Elon Musk recently said that Twitter has lost its appeal for celebrities and that large accounts with many followers are almost asleep, asking, “Is Twitter dead?” Twitter may not be dead, but Musk’s words are also justified. So what’s the problem? Why are celebrities running away from Twitter? Most importantly, will the new boss’s new policies be able to remedy this escape?
World-famous actor Ashton Kutcher invited CNN television, which broadcasts in the United States, to a race in April 2009. The goal was to be the first account that was only 3 years old at the time and was able to reach 1 million followers on Twitter, which the masses were just beginning to recognize. Kutcher argued that he could do this before CNN, and if he won the race, he would ring the bell of the channel’s founder, Ted Turner.
As a matter of fact, he did what he said. He even celebrated his 1 million followers by popping champagne on Turner’s doorstep. Kutcher, who shared these moments with the world via live broadcast, said, “I find it astonishing that a single person’s voice on the internet can be as big as a media company.”
After this tiny competition, many famous names joined Twitter one after another, while the infrastructure of the application could not handle the increasing traffic.
In the intervening 13 years, Twitter has become a center where news, politics and culture spread all over the world. The 2009 goal of 1 million followers sounds like a funny joke right now. Former US President Barack Obama, pop star Lady Gaga, star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and many more, who are among the highest followers of the platform, have over 75 million followers. However, many famous names did not use their accounts except to promote their new business. There are also many celebrities who have stopped tweeting altogether. In short, Twitter has turned into a cemetery of celebrities.
TWITTER ISN’T DYING, BUT IT’S KIDNAPPING CELEBRITIES
Elon Musk tweeted last month when rumors surfaced that he would buy Twitter. Noting that some of the site’s users with the highest number of followers were not active at all, Musk asked, “Is Twitter dying?”
Is Twitter dying? https://t.co/lj9rRXfDHE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2022
The short answer to this question is “No”. Because the current number of daily users of Twitter has reached 229 million. (That number was 217 million just three months ago.) And yet, Musk’s comment that popular users are moving away from the platform is not wrong.
Social Media analysis company Social Blade’s data is quite remarkable… The 10 most popular Twitter accounts outside of Musk shared an average of 35 percent less in the first four months of 2022 than in the same period of 2018. The only ones whose number of tweets are increasing are Obama and Musk.
The Tesla CEO wants to reverse this trend on Twitter, where he is in the process of buying for $ 44 billion. But it seems quite difficult for him to achieve this.
The Washington Post’s interview with 17 people who are managers, consultants or social media managers of well-known celebrities known to the public as “A-lists” is striking: Celebrities see Twitter as a platform where the risk is high and the earnings are very low. The over-politicization of the discourse on Twitter is the most important factor that kidnaps celebrities. So much so that many well-known names do not even manage their accounts themselves, they are content with boring promotional shares they make only through their assistants or agencies they have hired. Harassment and violence on Twitter is another reason behind celebrities’ departures.
Celebrities instead prefer platforms like Instagram and TikTok with their toy-enabled videos. The security features of these applications, which are stronger than Twitter, also make it easier to prevent unwanted interactions.
WILL THE NUMBER OF PAID TWITTER USERS INCREASE?
Twitter declined the Washington Post’s request for comment on the matter, but pointed out that many celebrities are still active on the platform. For example, Zendaya, who has about 21 million followers, tweets live during every episode of the series “Euphoria” in which he starred. Kendrick Lamar, a rapper with 12 million followers, also announced his new album on Twitter.
Musk, on the other hand, has vowed to lift the ban on former US President Donald Trump’s account and loosen the expression restrictions imposed across the site if he can buy Twitter. On the other hand, according to an investor presentation reached by the New York Times, Musk also plans to triple the number of active users on Twitter and charge a fee for the service, which has been free since its inception.
Time will tell if it is possible to realize these goals at the same time. But the history of Twitter’s relationship with celebrities suggests that the laissez-faire policies Musk has adopted could lead to the escape of more well-known names. Musk has often stated that he wants to turn Twitter into a “de facto agora.” However, it is difficult to imagine an agora in which the largest of the practice does not participate.
When Ashton Kutcher, who has 17 million followers today, won the race against CNN in 2009, analysts and journalists argued that it was a turning point, that traditional media had been replaced by new media, and that social media users were the fourth power. At that time, celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, Paris Hilton and Nicki Minaj took flight in their follower numbers. Charlie Sheen, on the other hand, gained fame he had never experienced after being fired from “Two and a Half Men” in 2011.
These developments have changed both the site and the culture. During Obama’s presidency, Twitter was growing rapidly, creating accounts on many extremely famous platforms, sharing their comments, observations, and details of their lives on everyday matters, and the barriers between celebrities and consonants seemed to be starting to disappear. It was believed that sharing a small detail about oneself would attract great attention. Artists and content producers did not have to wait for their new works to meet the masses in order to express themselves.
For example, Rebel Wilson’s entertaining tweets in 2012, such as “I am thinking of opening a restaurant that only sells sweets and naming it ‘Gym'”, enabled the “Pitch Perfect” films in which she starred to become a phenomenon first in social media and then in popular culture. Today, 10 years later, Wilson has almost 3 million followers. But when we open the page and look at it, we see nothing but promotional tweets that do not interfere with meat and milk, such as “I am the guest of such and such a person on the channel tomorrow”.
ELLEN AND OTHER CELEBRITIES “BROKE” TWITTER
The peak of the influx of celebrities to Twitter, which is called “celeb Twitter” in English, was in 2014. At the Oscars, presenter Ellen DeGeneres descended into the audience to take a selfie with Meryl Streep. In the continuation of this movement, which was organized by Twitter’s television partnerships team, Bradley Cooper grabbed the phone from DeGeneres completely spontaneously while many other celebrities entered the frame. The resulting DeGeneres tweet received so many retweets and engagements that there were minor problems on Twitter.
If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014
But in the mid-2010s, two important changes occurred. The first was the rise of Instagram, which Facebook bought in 2012, and the second was the presidential election held in the US in 2016.
Thanks to Instagram, celebrities were able to communicate with their fans without getting into the same squabbles that led to Twitter’s bad reputation. The fact that Trump-related news before and after the presidential elections made other agenda topics invisible also caused the already polarization on the platform to increase.
Twitter has also embraced this change and positioned itself as a news app. It even changed its category in app stores from ‘social network’ to ‘news’. But the entertainment industry wasn’t too keen to be part of the discourse on the internet and throw itself into the news frenzy.
“After Trump took office, politics became a huge thing,” Freddie Morris, a music industry executive and former vice president of digital at his management company Career Artist Management, told The Washington Post, citing celebrities who left the platform as Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine: “Levine went from Twitter to Instagram and never came back.” Of course, Levine didn’t shut down his Twitter account. However, at the moment, most of his posts come from the hands of his assistants. His tweets are not as frequent and intimate as they used to be. The number of followers on Instagram has almost doubled that on Twitter.
WHERE ARE THOSE OLD “FILTERLESS” CELEBRITIES
According to social media consultants who spoke to The Washington Post, some celebrities are bored with their politically motivated tweets. Some were warned by their managers, “Reduce the dose of political posts or you’ll lose spectators.” As such, many celebrities chose the safest way and entrusted their tweets to professional brand managers.
Names with huge followings like Lizzo and Ariana Grande are leaving the platform one by one. John Mayer, Aubrey Plaza, Kumail Nanjiani, etc. display a profile far from the colorful tweets they once shared. Twitter’s ramping up its content moderation initiatives has given some a limited return, but there is no trace of the “unfiltered celebrity” tweets of the old times.
For example, Lizzo explained her reason for quitting Twitter in January 2020: “I would love to be on Twitter because I could connect with all of you who are open supporters of me. But now I’m at a point where I’m not going to deal with internet bullies.” (Lizzo has 12 million followers on her Instagram account.)
Some of those who remained began to brand themselves with their provocative tweets. Comedians like Leslie Jones and Anna Kendrick are still humorous. But Twitter has lost its status as a source of reference for those who wonder “How do Hollywood celebrities live?”
The return of celebrities can be an effective catalyst for Twitter to reach Musk’s dream greatness. But it won’t be easy. What’s more, Twitter is seen as so problematic that well-known Hollywood consultants are warning their clients, “Oh, stay away.”
A source who handles the public relations of many of Hollywood’s actors and producers but asked not to be named for fear of their relationship in the industry deteriorating, said: “I ask them why they want to be on Twitter in the first place: ‘Do you really believe you can have a positive interaction with fans, or is this just something that will raise your ego?'” In most cases, he tells his client, “It’s not worth the risk,” the source said, adding, “‘There are a lot of different ways to cancel right now. Do you really want to open another path to the world?'”
Jamin Jamming, who manages the social media of many reality show stars, said that apart from political commentators and reporters, being on Twitter harms the inspiration of celebrities.
“A significant part of the appeal of some celebrities comes from their appearance. On Twitter, their makeup, how much they fit into fashion, clothes, shoes are not visible.”
Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh, who provides digital strategy support to celebrities, said, “To be successful on Twitter, you have to be smart, you have to have something to say, you have to be part of the zeitgeist. It’s a tough thing for celebrities to meet people here.”
Mitchell-Rohrbaugh added that Twitter’s environment is much freer than its competitors and confronts users with a wider world, “Celebrities like to be in their own bubbles, and Twitter causes them to see very outside this bubble.”
TWITTER DOESN’T MAKE MONEY FOR CELEBRITIES
Aside from all these drawbacks, compared to other major platforms, Twitter’s returns are also quite limited.
Kai Gayoso, co-founder and co-chair of digital manager Range Media, said: “When you look at the mechanisms inside Twitter through the eyes of a celebrity promoting his film, you see that there aren’t a lot of smart product integrations to remind people to buy tickets.”
Kendall Ostrow, who has spent years acting as a social media consultant to celebrities, also pointed out the difficulty of celebrities monetizing Twitter, saying, “Kardashians don’t get $1 million for a sponsored tweet. Twitter may be keeping you up to date on a cultural context, but it’s Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok that make you money.”
CELEBRITIES DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH TROLLS
Many social media executives have stated that the platform’s failure to prevent harassment and abuse is the leading reason for escape. While Instagram and TikTok implemented very powerful comment filters, Twitter’s security controls were much more limited. This situation seemed to be resolved to some extent, especially with the mission of “healthy dialogue” adopted after Parag Agrawal became CEO. But Musk’s characterization of the site’s content moderation efforts as “leftist bias” suggests that this process could be reversed.
“Twitter has become a breeding ground for trolls,” said social media consultant Dolly Meckler, who manages the account of a huge celebrity, “People can respond here like no other platform. The celebrities I talk to say they feel it’s not a very friendly environment.”
Liz Stahl, president of Los Angeles-based boutique social media agency In Haus, who has worked in campaigns for the likes of Ariana Grande and Jay-Z in the past, said, “If Musk takes over, Twitter will be the last place I’ll say ‘Invest’ to a celebrity. I say that even more strongly than I do now.” “With Elon Musk, things are going to be very complicated, even more so than now, when we think about the people who are excited to be there,” Stahl said. statements.
In response to Musk’s tweet about celebrity silence on Twitter in April, he said, “The cost of ‘tweeting your thoughts’ for celebrities is too high. Their concerns about being cancelled are turning them into passive users.” The reply to this tweet came from the famous comedian Kathy Griffin. “Accurate information,” Griffin wrote. As a matter of fact, even celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Chrissy Teigen, whose names have been associated with Twitter for years, have felt the pain of the reactions of the Twitter world. Teigen was eventually forced to close even his account.
“TWITTER IS TURNING INTO FACEBOOK”
Still, there are those in Hollywood who believe that Twitter is not a dead end for celebrities, and even argue that celebrities should use social media more boldly. For example, Michael Shamberg, the producer of films such as Gattaca, the Big Chill, Contagion, said, “If I was looking for an actor for a film and the actor who came across me made outspoken posts on Twitter, it would be a factor that would increase his attractiveness.”
“Being active on Twitter means he has something that will really get him to connect with an audience,” Shamberg said, adding that in many cases this would outweigh concerns about getting backlash.
Even so, many celebrities feel that it’s not worth the time and effort it takes to succeed on Twitter. In the words of social media strategist Freddie Morris, “Twitter is becoming what Facebook is, a platform where it’s referred to as, ‘I’m going to leave it to my team.'”
It was based on The Washington Post’s report “How Twitter lost the celebs”.
