Reflection on Social Media Case 2: Ellen DeGeneres and Most Re-Tweeted Photo
Due to the fact that we are now living in the digital
age, there is very little that is not broadcast on social media platforms.
People share stories, photos, and videos and once they’re published, the whole
world can access them. Some people share videos that gain traction on social
media and inadvertently makes them famous. This describes how videos become
viral. For example, when Vine was popular, many people would post videos that
were shared so many times that people would recognize them on the street. The
case concerning Ellen’s most retweeted photo, is an entirely different story.
When Ellen DeGeneres hosted the 86th Annual Academy
Award show, she orchestrated what she hoped would be the most retweeted photo
ever. Due to her huge fan base and the many A-list celebrities in the photo,
the photo did indeed gain the title of “The most retweeted photo ever”. The
title’s predecessor
was a photo posted by Barack Obama after the 2012 Presidential election. When
Ellen’s legendary selfie was taken, I was not an avid Twitter user. This did
not prevent me from seeing this picture due to it surfacing on other social
media platforms. According to The Guardian, in just a half an hour after
this photo was posted, it reached 779,295 retweets. The selfie’s current number
of retweets in 3,406,154. Even though, this photo has since lost its title, it
has been named Time’s “100 Most
Influential Images of All Time”.
It is interesting to observe and study what motivates
people to share, or retweet certain images or videos. In this case, this photo
was a wholesome representation of togetherness. Ellen’s philosophy has always
been to “Be kind to one another” and she has led a life that is true to this
philosophy. Many people support her and therefore felt compelled to share this
photo. It’s often difficult to see things in the media that are uplifting and
wholesome so sharing a photo like that wouldn’t harm anyone. In contrast,
sharing the photo of Barack Obama after the election would be somewhat
controversial depending on your political views. There are many things that
factored into the success of this selfie but I think that people just wanted to
be a part of it.
Great reflection Libby! I thought that your ideas were well thought out and translated well onto the page. I thought that your outside sources did a great job of informing your reflection, and I really liked how you tied in Ellen's philosophy of "being kind to one another" into the success of her tweet. I would have liked to hear what you thought about the Wendy's Nugget tweet, but other than that great job!
ReplyDeleteLibby, this is an awesome blog post! I really like that you shared the predecessor of Ellen's tweet. It goes to show just how popular Ellen's tweet was because President Obama's photo had around 900,000 retweets, whereas Ellen's photo has over 3 million retweets. I also like that you mentioned why people felt inclined to share Ellen's photo. She is an uplifting celebrity, and I think that many people appreciate that. You bring up a good point that while many people would enjoy Ellen's photo, some may not be happy about Obama's photo if they did not want him to win the election. Again, great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Libby!
ReplyDeleteYour post is so well thought out and put together! I like that you brought up vine and how viral the videos posted on it became. I find it interesting that it is now gone/dead as far as the social media world goes. Thanks for sharing!
Interesting insight into the case Libby! I hadn't thought about how Ellen's “Be kind to one another” motto could have helped the Tweet to gain popularity. Do you think most of the attention came from Ellen's fans or from the other people in the photo?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Libby I loved your outside sources they were really informative. I also loved how you talked about the previous holders of this record because I honestly didn't know who held the record previous to Ellen. I also liked how you talked about why people felt like they should share Ellen's photo and how she is liked so that probably helped. I liked your insights thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAustin Smith-
ReplyDeleteIsn't it crazy how important arbitrary records can be to celebrities ! As to the definition of viral vs popular, I think it is pretty fair to say Ellen had both attributes working for her.