Future Camp- The Future begins now!

As the final Social Media #HumberPR class comes to a close, It was time to experience future camp. I had no idea what to expect. I knew discussions would arise about what we've done and where we go from here. What I failed to recognize was the need to focus on the networks we have been building thus far and importance of continuing to connect with those we already know.

The Beginning:
A class about social media seemed simple enough, but when it began I was extremely overwhelmed. I hadn’t realised how many social and digital media tools existed and was very unaware of how they worked. At the time I didn’t understand the value of such things like Twitter and Blogging. It was very foreign to me. As time went on the overwhelming necessity to connect and engage in conversation using these communication tools took over a huge chunk of my day. The value was evident. The importance of creating and maintaining relationships with those you are connected to was a major priority. We’ve learnt a lot over the past four months and today reminded me that it has only just begun.

The Future Looks Bright:
Moving forward into our prospective careers, it is essential to determine which tools will be most important to carry with. As I look towards a future in PR, I now understand the value of having a blog, twitter, Facebook and especially LinkedIn, as it helps paint a picture of who you are and what you are all about. Connecting with people in this industry face to face is of course ideal, but often unlikely. Social and Digital Media has opened up a whole new world for people to learn from one another and participate in worthwhile conversation.

Consistency in social media is vital. Either give it your all or don’t bother trying. The more information that you put out there, the more people will be inclined to follow you.

Follow me on Twitter @h_farb and follow my fellow PR Arts and Recreational junkies

Cheyoka, smtupper and JacquelineAnne2

Celebrity Twitter Update

After blogging about celebrities on Twitter a while back, I decided it was time to test the theory further. I had already begun following a number of celebrities and began to monitor their tweets a little closer. My initial blog post about one-way communication among celebrities and their followers still rings true. As Twitter evolves, this is not true in all cases.

It’s typical to find John Mayer tweeting about nonsense and Britney Spears tweeting about her trials and tribulations, but announcing a breakup on Twitter is a new phenomenon. Celebrities use Twitter as a way to send out messages to their fans, keeping them informed and making them priorities. Jim Carrey’s recent announcement of a breakup with long-time girlfriend, Jenny McCarthy over Twitter was an interesting way to make followers/fans feel in the know and important. Celebrity breakups are often dissected on twitter but never announced using this social media tool. Is this a good thing? What was the real intention behind it?

Not all celebrities would agree but a crowd of attentive Web users could become an audience for marketing or branding tool. This is beneficial for some of the more “washed up” celebrities that try to remain current and in the spotlight.

Take Alyssa Milano for example. She has an unbalanced number of the people she follows to those that follow her, but those that she follows she communicates with on a weekly basis. With her new show debuting last week, she uses Twitter as a forum to thank her fans for watching and believing in her. This humanizes celebrities on Twitter and engages them in conversations, which most celebrities have yet to do. Over time, engaging and participating in conversation with fans, may become more of a norm banishing the hierarchal way of viewing celebrities and their participation on social media tools.

Celebrities can and should begin to use Twitter as a way to give back and appreciate their fans, as opposed to just informing them. Only time will tell if the shift of PR 2.0 will influence celebrity tweeters to alter and strengthen their ways of communicating.

Do celebrities’ use of social media detract from its main purpose?

Celebrities Influencing Twitter


Celebrities have a lot of power and influence within and amongst their publics. They implement and utilize this power through social media use, fundraising, promoting, career-building etc. The uses of social media involve engaging in conversation for the sake of interest and connection. For celebrities it is especially hard to build and maintain these connections and conversations. They cannot quite connect and engage with others in the same way most “ordinary” people can.

Through social media they are able to provide wisdom and advice and display insight into their lives, but not necessarily connect with all of their followers on the same level. It is not for a lack of trying in most cases; however, realistically it is impossible for celebrities using forms of social media, to monitor their pages well. It is especially hard with the use of Twitter.

Influence has been the most popular way of differentiating people on twitter. Influence is simply seen as popularity, which is measured on Twitter by total number of followers.


John Mayer for example follows 86 people on Twitter, while over 3 million follow him. He cannot possibly have conversations with each and every one of his followers. His fans are listening to him, but he's talking at them, not necessarily with them. The same can be said for some of Twitter’s top celebrity tweeters like MC Hammer, Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears and Shaquille O’Neal.

Despite the fact that celebrities use of social media may go against the traditional meaning intended, its use does allow inspiration and life changing opportunities for some sprung out of power and influence.

Sarah Killen’s recent fame came courtesy of newest celebrity tweeter Conan O’brien, and has literally managed to change her life overnight. His decision to choose her as his one person to follow on Twitter, catapulted her popularity within minutes of his announcement. It is amazing how “celebrity/influence” can be used as means to alter lives through use of social media.

The video below indicates just how much Sarah Killen's life has changed since Conan O'Brien decided to endorse her.



When celebrities engage in social media applications, they draw attention from those that are interested in hearing what they have to say. With microblogging applications like Twitter, they run the risk of too much intake and not enough output to generate proper fulfillment of social media terms of use. They do however provide people with entertainment and a look into their lives, which "ordinary" people may not have been able to see otherwise. Many celebrities tweet to get their messages across, but also to prove their popularity amongst the online world.

Twitter's blowing up around the world- not just for celebrities!!