Why more celebrities and public figures are turning to social media

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter seem to be the new favorite medium for brands and public figures to directly announce information to their target audience. Gone are the days when fans and followers relied primarily on constantly refreshing official websites for juicy news or statements. Now, both companies and celebrities alike are taking to well-populated social sites to reach out to their core markets.

Kid Rock, American singer and songwriter, for example — and though not exactly someone of technology fame or notoriety — is using Facebook to source auditions for his opening act while going on tour.

At the time of this post, Kid Rock has over 2,438,726 Facebook fans, making his page a shoe-in for reaching out directly to his main audience. His official Twitter has only 36,239 followers at the time of this post and remains largely neglected in comparison to his frequently updated Facebook page (his last tweet was on October 10th).

His Facebook post reads:

“Submit your best original track for your chance to open in Denver, Colorado! [Link]”

The bigger picture

More and more, celebrities, public figures and previously non-social brands have been taking to social media to promote their tours, upcoming events and important announcements. The trend towards leveraging powerful sites with huge user bases like Facebook extends beyond just music, though musicians have been reported as the most-liked Page owners on the platform. Being able to harness the influence of celebrity brands on Twitter alone, for example, can impact that brand’s reputation 3x more than any other social network.

Again, social media provides that unique opportunity to identify quality leads, allowing brands to connect more intimately with their most loyal consumers or fans, thus enabling better engagement. Social mediums have the ability to encourage positive conversation around otherwise ignored or socially popular issues due to the highly-viral way users communicate with one another on these platforms. Then there’s advertising to these massive user bases via social sites — global revenue via social ads alone is predicted to reach $10B by 2013.

So is it a surprise that public figures are becoming more and more active on social networks? Probably not, when considering how powerful these engagements can prove to be for both marketers and advertisers looking to utilize large celebrity or public figure fan bases. Even political and religious activists have been turning to social sites, recognizing that these mediums can be highly valuable in promoting their ideals.

You tell me: Social media is connecting the world in ways we may never have thought possible in the past. What could this mean for the future of the Internet and the way advertisers, marketers, public figures and brands approach their target demographics? Sound off in the comments.