Author: Yanina Tuyman

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Celebrities in Social Media

Blogs and vlogs allow celebrities to show their lives and related content. For example, travel, fashion, cooking, sports and other areas. They also provide an opportunity to engage directly with fans, answer their questions, tell compelling stories, and reinforce commitment to your audience. Social media also allows you to share opinions and information. Celebrities can use their influencer status to raise important social issues and raise awareness for charities, as well as motivate and inspire their followers.

Thus, media and social networks play a critical role in the formation of a celebrity and the attainment of fame. They help people show their achievements, ideas and content to millions of people around the world. Understanding and properly harnessing the power of media and social networks can be the key to fame and success.

Social Media Celebrities

In today’s world, media and social networks play a huge role in shaping a celebrity and achieving fame. They allow people to become visible and gain recognition from the public. One of the most important aspects of the popularity of media and social networks is the wide reach of the audience. Social media has changed the game. With the popularity of the Internet and smartphones, more and more people have begun to use social networks as their main source of information and communication. Success stories of bloggers and influencers on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok show that they can be an ideal platform for communication and promotion.

There are internet celebrities also known to as a social media personalities, internet personalities, online personalities, or influencers. Internet celebrities are people who has developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media allows for people to reach a large, global audience. Most popular platforms for internet celebrities are YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Khaby Lame

Image from Khaby Lame’s TikTok

Khaby Lame or Khabane Lame is a Senegalese-born Italian social media personality. He started with dancing and watching video games TikTok videos and became famous for mocking complicated “life hack” videos. He has 162.5 million followers.

Celebrities = or + Influencers?

Celebrity has a significant impact on society and culture. Their actions, words and images influence millions of people around the world. They can use their popularity to support charities, create positive change in society, or bring attention to certain issues. Celebrities also influence fashion, technology and entertainment. Their style and preferences are often copied and modified by fans and society at large. They can become a source of inspiration for young people and influence their choice of profession and lifestyle.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Photo: NBC News

A new tree species is named after Leonardo DiCaprio. The tree grows only in the Ebo Forest of Cameroon which DiCaprio helped to save by sharing Instagram posts with a petition against the log of the forest. “We think he was crucial in helping to stop the logging of the Ebo forest,” Dr. Martin Cheek told BBC in his interview.

Non-Social Media Celebrities

Can celebrities survive without social networks? Given the popularity and influence of social networks, at first glance it may seem that the answer to this question is strictly negative. But no, some celebrities are saying no to social media. Some of them do this deliberately to draw attention to some problem.

Tom Holland

Photo: Late Night with Seth Meyers (People, 2022)

In August of 2022, Tom Holland, the Spider-Man: No Way Home star announced in an Instagram video that he’s going on a social media hiatus in order to focus on his mental health. (People, 2022) Later Holland clarified that with his announcement, he wanted to attract public attention to Stem4, a U.K.-based teen mental health charity that provides mental health educational tools and resources.

Celebrities who refused social media

Photos from Google: Emma Stone, Keira Knightley, Jim Carrey, Meghan Markle.

Emma Stone has chosen to abstain from all social media platforms. She has deleted her online accounts and refused to return. Keira Knightley avoided social media starting in 2009 and has no digital presence whatsoever. Jim Carrey, actor and comedian, announced his departure from Twitter on November 29, 2022. Meghan Markle was very active on Instagram and even ran a lifestyle blog named The Tig. However, after the public announcement of her engagement to Prince Harry, she erased all traces of her online presence. You can find many other celebrities, who abandoned their social networks or made them private to protect their privacy from discussion and persecution. And we have to admit their rights to private life.

How do you think if celebrities do not use social media do they lose their fans?

In today’s world, media and social networks play a huge role in shaping a celebrity and achieving fame. They allow people to become visible and gain recognition from the public. One of the most important aspects of the popularity of media and social networks is the wide reach of the audience. Let’s see how celebrities use social media or how social media makes celebrities: Celebrities in Social Media.

#socialmediacelebrity #influencers #socialmediapersonalities

Social networks play a huge role in shaping a celebrity and achieving fame. It’s obvious, that all celebrities use social media! What if not? Let’s check: bit.ly/SM-Celebrities #smcelebrity #socialmediapersonalities #internetcelebrity

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Fake! Fake! Fake! Be smart and break a Fake!

We live in a social media epoque where the amount of information grows dramatically daily. We click, read, share, click again, and so on. We are so excited and impatient, that we do not have time to stop and think if this is true or fake. People with good personalities believe that all other people are good as well. I hope there are most of us! Unfortunately, there are a lot of unscrupulous users creating fake content.

Fake News

It is a well-known fact that fake news tends to spread quickly. But why this happens? Why are people lying? Most bloggers need likes, subscribers and sharing. They earn money on our views. What can bloggers do if nothing happens? Let’s create news, breaking news, shocking news! When people feel strong emotions, they cannot think critically and trust whatever they pass. Surprised or angry people are more likely to share the news. But some people do even worse. They spread fake facts to sell you something (insurance, big stock of food, water, supplies, weapons, etc.) or to provoke you in some actions (usually nothing good).

What should you do? Stay calm! When you read the shocking news that touches you, your family, your job, your country, keep your feelings under control. Think critically and check facts in different sources. The Government of Canada recommends using fact-checking tools and other special services: canada.ca/en/campaign/online-disinformation.

MediaSmarts: Four ways to tell if something is true online – Break the Fake

Fake Friends

The number of social network users snowballs. Many of them have more than one account. Unfortunately, the number of fake “persons” grows as well. According to Facebook statistics, the platform blocks millions of fake accounts daily. Who does it? Romantic gigolos, scammers, bots and trolls. My friends met a few fake romantic “gentlemen” who immediately fell in love with them. They are usually “located” in Cuba/Mexica/Africa, and they are not very young (as their target is lonely 40+ women). They are in a hard political situation, or somebody from the family is ill to death: “I love you so much! (crying) Send me money please (a couple of thousands will be fine).” I saw a few fake business accounts while looking for a job. Scammers sent me fake job interview invitations (looking pretty good and natural, but too-good-to-be-real) with links or company names. But after simple research, I found those companies were not real!

What should you do? Check the profile photos and images. Are they taken from free sources? Does the profile image look personal or too general? For example, the landscape picture doesn’t work for a business account. Or the person uses an avatar with a cat/butterfly/anime. It looks suspicious until I know a few people who use them. Check the photo gallery. Some people keep them empty or use stock images. Look for typos in names and check followers. 

CTRL-F: Fact-Checking Tools — Video 3: Evaluating Social Media Accounts

Fake Images

AI-generated images and a fake post from a Russian network

As a graphic designer, I was so happy when AI started its free trial. Wow, I’ll have more images to use! So, my disappointment was to the Moon and back. Nothing is better than a good designer’s hands and Photoshop. I see many fake photos in fake news or even fake videos. I met posts about snakes rolling in a wheel mode (image #3), tree octopuses, and giant sharks beside swimming people (it was video). One image post “Guess what is the snake?” showed a “cobra” with her “kids”. The majority of its baby snakes had two heads literally (on each side of the body). But reading the comments I understood that many people believe these fake facts.

What should you do? Check eyes, fingers, legs, faces. In most AI-generated images people have three hands (images #1 and #2), a hand instead of a leg, one eye can look up and the second one looks to the side, or their faces look like twins-triplets-quadruplets. And I am not talking about celebrities’ usage of Photoshop. When they enlarge their eyes and minimize their waists, it is not considered fake (unfortunately). But check the background beside the body and you can see some distortions telling us about image treatment. A few image search tools can help you to verify the image: TinEye or Google Lens.

CTRL-F: Skill — Check the Image

Fake Reviews

Would you go to a restaurant with bad reviews with a cockroach in the photo? Neither do I. But are you sure if it’s not fake? See, here is a real photo, say you. I beg you, I can make you a pink unicorn elephant dancing on the plate. So, where is the truth? According to independent researchers, online reviews are increasingly fake. Kay Dean, a consumer advocate, runs a YouTube channel called Fake Review Watch. She states that more than 90% of the reviews are fake. A competitor’s company pays some users asking them to leave bad reviews. It harms the business. And some companies blackmail small businesses to remove fake reviews asking for money.

What should you do? Probably this is the worst, but we cannot check all the reviews. Sometimes it’s obvious when famous names or celebrity photos are used for accounts. If you meet the same set of users giving the same positive-or-negative feedback, you can guess they are paid customers. But most of the fake reviews look organic. We came back to ask-your-neighbors mode.

Image from cbc.ca/news/investigates/fake-reviews-on-google

Summarizing, I have only one recommendation. DOUBT by DEFAULT! If you feel that you see or read something suspicious, check it. Your feelings usually do not lie. While reading the news, check different websites. Watching confusing images, check their eyes and fingers. Getting a new friend invitation, check his/her account. Reading reviews, just keep in mind they could be FAKE.

What outrageous news or facts have you read recently?

Not sure if your eyes are not lying to you? A new friend from Cuba? Reading tons of reviews on new cars, but still not sure? Read here how to break fake info on the web: bit.ly/break-a-fake #socialmedia #breakfake.

Have you ever thought about how much fake information is posted online? Social Media is the biggest freedom for us to share our feelings, events and thoughts. But it is a haven for scammers as well. It happens because there is no legal regulation for posting online. Here are a few tips on spotting the fake info and what to do with it: Fake! Fake! Fake! Be smart and break the Fake!

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What’s up, bro? OR How do you do?

5 tips on how to find your voice

Image by Anastasia Gisina on vecteezy.com

Have you already thought about why we speak differently with different people? You would never talk the same and use the same language to your teenage daughter and your boss, or grandpa. We do it intuitively without any doubts. We use different language, tone and voice. The voice can be described as a style of speech. When we think about how to find the style of speech in texts, we are not talking about the fact that we need to strive to be on the level of the classics or copy other bloggers. We’re talking about finding your own author’s voice. Readers are often attracted by the author’s position.

1. Theme and idea

It is not a secret that every post has to be written with an idea. Keep your storytelling about only one topic. Be consistent and logical. Do not jump from one topic to another. Your audience can be confused about your ideas and can lose trust in your blog. The topic should depend on the tasks you set for your blog. If you are currently building a reputation, you can write more professional posts to create an image of an expert in the eyes of readers. If your goal is to attract attention and gather more people around you, posts can be provocative, aimed at heated discussions and collecting comments. This could also be a goal.

2. Storytelling

When we talk about how to find a style of speech in a text, of course, we have to mention the plot. It may seem that social media posts are not enough to create stories, but this is not the truth. Even in the size of one post, you can weave a storyline. If you write about rapid growth, success, and achievements, your texts will probably feature “Rags to Riches” story. If introspection, systematic movement, and small steps are your thing, most likely you will choose the “Siege of a Fortress” story telling us about how you gradually dealt with a problem.

3. Details

Blogs are based on values that are broadcast to the world. Part of the space can represent anything: an interior, a landscape, the appearance of the characters, feelings and thoughts. The details help the readers to build an image in their minds. They make your text alive and trustworthy. For example, if you are talking about business success, describe the start point, the obstacles you met, your feelings, and the result for sure. The details provided involve your audience and hold their focus.

4. Define your audience

Of course, you will not use the same language for teenagers and mature adults. You need to do research to define your audience. If you are writing for young people, your text would be short, and full of slang and memes. Teens and young adults love entertainment and the feeling of chatting with a friend. For adults above thirty, you should be more authoritative and persuasive using approved facts, links and famous people’s opinions. Creating personas would be extremely useful to define your audience and choose your voice. Create three personas: primary, secondary and tertiary. Describe these imaginative people. Think about their lifestyle, goals, needs, and preferences. What type of content could attract them? How will you communicate with them?

5. Language

Linguistic means are most often what is associated with style in texts. These are phrases, metaphors, refrains – whatever you use to strengthen your words. In the same description, you can add a few more important points. Even slang is a style of language. But please be careful with it. Keep in mind that if your audience does not understand you, they can leave you. Another example is one of the conditions of style in texts distance from readers. Do you communicate in a detached manner, on “you” and are you ready to immediately move on to a personal conversation, to a closer acquaintance? In what position are you in relation to the reader: do you find news from above or discuss terms as partners? Do you use quotes or humor?

As you can see, the author’s style arises not only from metaphors or epithets. And first of all – not one of them. And in order to form your own style, it is important, before everything starts from the task, to understand what do you want to say and whom? Additionally, don’t be afraid to experiment, read other authors and look for your own sound, which is what people will eventually come to your blog for.

What other tips for building your voice do you have? Let’s share in the comments.

A few useful links for you:

Writing for Social Media in 2024: Tips and Tools

Writing for Social Media: Top Tips and Tools

How To Start A Blog In 2024

Starting a blog? Not sure how to speak to your audience? Learn 5 tips on how to find your voice on this blog: bit.ly/5tips-blogging #socialmedia #voice #blogging 5 tips-blogging

Dream to be a famous blogger? Have something to share with the world? Ready to start but not sure if readers would like you? You need to develop your VOICE. Read here 5 tips on how to find your written style.