Celebrities love to give their hot take on what’s happening in the world – whether ordinary people like you and me like it or not.
Social media platforms such as Instagram have become a common way celebrities can share their views on certain news events like the Israel-Gaza war.
From a post on their feed to posting something on their story, celebrities will share these with millions of followers.
Musician Justin Bieber, actor Jamie Lee Curtis and reality TV star Kylie Jenner found themselves in hot water recently after posting their support for Israel, by sharing images of Palestinians or the Gaza Strip.
The celebrities were quick to delete the posts, after receiving backlash from them.
Israeli actor Gal Gadot has also shown her support for Israel by posting an image of the Star of David with the caption, ‘I stand with Israel’.
Turning to social media and celebrities for news
In this day and age, social media is something most people can’t avoid using.
For some people, news can be extremely confronting, which is why they turn to platforms like Instagram to switch off.
When asked why some people get their news through celebrity social media pages, social media consultant Edwin Smith told ABC News, it could be a “subconscious thing”.
“We spend so much time on social media platforms that I don’t think many people are actively seeking out what a celebrity is saying on a certain issue.
“I don’t think it’s [some] big news breaks and then someone goes, ‘I need to go and see what this actor or this celebrity has to say about the issue’.
“It’s more that they go to Instagram for their scroll because they’re at work and they’re bored and that post will come up and that’s where they’ll consume some news and information from,” he said.
“Because they’re high profile and the way that the algorithms work, means they will most likely be served up content from those kinds of people.
“It’s not that we don’t want it there, but it will come across our feeds without us actively seeking it out.”
Australian Psychological Society president Catriona Davis-McCabe said people can also turn to celebrities for information on current events because they admire them and want to have the same views as them.
“People typically like celebrities who confirm their own worldview, and this apparent alignment of beliefs can make chosen celebrities a more trusted source of information than is the case,” Dr Davis-McCabe told ABC News.
How much impact can a celebrity post have?
When it comes to the impact a celebrity post has, Mr Smith said it depends on who the person is.
“I think there’s varying levels of influence that people can have and we see this across all social media accounts where some might have a large following, but they might not actually have any influence or sway over someone’s opinion,” he said.
“It really kind of depends on a case-by-case basis as to how much actual influence they might have.”
Para-social relationships
Dr Davis-McCabe said social media has helped para-social relationships sky rocket.
Para-social relationships are one-sided relationships, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party is completely unaware of the other’s existence.
“In the past, para-social relationships were more limited and largely restricted to local TV and movie celebrities. Now, these relationships can occur online any time between people and their favourite actors, sport stars, influencers and gamers,” Dr Davis-McCabe said.
She said this type of one-sided relationship has “transformed into more interactive environments”.
“[It] allows people to passively engage with their celebrities of choice, and increase the intimacy and strength of the para-social relationship.”
Mr Smith agreed and said it makes people think they have formed a connection.
“We feel closer and more connected to those people.
“We feel like we know them and so we feel like we trust them, so when they say something we’re like, ‘Oh, that must be true, it must be the way that things are’.”
Celebrities and the rise of slacktivism
Being in the public eye means celebrities can often be criticised and appear out of touch for what they post on social media, especially when it comes to current events.
When COVID-19 was running rampant throughout the world, actor Gal Gadot orchestrated a group of celebrities to sing John Lennon’s Imagine from their homes while in lockdown.
The aim of the video was to bring people together and let them know, although there wasn’t any certainty of when lockdown would end, we can get through this together.
To no-one’s surprise, a group of rich and famous people singing out of tune while millions of people died, went down like a ton of bricks.
As the war in Gaza developed, hundreds of actors, musicians and artists signed an open letter to US President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire, titling the letter #Artists4Ceasefire.
Mr Smith told ABC News that celebrities do things like that to make them feel good for doing something but it won’t actually make a whole heap of difference.
“Is that going to have any kind of impact on the war in Gaza? Probably not right?
“[The people involved] are not going to suddenly go, ‘Ooh well, hundreds of celebrities told us not to so let’s put our guns down everyone and let’s have a break here.'”
The open letter and Instagram posts celebrities have shared during the conflict in Gaza are strong examples of slacktivism.
Slacktivism is the practice of supporting a political or social cause by using social media or online petitions, as it involves minimal effort or commitment.
How to healthily consume news
When it comes to getting your news online, Dr Davis-McCabe said people should not go overboard with trying to find news.
“Everyone should try to ensure they consume a healthy diet of information from a variety of trusted news sources,” Dr Davis-McCabe said.
She said if people are getting their information from celebrity content, they need to consider other factors, not just the content itself.
“Critical media literacy requires people to analyse the content itself, as well as the roles of the celebrity, the audience, and other potential stakeholders with an interest in promoting celebrity messaging.”
Do you get your news via social media? Are you sure it is ‘news’? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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