Chapter 33: To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter Article Summary

The Article, To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter, focuses on how media outlets are dramatically changing celebrity culture. A shift is prominent in the changes of the traditional interaction between a celebrities and their fans. Mediated forms are the main cause of this shift. There is no doubt that celebrities are a significant aspect of mass media. Celebrities are influential figures that make social media an exciting world to become enveloped in, especially for a fan. Fans draw out texts from social media in regards to what celebrities post. This brings meaning to the average fan's daily life. 

The article introduces a term known as, "Micro celebrity," defined by Theresa Senft. This term is key to understanding many of the article's key points. It describes a certain style of behavior depicted online and off. It popularizes self fame; the fans include friends and followers with the goal in mind being popularity. Online, media users are able to construct their own view of themselves and how they want to be seen. 

The article defines celebrity as a practice, and recognizes the need for research on the daily practice of celebrities by non-famous individuals. Both celebrities and non-famous individuals are connected through the social media paradigm. This leads into the social media website Twitter, where users of all social statuses can connect. The article mentions how powerful figures have contributed to fascination on the site. Twitter is used as a data base in order to understand the interactions of dialogue vs. engagement with fans. Another common user practice has to do with re-tweeting, which demonstrates what fans are attracted to and what they are uninterested in. This is one of the factors that effect the "unequal power differentials." For instance, commonly, celebrities will get well over 100,000 re-tweets, while the average user receives 10 re-tweets. 

The media provides celebrities to explore and further create their identity, as well as common users. Their fan bases are able to interact with celebrities by making their conversations "publicly visible." This study of celebrity culture has validated that celebrities have been transformed because of the personal qualities intertwined with their lifestyle and social media.