Celebrity in the Social Media Age: Renegotiating the Public and the Private

TY - CHAP

T1 - Celebrity in the Social Media Age

T2 - Renegotiating the Public and the Private

AU - Jerslev, Anne

AU - Mortensen, Mette

PY - 2018/1/1

Y1 - 2018/1/1

N2 - A somewhat trivial incident took place on 23 January 2016. American actor Mark Ruffalo lost his phone and wallet on the streets of New York during a snowstorm. Even though he mostly deploys Twitter to advocate political issues such as climate change and civil rights, he turned to this platform for help. “APD out for a cell phone in a wallet case on the streets of NYC in a blizzard. My drivers [sic!] license is in there. Reward and signed pic”, he tweeted to his more than two million followers at 12: 17 pm. Fourteen minutes later, at 12: 31 pm, an update follows: “Wow, thanks for all the tips and help for my lost phone … really appreciated”. Four minutes later, 12: 35 pm, this everyday drama reached a climax, thanks to Ruffalo’s “fan army”: 1 “OMG It was just found! That was freaking fast. Thanks for helping me find it!!", Ruffalo tweeted. A little less than 3 hours later, at 3: 18 pm, Ruffalo posted a snapshot on Twitter of himself hugging two young girls with the accompanying text: “Thank [sic!] Amenaide and Catherine Brown for finding my Phone and wallet! Thanks Brown family for your decency”. 2 This photo was retweeted 1765 times and received 8622 likes within five days (as of 28 January 2016). As promised, the girls received a $100 reward and a signed picture of Ruffalo in character as the superhero Hulk. The story also generated headlines in mainstream media such as The Independent, ABCnews, Huffington Post, The Times of India, US Magazine, Daily News, Vanity Fair, as well as numerous entertainment and celebrity sites and blogs.

AB - A somewhat trivial incident took place on 23 January 2016. American actor Mark Ruffalo lost his phone and wallet on the streets of New York during a snowstorm. Even though he mostly deploys Twitter to advocate political issues such as climate change and civil rights, he turned to this platform for help. “APD out for a cell phone in a wallet case on the streets of NYC in a blizzard. My drivers [sic!] license is in there. Reward and signed pic”, he tweeted to his more than two million followers at 12: 17 pm. Fourteen minutes later, at 12: 31 pm, an update follows: “Wow, thanks for all the tips and help for my lost phone … really appreciated”. Four minutes later, 12: 35 pm, this everyday drama reached a climax, thanks to Ruffalo’s “fan army”: 1 “OMG It was just found! That was freaking fast. Thanks for helping me find it!!", Ruffalo tweeted. A little less than 3 hours later, at 3: 18 pm, Ruffalo posted a snapshot on Twitter of himself hugging two young girls with the accompanying text: “Thank [sic!] Amenaide and Catherine Brown for finding my Phone and wallet! Thanks Brown family for your decency”. 2 This photo was retweeted 1765 times and received 8622 likes within five days (as of 28 January 2016). As promised, the girls received a $100 reward and a signed picture of Ruffalo in character as the superhero Hulk. The story also generated headlines in mainstream media such as The Independent, ABCnews, Huffington Post, The Times of India, US Magazine, Daily News, Vanity Fair, as well as numerous entertainment and celebrity sites and blogs.

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9781138022942

SP - 157

EP - 174

BT - Routledge Handbook of Celebrity Studies

A2 - Elliott, Anthony

PB - Routledge

CY - London

ER -