The Beyonce Effect by Adrienne Trier-Bieniek

Author:Adrienne Trier-Bieniek
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2016-07-06T00:00:00+00:00

Beyoncé and Social Media

Authenticity and the Presentation of Self

Melissa Avdeeff

On November 12, 2012, Beyoncé joined Instagram by posting a photo of herself, casually dressed in jeans and a shirt that read “Texans for Obama.” She joined without fanfare, but it didn’t take long for Beyoncé to become the second most followed account on the site, behind the account for Instagram, itself. As of June 15, 2015, Beyoncé has more than 36.3 million followers on Instagram, followed closely by Kim Kardashian, the self-styled queen of social media, with approximately 34 million followers. Whereas Kim Kardashian has become synonymous with the selfie—photos that are taken by the poster of themselves—Beyoncé’s Instagram account contains very few selfies, and predominantly allows for fans to have a glimpse into her extraordinary life.

Beyoncé’s use of social media is outside the norm for contemporary celebrities who are online. Although she has over 14 million followers on Twitter, she does not post on that platform (beyond 8 Tweets that were posted from 2012–2013), and appears to prefer interacting with her fans through Facebook, her personal site, and Instagram. It is widely accepted that those who engage with celebrities through social media expect a certain degree of authenticity in the form of transparency between the celebrity and their posts. Observations of Beyoncé’s Facebook feed show that it is largely maintained by a social media manager, as it is fairly obvious that it is not Beyoncé, herself, posting. The authenticity of the posts is under question; therefor, the Facebook feed may function more as a site for news, information, and media, as opposed to a fan/artist relationship that relies on the perception of reciprocity.

This essay will primarily focus on Beyoncé’s Instagram use, as it presents an interesting case study of the use of visual-based social media sites in celebrity branding, and a re-negotiation of the fan/artist relationship. This essay explores different approaches to studying celebrity social media use, including Goffman’s presentation of self, parasocial interaction, and the circuit of culture, using Beyoncé as a case study. Superficially, Beyoncé’s social media relationship with fans appears to be primarily parasocial, but in examining aspects of follower reception, it is demonstrated that her Instagram use actually incorporates a form of reciprocal relationship with fans, as seen in her choice of thematic material, and presentation of identity.

Social media and fandom is a growing area of research. A field is emerging that examines celebrities and their Twitter use, and this research is generally conducted from the perspective of the celebrity, as opposed to the reception of the fans interacting with these accounts (Dobson 2012, Kapidzic and Herring 2015). An area that has received much less scholarly attention, a problem that I seek to address, is the incorporation, or close examination, of the role of music and musicians within social media use, and, by proxy, the fandoms involved. I question whether there is something inherently different about a musician, as opposed to other forms of celebrity, and if these differences are great enough to warrant special treatment.

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