As fans continue to follow and support the social media accounts of their greatest icons, social media managers will be on the other side of the computer. Not to take the authenticity away, but to preserve it.
Celebrities Facebook walls, Instagram comments, and tweets become filled with thoughts and memories after their passing. Recent social media posts are remembered as some of their last personal thoughts. However, the truth is their brand will continue to live on without them and their social media will continue to be an outlet for their brand to grow.
Celebrities like Joan Rivers, Donna Summer, & Michael Jackson have only seen increases in their digital real estate post death. This goes to show the bond between celebrities and their fans is an everlasting one.
Celebrities are known for their public personas, so it’s understandable that their deaths evoke displays of public mourning and a need to cling on to what they have left behind, specifically their social media & their brand.
When celebrities pass away, they often attract more media attention than while alive. Their death appears to strongly elevate the celebrity’s status and increase the value of their products and digital real estate.
Forbes estimates Michael Jackson who passed away in 2009 earned $160 million in 2014 alone. Elvis Presley who passed in 1977 had a net worth of 14 million when he died and he now earns about $50 million every year. Not to mention the fact that Elvis was not present in a social media age, he has still acquired 12 million fans on Facebook for a social media manager to be able to continue to promote his brand.
When a shocking death happens in the midst of a new movie release such as: Night At The Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Robin Williams), Batman (Heath Ledger), Fast and the Furious (Paul Walker), and The Hunger Games (Philip Seymour) there becomes a large need from the fans to see their last movie.
Night At The Museum: Secret of the Tomb has already earned Robin Williams $17 million in its debut weekend. The NATM movies have always done well, but the un-timely death of this comedian & actor has sent an overwhelming boost of movies sales to see his last movie.
To the fans the relationship with their favorite celebrities is as real and intimate as any relationship can be. For them social media is a connection to the life that once was their favorite celebrity. Fans choose to hinge on any post or comment made by that account, as it’s their way of holding on to their memory and continuing to be involved with that celebrity’s brand.
The continuing following by the fans leads the accounts social media manager who knows the in’s and outs of their past clients, they know their likes and dislikes because they are now continuing on their clients voice on social media and promoting their brand.
Joan Rivers, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Robin Williams can & will continue to shape the values, attitudes, and personalities of fans even after their death.
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