In a business like ours, unfortunately, I am slightly fettered. Or more than slightly fettered. If you make a political comment you could lose half of your audience. It’s, like, 50/50 in America. […] Martha Unleashed is not exactly the right position for me. It would be fun. Oh boy it would be a lot of fun – but I’d have to change my name. (Martha Stewart at BlogHer 2012)
If you have been following the evolution of personal web log journals (AKA blogs) since the late 90s and early noughts, you might have wondered about how corporations and celebrities use blogs. Celebrities are famous for carefully managing their public image. Do their blogs give us insight into their personal lives or do these blogging celebrities serve up carefully crafted snippets of their lived reality? Are their blogs designed to be aspirational, like their related products and services?
Who are these celebrities who blog? They’re not experienced bloggers who journal their daily lives – offering a combination of knowledge based on experience; observations; curated information; social media savviness; and, envelope pushing commentary. They’re not sharing about WT* moments. That wouldn’t do. They write posts (or their staff members do) while trying to look like they are providing intimate, back door access to their lives. They share posts that aren’t necessarily personal or illuminating. Or they copy the blogging and social media style of talented and popular bloggers, in an effort to further strengthen their personal brand. Their posts create a kind of buzz but the content is not an example of high quality blogging. We have to understand that.
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Related
Martha Stewart – a celebrity who uses blogging as a social media tool.
Martha Stewart shares her opinion about bloggers. (via AllThingsFadra.com)
Martha Says Bloggers Are Not Expert
Dear Martha Stewart, Here’s what you should have said to bloggers. (BlogHer.com)
Martha Stewart’s Blogging Blunder (and her credentials prior to starting her business)
I Blog Because I Can (In 2013, I started my tenth year as a blogger.)
Do Mom Bloggers Know How to Write?
Very interesting! I didn’t know she blogged, but I bet she blogs like nobody else 🙂
Hi, Shawna, I’d be interested to know what Martha’s goals are for the blog component of her online presence.
You’re totally right – the celebrity’s blog is all about image and making the world see them in a certain way. Though, many bloggers may be guilty of that, celebrity or not 🙁
I actually don’t follow any celebrity blogs, so I’ve never really thought about it, but your post has peaked my interest.
You’re right, Parrish. Bloggers can fall into that pattern too. I guess it all ties into the bigger issue of how we we social media.
I was actually at BlogHer ’12 when Martha was a keynote. I was a bit surprised by her comments, but then again, bloggers are taking business away from print media and she is going to try to discredit them so that she can look more favorable and sell ore magazines. I would never for a second think that someone lie Martha would actually open up online, but I think that there are some celebrities who are not afraid to share a bit more of themselves, if that makes sense, in the online world.
Interesting piece. I’d love to know what celeb blogs you follow. I agree with Parrish’s point that it’s not just celebs who carefully craft their social media image!
Hi, Heather, Thanks for your comment. I wanted to keep the focus on MS’s blog – so I didn’t mention others – as this piece is a response to her “people who are experts at this” line of thinking. Of course when it comes to celebrities, we never know if the social media content is actually being written by them. The tweet shared by Martha Stewart after her comments about bloggers referred to herself in the third person. That said, the one celeb blogger I read a lot is Richard Branson. You can get his content easily on LinkedIn. He pulled a crazy stunt RE the BC Premier a while back. I’ll forgive him for that because – to quote a word that MS used in relation to G. Paltrow – his writing comes across as 100%+ authentic and that’s what keeps me reading.
Hi, Brandee, You make an interesting point about business being taken away. I always notice MS Living content that comes my way but it’s likely their bottom line has been affected in the shifting sands supporting the world of mainstream media.
BTW the piece under Related that reads “Do Mom Bloggers Know How to Write” is directly related to BlogHer12. Did you catch the reply on the BlogHer site to MS?
I never thought about this before but you have a great point. I don’t follow any celeb blogs but now I am curious to check some out and see what they’re blogging about…