#orless

Reading Marwick and Boyd's article really brought in an interesting perspective of authenticity as a celebrity. Like many other users, I hope to believe that the celebrities and verified accounts that I follow on Twitter are their actual voices--the ones who are eager to put their life out there and share it with the world. After reading this particular article, I've come to realize that authenticity is subjective. Sometimes you wonder if Twitter accounts like Britney Spears or Barack Obama are controlled by the people themselves or by their representatives. That being said, I think that definitely takes away the whole idea of authenticity. In my opinion, Twitter is one of many means for a celebrity to provide an unfiltered perspective on life, but if all that the Twitter account does is market for films, music, new fashion lines, etc., I don't think that's as authentic as it should be. 

Perhaps it's worth bringing up a similar controversy of authenticity on social media--not on Twitter but rather on Reddit. Ask Me Anything (AMA) is a subreddit that encourages Redditors to ask questions about literally anything while the featured celebrity truthfully answers the questions. This particular subreddit encourages honesty, and the last thing needed was to use AMAs as a marketing tactic. While many of them are successful, some are downright horrendous; Woody Harrelson's AMA, an effort to promote his film, was deemed the worst of all time. Whenever someone asked about Harrelson's life or about anything other than Rampart, he would quickly change topics and ask everyone to "focus on the film."