Ashton @aplusk The Revolutionary?
Yes, Oprah @Oprah has invaded the Twitterverse on the same day that @aplusk became the first person on Twitter to have over one million followers and both @Oprah and @aplusk appeared on TV to talk about it all.
@aplusk has repeatedly stated that this is changing the face of the media. According to @aplusk, one man with a single voice was able to take on a media conglomerate through a platform where they each are given the same 140 character voice and in the end, he came out victorious.
I want to believe @aplusk when he says that this is democratizing the media, but there is something odd about him saying it live on the Oprah Winfrey show as @Oprah and @kinggayle look on in gleeful agreement. The question still has to be asked if @aplusk was not Ashton Kutcher could he still take on @CNNBRK and come out triumphant?
Not only is Ashton Kutcher famous a television star and entrepreneur, but even more appropriately he is perhaps the perfect media figure to engage the Twitter generation as he did so well. Remember, Kutcher really shot to prominence for his close relation to other celebrities through Punk‘d and his relationship with Demi Moore, not as Michael Kelso.
Then Kutcher became @aplusk, as he embraced Twitter, Digg, Ustream, and Apple. All of this combined makes Kutcher @aplusk arguably one of the ultimate meta-celebrities of a time when who you know (remember @aplusk had a whole cadre of celebrities behind him) is just as important as how much talent you have.
So as @Oprah and @kinggayle looked on, @aplusk went on about the revolutionary use of social/digital media evident in his triumph. Though, Oprah Winfrey, who only joined Facebook a month ago, and Gayle King may not know much about this long prophesied digital revolution that is bound to completely transform society, we have to wonder what Kutcher’s claims really amount to? Because we have heard this all before with each new online trend. After all, much of the discussion on the show revolved around celebrities on the service and what happens if someone sets up a fake Oprah account?
It may still be too quick to pass judgement (though in a media made all the more instant by services like Twitter what is too quick?), but it seems as if @aplusk‘s feat leaves us with more questions than answers. Most importantly of all is:
Is the celebrity frenzy on Twitter further proof of humanity recreating old tropes on new modes of expression, or does @aplusk‘s triumph really symbolize the rise of the everyman through an engaged, social, and open Internet?
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