Picture this: You are lounging on your bed, homework abandoned on the side of the bed you’re not occupying, thumb moving rhythmically as you swipe through TikTok’s “For You” page. Videos similar to the ones you’ve previously engaged with create a personalized social media experience, with a couple of new videos interspersed here and there. These videos play softly in the silence of your dorm when one video in particular causes you to break the silence with a sharp laugh.
“[M]e absolutely every single time I’ve ever made love to a woman,” reads a TikTok on Lewis Capaldi’s account, where the singer lip-syncs to an audio of Harry Styles saying “I have no idea what I’m doing and it’s quite fun.” The short video accompanied by the caption, “Its a maze #kingoftiktok #love #christiantiktok,” is truly the perfect introduction to what kind of content you can expect when perusing the singer’s social media.
Lewis Capaldi is a Scottish singer (does the song “Someone You Love” ring a bell?) who is unapologetically himself. Filled to the brim with self-deprecating humor, satirical bits, explicit rants, and awkward angles, on his TikTok, Capaldi acts like he’s not a famous and popular singer. In fact, he acts like a regular person with nothing to hide, offering his followers and fan base a rather personal and charming look into his mind.
But, he’s not the only celebrity to “keep it real” on his social media.
Doja Cat posts just as freely as Capaldi. The singer, who rose to fame on TikTok when her song “Say So” gained traction with a choreographed dance, does not hold back on her personality when online.
One notable moment that comes to mind is when she went live on Instagram and called Stranger Thing’s Noah Schnapp a “snake,” amongst other things in her rant about the young teen’s TikTok. This came after Schnapp, known to be unreliable when it comes to subtlety or secrets, posted the singer’s private messages about wanting to hook up with his Stranger Things co-star, Joseph Quinn. Like Capaldi, Doja Cat did not censor herself, talking rather candidly about her thoughts and feelings regarding the matter.
Oddly enough, both artists’ lack of restriction makes them rather endearing, and more relatable. After all, poking fun at yourself, or even calling out someone, directly or indirectly, on social media for a slight is something any person can relate to. It is also a refreshing take, compared to other celebrity social media accounts like Harry Styles, whose posts are professionally taken photos with simple captions promoting the singer’s concerts and magazine photoshoots.
Many celebrities are very careful about what they post on their social media, due to the large following they have gathered and the significant influence they hold. Others simply want to maintain their following by keeping a meticulously curated image. While these points of view are understandable, it makes celebrities feel even more isolated from the public, almost presenting themselves as divine beings out of our reach. It enforces this divide between celebrity and fan, this belief that they’re untouchable beings we can only aspire to be.
Social media accounts run by teams, make these celebrities come off as aloof and sometimes even cold. Not having a personal touch on their social media account, even just small insights into their everyday life where nothing is produced or fabricated, can make a celebrity appear arrogant.
In contrast, celebrities who are more relatable in their posts, going on rants about how they hate going to the gym for example, come off as more genuine. When these artists say something or promote something, you’re more likely to believe their words because they’ve been honest about other aspects of their life before.
Candidness on social media is an excellent reminder to the public that celebrities are people, and that they’re more than just their brand. We, the public, already know they are on a different level from us. There is no need for celebrities to be even more distanced from their fanbase through their social media too.