How Celebrities Use Social Media to Their Advantage

Running head: HOW CELEBRITIES USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO THEIR ADVANTAGE
How celebrities use social media to their advantage
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HOW CELEBRITIES USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO THEIR ADVANTAGE
How celebrities use social media to their advantage
Social media has become one of the most important elements in the life of any celebrity.
One of the ways in which celebrities use social media is to advertise and grow their brand
(Escalas and Bettman, 2017). This is the most important role of social media in the life of a
celebrity. As much as they can choose to communicate to their fans and followers using other
communication channels, social media sites seem impeccable as they are able to offer a broad
view of themselves to their viewers. This means that they can portray any image they wish theirs
fans to perceive. The fans can then relate to the celebrities using a personality they are able to
perceive from the images and other social media posts. Displaying a message that depicts the
celebrity’s brand leads to its growth over time (Zhu and Chen, 2015). Celebrities therefore
ensure their presence is felt in social media sites. For example, music artistes post photos and
videos to show their keenness in keeping up with fashion trends, so that their brand will be eye-
catching and famous. Once the celebrities manage to draw a huge number of fans to view their
brands on social media, they are able to acquire a great market for their music, videos and
movies. This in turn leads to positive growth in their financial goals and expectations (Centeno,
2017). Unless a celebrity’s brand is massively known by huge numbers of social media users,
growing it is not an easy task (Escalas and Bettman, 2017). Growing and maintaining their brand
is therefore a pricey task but very important in ensuring progress in their careers.
The second way in which celebrities use social media is through an enabled cost friendly
and easy communication with their fans. This communication leads to connections and personal
relationships between the celebrity and his/her fans (Kowalczyk and Pounders, 2016). Social
media has brought relief from rigorous traditional forms of communication. This is attributed to
the fact that communication through social media is quick, easy, convenient and cheap. Most

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HOW CELEBRITIES USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO THEIR ADVANTAGE
people in the world today own devices that allow them to access social media sites. On this
sense, celebrities benefit a great deal as they are able to post their thoughts and opinions, where
their fans can see and comment. This allows great connections in that the celebrity and his/her
fans can understand each other (Kowalczyk and Pounders, 2016). Fans are able to feel like they
have a sound say in the celebrities’ lives. Successful celebrities such as Justin Bieber and
Beyonce can attest to the impeccable role of social media sites in communication and creation of
personal relationships with fans. Fans are able to express themselves on what they like and
enjoy. They can vividly praise and criticize the actions and activities posted by celebrities
(Kowalczyk and Pounders, 2016). This makes social media sites to be a verification ground for
their new releases as well as being aware of where corrections are necessary. The celebrities are
able to know the expectations of their fans and when they are fulfilled, the fans’ reactions act as
motivation for the celebrities to do more (Kowalczyk and Pounders, 2016). Communication
through social media is therefore a great uplift for any celebrity out there.
Thirdly, social media is of great advantage to celebrities as they are able to effectively
express their views and opinions on social, political and economic issues. Social media has posed
to be a great platform where celebrities can communicate their values, ideas and policies for
specific interests (Centeno, 2017). Often, celebrities have their unique or special platforms where
they can pass their messages without restrictions of any kind. In the United States, celebrities
have always expressed their ideas on elections, climate change, Myanmar massacre, Syrian
refugee crisis among others. They are also able to start conversations through their voice on
social media since they are men and women of power and influence (Centeno, 2017). For
instance, the world’s best basketball player, Lebron James bets on the fact that a reaction such as
consideration of a certain issue by the president is likely to occur, when he uses his social media