Celebrities, Politics and Social Media

Especially the presidential election campaign motivated many celebrities to support their favourite candidates. This happened via concerts and speeches as well as via social media sites like instagram and twitter. For example, celebrities like Anne Hathaway posted statements to emphasize why they were promoting Hillary Clinton.

This involvement of famous people in political campaigns is not always seen in a positive way. Even some actors themselves regard it as a negative interference. So does the actor Mark Wahlberg who clearly states that celebrities have no idea of the real world and therefore should not try to tell their fans who to vote for. Nevertheless, on the other side, this posting may be a way to motivate young people to show more interest in politics. As demonstrated by the outcome of Britain’s EU referendum, “only 36 per cent of 18–24 year olds voted“. While the majority of young people voted to remain in the EU, this referendum might have had a different outcome depending on the number of young voters.

Therefore, this issue should not be regarded as such a negative thing. If young people are reminded that they should form their own opinion — while the statements of their favourite celebrities may only serve as additional information — there will be no problem.

Nowadays, you can even get quite an overview of things going on in our world while following several celebrities on instagram. While Miley Cyrus protests against Trump’s Muslim ban, Leonardo DiCaprio addresses environmental issues and Alicia Keys shares her thoughts about Women’s March. Thus, in a world where newspapers may slowly die out and a younger generation is constantly criticised for being too ignorant of politics, celebrities may be the new way of maintaining people’s interest. And as the majority of the younger generation start their day by checking WhatsApp, instagram and facebook instead of reading a newspaper, this concept seems to be quite sustainable.