17, 2014
Today many celebrities obtain social media profiles to engage with their fans and the public. However, in recent years celebrities are using social media as a PR tool. The use of social media allows celebrities to intentionally “leak out” information to create celebrity gossip. As a result, the celebrity gets to appear in all the tabloids and acquires fame. Celebrities accomplish this through a classic PR model called press agentry/publicity. The basis of this model is to send out communication and cause “hype”. This PR technique is very common among celebrities. In fact recently, there was a lot of speculation that pop-star, Miley Cyrus allegedly used a similar technique to increase her fame. Cyrus rapidly underwent an identity crisis. The pop-star went from being Disney Channel Star, Hannah Montana to a wrecking hot mess.
Cryus began getting her name in the tabloids when she launched her music video ” We Can’t Stop”. In the video she appeared with her dramatic haircut, “twerking”, and with giant teddy bears. As soon as her music video was available, there was a dramatic response from the press, her fans, and disturbed individuals. Miley’s name quickly appeared on all social media sites. People were tweeting, sharing statuses over Facebook, and blogging about her. Later, at the VMA’s Miley had another dramatic moment.
She twerked on national television while performing a duet with Robin Thicke. This performance alone had an estimated about about 300,000 tweets per minute. The pop-star continued to gain attention when she repeatedly reported that the “new her” was a part of her revealing her true identity. She made these claims through social media networks, talk shows, and interviews. Although one can make the arguments that Cryus clearly used press agentry/publicity to increase her fame, others claim she did not and rather agree that she’s just trying to display her true self. Nevertheless whether it was actually the celebrity being herself or if it was PR, social media and its developments will affect the continued growth of PR.