Social Media and Behind the Scenes: AKA Everything Else Not "News and Media"

[wonderwall]

No Stephen... No more Laurel centric episodes, take it back!!!! D: 

[DrSpaceman10]

Maybe he wants another vacation?

[lemotomato]

I'm sure Laurel-centric episodes are a gift to SA, since he got a nice long vacation because of them. I actually wouldn't mind if they repeat what they did in season 3, and group the obligatory Laurel-centric episodes after the winter hiatus. That way I can take an extended break from the show too.

[JJ928]

I'm all for Thea-centric episodes but I've had my fill of Laurel-centric episodes. I'm really hoping this is a big season for Diggle, he's earned it & the Andy story-line has been dangling since season 1 (plus he's my fav). Also, crossing my fingers that MG delivers and this is a good season for Felicity, and she has an actual story-line.

[dtissagirl]

Paul B's original accent does ~things to me~, ngl.

[wonderwall]

Well SA probably knows that he can have a break with Laurel centric episodes, but he can't with Diggle/Felicity centric episodes because they're Diggle/Felicity... Thea centric episodes I can see him not be in those as much? 

[Chaser]

He said for selfish reasons, because he likes vacations, he wouldn't mind more Thea-centric/Laurel-centric episodes. I'm on board with more Thea eps. I did have to LOL at the implication if its a Diggle or Felicity episode, he would still be there. 

 

I wish they had let Laurel's father be british, because I really love Paul's accent. He didn't sound to happy with Lance's storyline this storyline this season (or the perception of Lance at least).

 

I found it interesting how aware KC and EBR were of the audience. KC talked about comic books and how BC stands and wanting to do them justice with BC (but also said that she didn't look at the comics until after the character turned because she wanted to make it her won with the CC). It was little confusing. But while the others talk about how they take inspiration from the comics, but this is their own story, she is justice and comics. EBR talked about wanting Felicity to be funny and happy again. I did like that when the interview mention Olicity breaking up then (which was a weird way to bring in the will-they-won't-they question), she was like nope I want them together.

 

DR I wished I trusted the EPs as much was you do. I want a Diggle heavy storyline too. Please keep talking about (and bring up Felicity's dad too) as much as possible so its harder for them to backtrack. Build those expectations. 

Edited June 15, 2015 by 10Eleven12

[wingster55]

Why would Thea-centric eps mean Stephen gets a break? If anything I think he would work more in those eps than Diggle ones. 

[dtissagirl]

I think Stephen equates -centric to that character getting flashbacks. If it's Thea's flashbacks to the five years in a hellish [not] island, Oliver wasn't there, and Stephen gets his days off. Idk why he focused on Thea and Laurel, tho. He's not on anyone's FBs.

Changing the subject: is Katie Cassidy for real buying Twitter followers? Because it sure as hell looks like she is. Just. Do better, KC.

Edited June 15, 2015 by dancingnancy

[wonderwall]

Why would Thea-centric eps mean Stephen gets a break? If anything I think he would work more in those eps than Diggle ones. 

 

You should ask Stephen that because that sort of confused me too. Maybe it's because Stephen would prefer to be in Diggle centric episodes because he's the biggest Diggle fanboy? :p 

 

 

Changing the subject: is Katie Cassidy for real buying Twitter followers? Because it sure as hell looks like she is. Just. Do better, KC.

 

What makes you think that she is? 

[Velocity23]

Well going from gaining 400 followers/day in April to gaining 2k followers/day in June is a pretty big leap.

I heard some twitter talk also with some charts showing the big leaps.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Velocity23

[Chaser]

I think he mentioned Thea and Laurel because they got more focus this year and got their mask. With Thea he mentioned her really coming into her own, I'm assuming he was applying that same logic to Laurel because he tacked her on.

 

I could see a Thea centric episode being lighter on Oliver since they could be Roy back or focus on Thea and Malcolm. A Laurel centric episode could be more on Lance and Nyssa and Sara when they bring her back. 

[dtissagirl]

I saw chatter about it on my Arrow list on Twitter, and then I checked out her followers myself. They have all of the signs of bought followers: all created from the same random location over the course of the last week, only a few tweets posted in each account, very few followers of their own, and they seem to be following not only the same group of people, but they're adding these people in the same order. It looks like KC bought a 2,000 new followers per day package.

[Chaser]

Well going from gaining 400 followers/day in April to gaining 2k followers/day in June is a pretty big leap.

Isn't there something odd about the new followers as well (twitter sounds like a cult btw)? Like they all come from the same area and they don't have any tweets or retweets or something or the bio or something. Someone who is actually on twitter could probably explain it better.

[Velocity23]

The most suspicious is they follow the same people. The focus being Nepal/India. Not following any of the Arrow/Flash cast beside KC. And she is gaining followers at a faster rate then Stephen. During hiatus time with no buzz/press i find this very suspicious.

[apinknightmare]

With the talk of social media presence having a hand in SA getting the Casey Jones role over whoever else he was up against, I wonder if maybe she's trying to pad her followers because she's got her eye on a role and thinks that might help? Although I suppose being that obvious about it probably isn't helpful, haha. 

 

I do kind of wonder about whoever noticed the trend in the first place though. Who even cares? 

[wingster55]

I refuse to believe any celeb buys followers. Maybe it's a spam bot. Maybe, just maybe she's that popular. 

[DrSpaceman10]

A lot of celebs buy followers. There was even talk of Mitt Romney buying followers back when he ran for president.

[Velocity23]

Not if there is this big of jump. And maybe during the season when they all get press. I am sure KC got quite a follower jump when the BC pic came out and that is understandable.

But when its all quiet during hiatus time, that is when i get suspicious.

[Velocity23]

double post.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Velocity23

[dtissagirl]

Probably, yeah. I've seen more than a few mentions in casting articles that social media following is a diferential now, if all other criteria are equal.

And Twitter couldn't care less about fake accounts, so it's the place to do it. Facebook/Instagram care about culling the fake. They sell the policy on truth and morality PR cakes, but I've heard the real deal is their servers can't handle the surplus. Apparently Twitter's okay there.

[wonderwall]

I refuse to believe any celeb buys followers. Maybe it's a spam bot. Maybe, just maybe she's that popular. 

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/profit-minded/10-people-won-t-believe-fake-followers-twitter-215539518.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=tw

 

It happens...

 

I'd more believe it if KC gained 2k followers during the season when she's BC, but not 1 month afterwards when she really isn't doing much or making much noise. Too random. 

[wingster55]

I do kind of wonder about whoever noticed the trend in the first place though. Who even cares?

 

My thoughts exactly. 

Edited June 15, 2015 by wingster55

[dtissagirl]

Haha, one of my current interns' previous job was to create fake Twitter accounts, and then follow the people who paid for them. Their specialty? Local celebrities.

[EmeraldArcher]

I do kind of wonder about whoever noticed the trend in the first place though. Who even cares?

I agree. I'm happy to snark on the LL character, and I'll happily criticize most of KC's acting choices as LL, but I don't want to call her out for something that smacks of desperation and awareness of not being the winner of the popularity contest. I really don't know much about Twitter, but I could maybe see the appeal of boosting one's social media followers if an actress finds herself in a role probably vastly different than what she signed on for. She probably feels like she's on the defensive, and moves like this might seem like a proactive business decision to elevate her brand. There's nothing wrong with that, IMO.

[Morrigan2575]

Wow. I can't believe celebrities pay for fake Twitter followers that's both hysterical and pathetic.

[dtissagirl]

Maybe it's because I'm currently surrounded by social media savvy young'uns IRL in my current job, so social media behaviour like this both amuses me and makes me go "oh, honey, don't."

[Chaser]

These fake accounts only boost the follower number right? They don't actually fav and retweet and engage. 

 

It's fluff.

[wonderwall]

Whatever, let KC do whatever she wants to do.

Anyways, I really hope David Ramsey and Emily Bett communicate with the EPs/writers because they seem to want for their characters what I want for their characters. More focus on them and less crying for Felicity.

[Morrigan2575]

Maybe it's because I'm currently surrounded by social media savvy young'uns IRL in my current job, so social media behaviour like this both amuses me and makes me go "oh, honey, don't."

I never even knew they did this, that includes the Politicians and Corporate Execs in that article. My first thought was how desperate for attention/validation do you have to be to pay for fake accounts?

Politicians don't surprise me, they're massively out of touch with today's youth culture. However, the Celebs and Rock Stars do. Ironically it sounds like something you'd see on a Hollywood movie/show that kind of mocks Hollywood/Celebrity.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[dtissagirl]

From what my intern tells me, his fake accounts actually looked legit. There were a couple dozen people creating the fakes, then *friended* each other and FAKE TALKED TO EACH OTHER about pop culture, so when the celebs bought them, they didn't look empty. All very "niche" and "focused" and "targeted" and all those other words social media folk like to use.

Modern life is rubbish, as Blur once sang about.

Edited June 15, 2015 by dancingnancy

[lemotomato]

I agree. I'm happy to snark on the LL character, and I'll happily criticize most of KC's acting choices as LL, but I don't want to call her out for something that smacks of desperation and awareness of not being the winner of the popularity contest. I really don't know much about Twitter, but I could maybe see the appeal of boosting one's social media followers if an actress finds herself in a role probably vastly different than what she signed on for. She probably feels like she's on the defensive, and moves like this might seem like a proactive business decision to elevate her brand. There's nothing wrong with that, IMO.

I feel like it's a bit like cheating the system, though. And I don't feel too badly if people notice and point it out, especially when her co-star is SA, who spends a lot of time and effort cultivating his online following by himself, on top of everything else he does.

[Chaser]

From what my intern tells me, his fake accounts actually looked legit. There were a couple dozen people creating the fakes, then *friended* each other and FAKE TALKED TO EACH OTHER about pop culture, so when the celebs bought them, they didn't look empty. All very "niche" and "focused" and "targeted" and all those other words social media folk like to use.

Modern life is rubbish, as Blur once sang about.

Do some companies sell better fakes than others? Those make the KC fakes look cheap with the obvious signs.

 

This is actually really interesting. Lol

[EmeraldArcher]

I feel like it's a bit like cheating the system, though. And I don't feel too badly if people notice and point it out, especially when her co-star is SA, who spends a lot of time and effort cultivating his online following by himself, on top of everything else he does.

It probably is like cheating the system, given it's an artificial inflation of followers.

Honestly, I probably just vacillate too much between being annoyed with everything she does and feeling sorry for her to want to call her out on something like that. She plays the least liked character, even though she started with the expectation of being the main LI and becoming an iconic female superhero. It hasn't panned out, and that has to be pretty embarrassing. She recently tried to sell t-shirts for charity like SA did (very successfully!), and she barely sold any. I'm not an apologist, but I empathize with her.

[quarks]

I don't think celebrities are buying the fake followers for attention/validation: they're doing it as an investment because of the perception, real or not, that the number of Twitter followers is one aspect considered during the casting process.

 

With corporate execs, I think there's a perception - and I don't know if this is true - that Twitter uses both retweets and the number of followers on an account to do their "Top Tweets" (as opposed to "Live Tweets") on a given hashtag. So if you want to make sure that your tweet about Bud Light is at the top of the "Top Tweets," instead of John Oliver's tweet about "Bud Light," you need to get more followers. That can be important for some brands. 

Edited June 15, 2015 by quarks

[calliope1975]

I don't think celebrities are buying the fake followers for attention/validation: they're doing it as an investment because of the perception, real or not, that the number of Twitter followers is one aspect considered during the casting process.

 

The number of Twitter/social media followers is absolutely looked at by casting agents so I understand why actors would pay to boost their numbers. Whether it pays off in the long run for the project, I have no idea. It is pretty fascinating though. 

[wingster55]

Regardless, usually when someone brings it up it's usually done to shame the celeb in question. It's levels of hate that I can't fathom. 

[catahoulamama]

The fact that the entertainment industry built on all things fake places value - so much so that it can decide whether someone gets a job or not - on one of the most unreliable, unrealistic, and easily manipulated measures of "popularity" (social media presence) is simultaneously hilariously ironic and pathetic.

[dtissagirl]

Regardless, usually when someone brings it up it's usually done to shame the celeb in question. It's levels of hate that I can't fathom.

I was the one who brought it up, so: I find KC's public persona antics hilarious and I'm always down for mocking things I find hilarious. Like buying Twitter followers to boost up their social media visibility. I find Stephen's trigger happy delete button just as hilarious and fair game for mockage. He's worse than my teenage cousins. I also find his insistence is making demeaning comments about the Kardashians downright creepy, which on a disdain-for-celebs scale is actually higher for me. But I can honestly say I don't hate KC. And I actually hate a couple of actors [Adam Baldwin comes to mind], so I do know what that feels like as means of comparison. Edited June 15, 2015 by dancingnancy

[justbelieving]

Actually KC buys also Facebook likes for her posts. I don't follow her on Facebook and almost everyday her posts appear on my Facebook timeline as sponsored, and there is only one reason for that.

[HighHopes]

Actually KC buys also Facebook likes for her posts. I don't follow her on Facebook and almost everyday her posts appear on my Facebook timeline as sponsored, and there is only one reason for that.

 

Some of Amell's posts have also shown up on my feed as sponsored too though. So I think it's more of a celebrity thing to get people to realize they are on Facebook and less of a KC thing? 

[wingster55]

I remember her promoted FB posts...that was specifically about a charity IIRC.

 

I was the one who brought it up, so: I find KC's public persona antics hilarious and I'm always down for mocking things I find hilarious. Like buying Twitter followers to boost up their social media visibility. I find Stephen's trigger happy delete button just as hilarious and fair game for mockage. He's worse than my teenage cousins. I also find his insistence is making demeaning comments about the Kardashians downright creepy, which on a disdain-for-celebs scale is actually higher for me. But I can honestly say I don't hate KC. And I actually hate a couple of actors [Adam Baldwin comes to mind], so I do know what that feels like as means of comparison.

Ok, but someone clearly looked at her profile, noticed her followers count going up, analyzed the rate now vs the rate back a few months ago, looked at multiple recent followers and who from Arrow they were following, where they were from etc. 

[dtissagirl]

Ok, but someone clearly looked at her profile, noticed her followers count going up, analyzed the rate now vs the rate back a few months ago, looked at multiple recent followers and who from Arrow they were following, where they were from etc.

People have been tallying up EBR's and KC's follower gains for months now. There was a celebration of sorts the day EBR's followers surpassed KC's. For the record, I find that kind of fandom antics just as hilarious and mockable too. I find fun in small things, I guess.

[wonderwall]

People have been tallying up EBR's and KC's follower gains for months now. There was a celebration of sorts the day EBR's followers surpassed KC's. For the record, I find that kind of fandom antics just as hilarious and mockable too. I find fun in small things, I guess.

That's just so sad... Maybe not as sad as canadagraphs dude, but sad nonetheless

[Morrigan2575]

Actually KC buys also Facebook likes for her posts. I don't follow her on Facebook and almost everyday her posts appear on my Facebook timeline as sponsored, and there is only one reason for that.

That's a thing? Wow, OK I really know nothing about social media and I kind of wish I still didn't. Now everything is suspect.

[dtissagirl]

Ain't perception a grand thing? I legit get the giggles just thinking about it.

[wingster55]

I don't think she buys likes (because as far as I know that's not possible), but she does promote a post about Red Nose Day a while back. 

 

 

There was a celebration of sorts the day EBR's followers surpassed KC's.

A celebration? Wow. 

[apinknightmare]

Some of Amell's posts have also shown up on my feed as sponsored too though. So I think it's more of a celebrity thing to get people to realize they are on Facebook and less of a KC thing? 

 

Could be a celebrity thing. Could be too that they boosted the post (not sure if that's a service that Facebook offers for free to verified celebrity accounts), and paid for that. I do it when I release a book that I want to market, just to get word out. If she boosted a post about a charity or some kind of thing to do with her website that she wanted to drive traffic to, I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

[Morrigan2575]

People have been tallying up EBR's and KC's follower gains for months now. There was a celebration of sorts the day EBR's followers surpassed KC's. For the record, I find that kind of fandom antics just as hilarious and mockable too. I find fun in small things, I guess.

I think it's absolutely stupid but, IIRC that started because KC/Laurel/Lauiver stans used to use KC having more Twitter followers as proof that EBR/Felicity/Olicity was not as popular as people claimed. I remember seeing thise comments constantly at IMDb and FF. I think EBR/Felicity/Olicity fans started tracking those numbers to prove that that EBR/Felicity/Olicity was popular.

Then it turned into a stupid fandom pissing contest just like everything else in fandom

[apinknightmare]

Well, if it was a fan war thing, maybe someone bought the followers for her, haha.

 

ETA: as in without her knowledge, in order to win what seems like a really idiotic argument. 

Edited June 15, 2015 by apinknightmare