Social Media Changes the Way Fans View Stars

Movie stars, television actors and professional athletes have always been larger than life and offered fans an escape from everyday doldrums. Our idols represent idealized versions of ourselves, giving us a glimpse of what we could be if only we could find more time to workout, meet the right people or move to sunny California. The image of these stars has always depended heavily on our distance from them, separated as we are by miles and time and movie screens. In this age of instant access to everything under the sun, though, the advent and popularity of social media is quickly collapsing that expanse and breaking down the mystique of our most cherished icons. The perception of Hollywood as a blissful nirvana not meant for mere mortals is diminished with every celebrity Tweet.

The world of sports can probably be blamed for starting the avalanche that is breaking down the walls between us and the media stars of our society. For many years, sports networks such as ESPN have been pushing the boundaries of access to athletes, moving commentary and interviews from the broadcast booth to the field of play and then on into the locker room. Seizing on this trend, many athletes have taken control of their own public relations by establishing web sites, Facebook pages and, most famously, Twitter accounts, that allow them to reach their fans on a personal level. Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson, a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals was probably the earliest of the notorious sports Tweeters, posting during games and raising a ruckus with his team and the NFL itself.

Hollywood, of course, also caters to a rabid fan base, and gossip sites such as omg! from Yahoo! and PerezHilton.com have made celebrity news easier than ever to come by. As with sports, though, many stars seem intent to break down all information barriers and have become quite active in social media circles. When Charlie Sheen had his very public meltdown in March of 2011, fans could get the most up-to-date details simply by following the "Two and a Half Men" actor on his Twitter account. Some four million people did just that, and when Sheen later had a spat with his replacement, Ashton Kutcher, Twitter gave us a direct view of the developments. For his part, Kutcher's legion of followers grew to nearly seven million strong during the flap.

Everyone loves to dig in and get a little gossip on someone who's been held high by society, but do we really need to know so much minutiae about our stars? When we step back and think about it, do we really want to know so much? There is just no way that Sheen or Ochocinco will ever hold much mystique for the majority of the American public now that so many horses have left the barn. It's the mystery surrounding our entertainers that separates them from us and keeps us wondering about what their lives are like. Now, to an unprecedented extent, we know what their lives are like. For the most part, they appear to suffer from a lot of the same issues and insecurities as the rest of us. They're human, in other words, and, while we always knew that to be true, it's a fact that's much harder to ignore now. That's a shame.