To See and Be Seen Summary

In the article "To See and be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter", the author investigates the ever changing landscape of how celebrities interact with the commoners. In less recent times, the understanding and perception of celebrities was mediated through publicists and managers, but in recent times, celebrities can now interact more personally with their audiences through outlets such as Twitter. Since mainstream culture is clearly affected by these celebrities, they now have a more direct effect on culture, a less scripted and censored effect. 

Interestingly, the author refrains from calling celebrities, celebrities. Instead the phrase "celebrity practitioners" is used. This is because the author believes being a celebrity is a practice, and therefore should not be used as a noun. 

Twitter is a social media outlet, which allows celebrities to interact with their followers in a limited amount characters. However, Twitter does not cease the interaction there. What makes Twitter such an appealing platform is the ability for the everyday person to respond to these celebrities. Either through a direct message, or a reply tweet. This creates an intimate feeling, one that facilitates a two way relationship, instead of one way street. This is where the power of twitter lays, according to the author. 

Moreover, Twitter creates a feeling of a first person experience, as opposed to a filtered, less genuine experience. This leads to a perception that one truly has an insight into the celebrities world, through a picture or phrase. Overall, the author argues this somewhat direct interaction is widening the power differential between fans and their audiences. This new dichotomy Twitter has created has undoubtedly changed the relationship between celebrities and everyone else.