One of the most frustrating things about understanding new media is that you don’t get really smart about who’s using it, how and why until it becomes … well … old media.
As one of the first to use podcasts for PR purposes, I found the experience comparable to hitting a piñata while blindfolded in the Staples Center. One day I got a research study claiming podcast users were 19-year-old boys, and a second definitively ID’ing them as 60-year-old moms.
When data’s not available (and even when it is, it can usually be spun into whatever the executive office wants to hear), we look for real-life examples. Recently, we learned something new about what works and what doesn’t on Twitter, courtesy of Paula Abdul and Kirstie Alley.
Each took an age-old Hollywood strategy -- rallying the fan base with calls for action -- and applied it to social media. And here’s what we learned: Twitter to help negotiate a new contract? Eh, not so useful. To digitally fire-bomb a tabloid reporter? Bingo.
Alley and Abdul are both strong personalities in a business where talent can be pretty bland. In turn, their career and personal highs and lows are publicly chronicled. Both have passionate fan bases that’ve stayed loyal through it all, and both have successfully transferred and grown those bases through Twitter.
It’s not just that they tweet often. (And does anyone else find it odd that Oprah, despite her First Army-sized support team, has only posted 56 tweets since her ceremonious debut in April, most recently July 18? Wonder what her 2 million followers are waiting for.) They tweet in authentic voices and connect constantly with followers.
Abdul tweets sweet. Hers are filled with endless “I love you guys xoP,” “thank you THANK YOU” and birthday wishes. It’s easy to mock until you see she’s kind to even the freakiest fans who probably spend their days making Bedazzler portraits.
Alley is either the James Joyce or James Boswell of the silliness of Hollywood celebrity. Her tweets -- packed with CAPITAL LETTERS and obscenities -- offer a wry take on her daily life, encounters and dates. She mocks her foibles, takes shots at adversaries. And cajoles followers to weigh in on it all. Following her is the digital equivalent of kicking back with your most fun girlfriend over a few pints of Ben and Jerry’s and one spoon.
One reason Abdul’s tweet-heard-‘round-the-world that she was quitting “American Idol” got the attention it did is that she was using the service to express her disappointment with the negotiations. Whether part of her manager’s strategy or her own decision, she made her unhappiness public and sought their support -- even adding the #Idol hashtag to her comments to ensure they reached the massive Idol fan community.
If we’re to believe that Abdul really wanted to stay at Idol, just with lots more money, this tactic failed. The reason is simple. Those of us on the corporate side usually knew when a campaign was staged – why else would writers all spell Moonves correctly? -- but we could never be certain.
