I’m more than a week late on the uptake of this story, but I can’t help but comment on it.
On April 13, 2009, television and movie actor Aston Kutcher released a YouTube video challenging famed news network, CNN, to see who could be the first to gain 1,000,000 Twitter followers. At first glance, it might seem like a silly, trivial act. However, Kutcher started the first ever Twitter War.
So here we have two opponents:
In one corner, there’s Kutcher. Young and famous. Representing the youth of America and the power of the Internet.
And in the other corner stands CNN. Long time media mogul. Serious news source. A icon of the antediluvian form of television entertainment (well, antediluvian for technology, that is).
And who steps up to be the face of this television media behemoth? None other than the equally ancient Larry King.
In a video response to Kutcher, King scoffs at the idea that this newfangled Internet could ever upset the balance of power that a major news source like CNN has over the public. It’s ridiculous, he claims. How could a celebrity really hope to one-up a company like CNN?
Why, through grassroots movements of course! Kutcher went online and streamed homemade videos, asking members of the Internet community to follow his Twitter account. And, while CNN used the likes of Larry King and Anderson Cooper to promote the CNN Twitter account on their respective shows, Kutcher was ultimately able to rally his young, tech-savvy fan base on a 24/7 basis, all from the comfort of his living room couch.
On April 16, 2009, Kutcher’s Twitter account reached 1,000,000 followers, only thirty minutes before CNN achieved its million member milestone. In a way, this proves that the Internet is the new media superhero, taking power from the corporations and giving it to the individual.
There’s much more going on here than just a friendly challenge between a media movie star and a media news corporation. The fact is that the public would rather support Kutcher, the goofy creator of Punk’d, over the respectable news source, CNN. It’s mind-blowing, really. And all it took was a cultural war on Twitter to make this fact painfully obvious.
Does this mean that we’ve become completely obsessed with the idea of the celebrity? Has celebrity news really taken priority over news on international policy and sweeping economic reforms?
I certainly hope not.
However, what’s equally shocking to me is that CNN decided to play Kutcher’s silly game. They wanted to take the unnecessary risk and ended up paying a price. While this "war" may be free publicity for it and its Twitter accounts, think about how embarrassing the loss truly is. CNN was beaten by Ashton Kutcher in what is essentially a popularity contest. How supremely disappointing in CNN and the population of Twitter.
Meanwhile, the managers of Twitter certainly aren’t complaining. With the introduction of celebrity Twitter-ers like Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey, Twitter is gaining more media attention and subscribers than ever before. In the month of March alone, Twitter witnessed at 131 percent growth in accounts. As Twitter becomes more and more popular, these celebrity “tweets” will undoubtedly gain the attention of millions of people worldwide. Kutcher has already proved that.
As for Larry King, it looks like he was wrong. Television and big media are losing their touch. Faster and more interactive, the Internet has revolutionized media as we know it, and in the process, has made television a second-ranked form of communication.
This might be a win for Kutcher and the power of the individual on the World Wide Web.
However, it’s a huge loss for television and respectable news as a whole.
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I also wrote a week late blog on this topic; isn't it interesting how we weren't well informed about the CNN vs Kutcher Twitter wall until now. I wonder what the reasons for this might be; perhaps it is that the course has widened our interest in social networking tools on the internet besides Facebook. Or perhaps, there has been such an enormous amount of Media coverage on the topic of "Twittering" that perhaps we finally grew curious.
ReplyDeleteI loved your image of the internet as the "new media superhero, taking power from the corporations and giving it to the individual." I looked at the individuals empowerment in a more positive light however; I found it inspiring that an individual is able to captivate more followers than a media conglomerate who we assume to have unmatchable power.
What I loved about the race, was that it was much more than a popularity contest. For me the story wasn't celebrity replacing serious news. Rather, I was impressed by both CNN and Kutcher's capacity to harness convergence culture and direct social networking towards more meaningful directions such as fundraising. Maybe its not something beyond our reach even here as Andover students.