Artists can use social media, and also they can be shaped by social media
How many social media Apps do you install on your phone? As a result, GlobeWebIndex’s survey shows that the average of social media accounts one person has is 5.54, and people actively using 2.82 platforms. What platforms people use doesn’t depend on individual’s choice, it depends on their attitude. Social media is a relevant tool for people to know about this world in this big data community. Everyone has social media account, included those famous people. However, they do not just simply post their daily meals and selfies. The posting process for them is much like a marketing strategy.
Nowadays, because of the big data community, audiences are impulsive. Social media changes the way people used to understand this world. The only way makes people pay attention to you is being active and creative. Instagram now is the most popular platform that those artists prefer to use because it is a straight and simple way for them to release their news and directly get the reaction from people. For example, last year Beyonce chose to post her pregnancy news as a photo on Instagram. Because of her massive amount of followers on Instagram, this picture immediately reached 11 million likes at that time. This post shows a huge population of Instagram users and Beyonce’s influence. The photo actually can not be considered as an official news report or announcement, but it makes the same effect. Beyonce’s baby bump is brave and makes social media platforms become not only the place people share their lives but also an aggressive strategy.
Artists try to get more followers on the mainstream social platforms to be competitive in marketing. Artists can collect people’s feedback and orient public discourse. Also, artists like to use social media to make hot topics on the internets to get more attraction. There is a whole pink wall outside Paul Smith’s store in LA. Now, this wall has become a “Must visited place in LA” for younger and tourists. Paul Smith intelligently uses fandom power to create an Instagram phenomenon for his store. His artwork lets more people know, and he got more attention at the same time. Artists share their creative work via social media, the comments they got from posts also let them understand what people want to see. It’s not one-direction communication. Oppositely, Social media can help artists to lead(control) the trend.
Artists can use social media to change the world trend, and artists’ appearance can be changed by social media. The more followers they get, the more crises may happen around them. The huge amounts of followers not only means you get right taste of market but also warn you to be very careful about everything you post on the social media. Even you just post a cup of drink, and you may also get in trouble because of some conflictive things in the background. For example, When Gigi Hadid announced that she would attend Victoria Secret Show, many people are angry about this because of a short video that her sister Bella post on Instagram. In the video, Gigi Hadid squinting her eyes to mimic the cookie. This video makes many people thought she was a racist. Although Gigi made the apology on several social media plateform，the video is prejudicial to her public appearance. Social media can also cause harmful effect on anyone.
Artists can use several new resources and fandom power from social media to help them to understand the market and create mainstream in the world, but also they are controlled and regulated by the community via social media. Every coin has two sides. If artists can always use the social media in the right way and be attentive for their actions, social media can help them to shape the public discourse well.
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