How Justin Baldoni Uses Social Media to be Influential
“I decided to use my social platform as kind of this Trojan horse wherein I could create a daily practice of authenticity and vulnerability.”- Justin Baldoni (Ted, 2018)
Justin Baldoni is a true example of an individual who utilizes social media efficiently to help promote his content and influence. If you don’t recognize Justin Baldoni by name, you may know him as Rafael Solano in the television show “Jane the Virgin,” from his recent Ted Talk, or content that he produced. If you still don’t know who he is, then I highly recommend you to get to know him because he’s a talented individual with a caring personality that you don’t want to ignore.
Societal Activism
Justin Baldoni uses his social media accounts as form of activism to end negative societal views and norms. In 2015, Justin founded the Skid Row Carnival of Love (SRCOL) initiative to showcase the individuals that are often dismissed in society — the individuals who experience homeless in or around Los Angeles’ Skid Row. The entire day revolves around equality and creating a source of unconditional love that a community should provide. Justin explained an important thing that typically occurs in society:
“I was sort of getting used to there being homeless people everywhere. That’s sort of a dangerous thing. The second we start to normalize [homelessness], we’re part of the problem.” (Stoddard, 2017)
As Justin described, a main problem in society is how homelessness is often normalized in society and this negative societal view should be stopped. To help combat this issue, Justin’s carnival experience revolves around fun events, as well as career opportunities, education, legal and housing services, and healthcare services to help aid the homeless. To help make this initiative a success, Justin reaches out to his social following and welcomes everyone to apply to be a volunteer or visit the carnival. I vividly remember two years ago when I was scrolling on Twitter and came across Justin’s tweet inviting all individuals to apply as a volunteer to SRCOL. I immediately wanted to apply to be a volunteer myself, but in all reality, I was hundreds of miles away from LA. However, local fans replied to his tweet wanting to help out. The amount of volunteers and attendees increased due to Justin’s promotion of the carnival on social media as there were approximately 300 volunteers and 800 homeless individuals who visited in 2015 (Olya, 2015). The statistics increased dramatically in 2017 due to his promotion as seen below. Moreover, Justin used his instagram account to reach out to LA companies who were willing to donate to the carnival or offer job opportunities.
Furthermore, Justin is taking action by working with the L.A. mayor’s office to help other cities recreate their own carnivals based Carnival of Love model. Not only is Justin directly helping the homeless population in his area, he also indirectly helps by influencing others to pursue helping their own communities. Through seeing Justin’s journey of this carnival on social media, I was inspired to take action in my community to help end homeless. Last summer, my friends and I created bags filled with nutritious meals and snacks for homeless people in Toronto and we hope to do this every year.
Moreover, Justin uses his social media profiles to impede the current societal views of masculinity in hopes of making the world a better place filled with equality and individuality. Justin’s recent Ted Talk “Why I’m done trying to be ‘man enough’ ” encompasses how there is a toxic societal view for men to perform actions or behave in ways that are “man enough.” Although Justin does not agree that everything about men is toxic, he tries to educate others to have a healthy balance of traits by redefining the term masculinity. Justin challenges everyone to move towards equality, getting rid of society’s toxic views on what men should be and for parents to eliminate treating their children differently based on their gender. As of April 2018, the Ted Talk has 696,917 views and the numbers are expanding as this message is being widely spread. In all seriousness, you should go watch it. As a girl, I don’t know what it is like to have to hide behind a masculine persona but I sure know what it’s like to be treated differently due to my gender.
Shedding Light on Important Mental Health Issues
Moreover, Justin’s platforms shed light on mental illness issues in hopes to inspire and help others. During suicide prevention week, he posted a video of a suicide survivor in hopes to help those who are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts. Similarily, he also posted a snippet of Derek Hough’s song “Hold On” which was made for suicide awareness and Justin’s caption reveals that he hopes people will share the song along with its message. In addition, Justin occasionally uses his platforms as a way to help combat the stressors of daily life and social media. Justin shares his own stories about how he struggles with anxiety produced by the pain of comparison in a short Instagram video that is pinned to his profile. By sharing his own story, Justin turns the narrative into giving advice to his followers on how they could personally combat their own personal pain that comes from comparison. Everyone experiences insecurities in their life as a result of comparison and his advice helps others to avoid comparison. This is highly important in today’s society where it is a problem in which people are not only compared in their daily life experiences, but are also facing internal comparisons when on social media. The following words he says resonated me with as well as thousands of his followers:
“We got to remember that just because someone else is shining does not mean that you are not. Just because someone else is brilliant at something does not take away from your own brilliance. And I’m saying this to myself as much as I am to you. We have to remember that we are enough.”- Justin Baldoni
An Influencer
By analyzing Justin’s social media platforms, one can clearly see that Justin is an influencer. He fulfills the following traits of an influencer as defined by Bailey Parnell:
Level of Connectivity
Due to Justin’s fairly high connectivity with fans, he holds an influence on his fanbase and cultivates a network effect. For instance, as seen in the photo above, Justin connects with fans that promote his work as an educational tool for others. He tweets individuals thanking them for sharing his content. In addition, he does a great job on interacting with fans who desire to see him in a public speaking situation. Fans have commented on Justin’s Instagram photos revealing their desire for him to speak at their university to which he responds that he would be glad to be a public speaker and their school should email him. Justin is one of the few celebrities that efficiently uses his social media platforms by connecting with fans to both increase his social following and show his admiration for those that appreciate his content. As a result, Justin maintains a high follower retention because individuals tend to appreciate influencers that are interactive and create a sense of community on their platforms. Trust me, everyone likes being recognized by their favourite celebrity. Since individuals know Justin is interactive, they are more likely to constantly tweet about his content in hopes for recognition.
Direct Access to Followers
Although Justin has a relatively large social following (188K on Twitter and 1.3M on Instagram), he remains a personal dynamic with his followers which in turn contirbutes to his influence. Justin spreads his influence by directly maintaining relationships with his followers through social interactions including replies, retweets and likes. As seen above, Justin typically replies to fans’ personal situations which reveals that he values helping other’s situations turn positive. In the tweet, Justin encourages the fan to keep fighting against her fight with cancer and offers her a set visit to lift up her spirits. Moreover, it is a reoccurance for Justin to reply to tweets on Twitter and comments on his Instagram account to those that are either seeking advice or explaining why Justin’s content means so much to them. I believe it is very important for Justin to reply to fans that are seeking out advice because it displays how he is compassionate and caring about his fans and that he will offer assistance if he can.
Interpersonal Nature of New Photo and Video Sharing Networks
Often times, Justin creates a connection with his following through his interpersonal photo and video sharing. He typically posts photos and videos with long captions that integrate both his own personal experiences and experiences of his followers. Instagram allows Justin to informally communicate with others simultaneously with his pictures/videos and its corresponding caption. A perfect example is Justin’s Instagram post about his insecurities with his body. In a snippet of the caption of this particular post, Justin discusses his personal stuggles with body dysmorphia which allows followers to understand him on a more personal level. However, Justin ends the caption by communicating to his followers to think about themselves and apply his advice to their lives. He uses phrases such as “to my dear friends” and “to my men” to address each and every follower to join him on this journey in a more personal manner. Similarily, Justin posts communicative captions on other posts that revolve around other discussions such as parenting, kindess and fitness.
Promoting Content
The promotion of content is very important to contribute to an indvidual’s overall success. Although he’s most well-known as an actor, Justin is a talented content creator. He is the CEO and co-founder of Wayfarer Entertainment, a production company. Through this production company, Justin produces and directs a few of his own content seen on both Youtube and television. He follows the company’s vision of showcasing true human experiences and content that would make people want to be better. By analyzing his social media accounts, it is clear that there is an overlap of this mission and Justin’s promotion of the wide array of experiences life offers and the need to maintain a positive attitude in life. Furthermore, Justin does an excellent job of updating his social following of his current and upcoming projects. He updates about his Wayfarer content, new episodes of Jane the Virgin, his series “My Last Days” and most recently, his journey of being the producer and director of the upcoming teen romance movie “Five Feet Apart.” By consistently promoting his content on social media, fans are aware of his upcoming content and where they can support it. Nowadays, pretty much everyone looks at social media to stay updated on their favourite celebrities.
Building a Social Following
Overall, Justin tends to use social media platforms in efficient ways to increase his social following. As stated in his Ted Talk “Why I’m done trying to be ‘man enough’,” Justin’s followers were mainly female, but he desired to increase his amount of male followers to help get his message across to a more diversified audience. In order to to do, Justin resorted to tactics such as more “manly” posts including his fitness journey which in turn increased his male following. In a different manner, Justin also inadvertently increases his social media following by engaging with other influencer’s social platforms. For instance, Justin has recently collaborated with Lilly Singh, also known as Superwoman, on her 2017 “12 Collabs of Xmas” Youtube video. At the end of the video, Lily advises her followers to check out Justin’s new “Man Enough” series and provides the links to his website and twitter account. It is without a doubt that Justin gained followers due to this video. After all, as of April 2018, the video has 5,621,405 views. Furthermore, Justin creates a unique social media experience that increases his social media following due to his posts being relatable and influencing.
It is clearly evident that Justin Baldoni ensures that his social media experience creates a place where all fans could feel vulnerable, valued and inspired. In addition, Justin also promotes his content to ensure that people are aware of his projects. Overall, it is noted that being interactive with fans on social media has contributed to Justin’s success in various instances. If Justin maintains his current social media tactics, he will continue to be an influencer and help alter societal views in a positive manner.
References
Olya, G. (2015, April 2). Jane the Virgin’s Justin Baldoni Creates a Carnival for the Homeless. People. Retrieved April 9, 2018 from http://people.com/tv/jane-the-virgin-star-justin-baldoni-creates-a-carnival-for-the-homeless/
Stoddard, C. (2017, Jan. 27). ‘Jane the Virgin’ star Justin Baldoni opens up about his fight to end homelessness. Mic Network. Retrieved April 9, 2018 from https://mic.com/articles/166770/jane-the-virgin-star-justin-baldoni-opens-up-about-his-fight-to-end-homelessness#.FX7Cq88qn
[Ted]. (2018, Jan. 3). Why I’m done being “man enough” / Justin Baldoni [Video File]. Retrieved April 11, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cetg4gu0oQQ
Wayfarer Foundation. (2017). Skid Row Carnival of Love. Retrieved April 9, 2018 from https://www.skidrowcarnivaloflove.org
