A celebrity is defined as a famous person, especially in entertainment or sport. Celebrities usually command some degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media. While many attain celebrity status as a result of their great work, in other cases, people have become celebrities due to media attention.
As the internet continues to play a more prominent role in helping to spread information and shape perception of individuals, it may be quite important for current, aspiring celebs and their publicists to adopt online strategies to build fame and acceptance around their personal brands.
Celebrities may want to try out online tools such as Youtube, an online platform to position their personal brands by sharing information, knowledge and experiences in ways that were never possible in the not too distant past. YouTube has been proven to have created celebrities. In Nigeria, YouTube is already creating African stars like Emmanuella from the YouTube channel MarkAngle Comedy. Musicians are also not left out as most of them have a growing number of subscribers who follow them on their YouTube channels.
What started as a platform for friends to share their videos and ideas with other friends is now a ‘partner’ that is helping to build and strategically position the fame of individuals all over the world. So, one might wonder, why should ‘our’ celebrities in Nigeria be left out? With YouTube, a person or group can post a video of their performance for all to see.. The more views and subscription to an individual’s page, the more they get famous. With the views to the YouTube user’s page, the user knows how many times his or her content has been viewed. When the user’s page actually gets subscription, whenever content is posted, the subscriber gets an email alert and so never misses the posts.
Here are 3 crucial reasons perhaps why anyone or everyone within Nigeria’s entertainment space should have a strong YouTube presence:
Let’s Talk Numbers
More than 1 billion people come to YouTube every month. That’s almost half the people on the Internet. In 2011 alone, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views — that’s almost 140 views for every person on earth, with 4 billion of those views delivered per day. This you may argue presents an opportunity for entertainers who constantly need to share their work with large numbers of people. From Psy, to the Olympics, to the Harlem Shake, YouTube helps shape what matters in content and culture today.
Local and International Reach
In addition to helping to reach large numbers of people, the YouTube platform will help entertainers connect to more people across different countries. This is particularly useful to countries where a large number of nationals reside or travel abroad. Take for example YouTube reaches more US adults ages 18-34 than any cable network. So if you are aspiring to be popular in the US, you might want to consider YouTube.
Live and On demand
Unlike traditional TV in which operations are governed by schedules that determine what viewers would watch at every time of the day, YouTube content is always available throughout the day. So even in the case where most people miss the live broadcast, they can always go back to see the video.
And if you are still not convinced, hear this, Billboard’s Hot 100 now incorporates YouTube views in ranking song popularity, meaning that YouTube views propel songs to the top of the chart.
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