Social Media Warfare for Celebrities and Famous People

Thousands of celebrities and famous people around the world adopt social media warfare tactics for self-promotion or to support charitable causes of their choice. Most of the time, celebrities use social media to promote positive narratives and support causes that are in the public interest. Sometimes, however, celebrities communicate negative narratives and provide an undesirable role model for social behavior. This chapter examines the positive work and outcomes of celebrity use of social media warfare tactics as well as the impact that negative messaging by celebrities can have on society.

Ways Celebrities Use Social Media Warfare Tactics

Celebrities all have one thing in common: they must self-promote and participate in promotional campaigns that maintain an image and name recognition. Such celebrities include film and television stars, musicians and musical performers, athletes, authors, and famous people. Social media warfare tactics have become a mainstay of these promotional efforts. Celebrities contribute to numerous positive message promotional activities.

In addition to self-promotion, many celebrities and famous people participate in supporting charitable causes or positive messaging to support constructive personal and social behavior. In these efforts, celebrities and famous people lend their fame and recognition to promote efforts to build a positive society. In turn, they receive recognition for doing good deeds and this promotes their positive image.

Then, there are those celebrities and famous people who self-promote for profit, name recognition, or just plain, old narcissism, and they do so in a manner that disregards social decorum and positive messaging. Unfortunately, these boisterous socially irresponsible few often have large numbers of followers that consume and are motivated by negative messaging and anti-social behavior.

There have also been instances of scam artists and dishonest business people misappropriating the name or image of celebrities and famous people to promote products, sell unreliable or unproven products or nonexistent services. Such campaigns often come and go quickly and are difficult to prevent. Other campaigns may use celebrity name variations or imply that a deceased person had always been a fan and supporter of a product. The following sections examine the various uses and outcomes of social media warfare tactics by celebrities and famous people.