Why I Won't "Follow" Certain Celebs on Twitter...

Before touching on the title of this post, I'll tell you what inspired me to write it. I was supposed to be asleep when I happened to peep my twitter timeline and noticed that actress Meagan Good posted an interesting tweet. I then went to her page and read her latest tweets out of pure boredom and nosiness. I noticed that a lot of her tweets were in response to questions asked by fans which is unlike what can be seen on the pages of other celebrities. Her response to one tweet in particular (shown below) stood out to me and is responsible for this post.

Instead of being as rude as I probably would have been to this person, she replied respectfully. My response would have been something like "Look clown, why does it matter who I'm following?" I would've typed something else, but it's not necessarily appropriate. How dare this fan insult the work she's done in her career over her decision not to follow people on twitter! Is social networking that serious? Good's response says a lot about her as a person, other celebrities, and society as a whole. In proper english, she said something like "I'm on twitter to talk to my fans, not floss who I know and have conversations on twitter that I could have via text message to look cool... I'm on here for my fans." Wow. Have you ever thought about that? The conversations that people have on twitter can be had over the phone, but they choose to put things online for all to see. This doesn't mean that all of them are flossing, but many of them are.

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Think about it, we "follow" celebrities because we, in some way, want to see what their lives are like. These people influence us to do certain things. For example, notice how Kim Kardashian walks around in Christian Louboutin's all day yet endorses $40 shoes for her fans to purchase. I'd bet money that her slippers cost more than the shoes sold on ShoeDazzle. I can't front, some of those shoes look cute online but for the most part, they're not high in quality yet the revenue from the company's sales helps make Kardashian rich. It's sad how easily influenced we are. Please note that I use the word "we" loosely. I've never once considered purchasing a pair of shoes from that site. There's something special about me selecting my own shoes. Back to the topic at hand, celebrities have power on twitter. The power to influence others and the power to make others wish they lived similar lifestyles.

I personally follow very few famous people on twitter and that's only because I actually care what they have to say. Hill Harper, Lalah Hathaway, and Meagan Good are among the celebrities that I follow that constantly have projects coming out that I'd like to stay informed about. I follow Tank because he's the prototype, LoL. For the most part I mind my own business and don't do too much reading into other people's conversations. To be honest, they'd likely depress me. Why would I, a college senior and full-time employee, want to read about the fun events that celebrities attend or see the expensive clothing that they oftentimes get for free that I can't yet afford? I've got better things to do. That's why I won't follow certain celebrities on twitter.

I truly believe that a large number of these celebrities don't realize that they're flossing on twitter by posting their outfits, expensive shoes, or photos of themselves at lavish social events. They can't possibly know better. There are some aspects of their lives that fans don't need to know. Granted, social networking has provided fans with the opportunity to get connected with stars, but it also causes unnecessary drama. All this checking into locations and posting what you're about to do is not wise or safe for that matter. Just ask Serena Williams who just recently had a stalker arrested at her home. If that's not a reason for discretion, I don't know what is.

There are certain celebrities that I happen to love, but see no need to follow them on twitter. There are others that do what I consider too much. You know when they're having a gathering and what other celebrities are going to be there just by browsing their twitter pages. Fans have a way of doing the most as well. Twitter enables everyone to "have a voice" no matter what so people take advantage of this at times. Whether fans choose to beg for retweets or insult people that they don't know, they can happily do it on twitter.

What are your thoughts? Has privacy become extinct? Are celebrities flossing online? Or is it the fans who are at fault? How do you feel about the issue? Please feel free to post a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Alexandria B.