Forwarded by Dr Jo Littler at City University, London and Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association:
Do you care what celebrities say? Do they influence your behaviour or opinions in any way? I am a PhD student at King’s College London writing a research project on the power of celebrity to influence and govern public behaviour around particular issues. We are looking for volunteers to participate in a survey about celebrity activism and its influence on your understanding. This research will help develop an understanding of the power celebrities may hold to govern the way we understand and behave around issues such as animal welfare or international development.The survey takes around 20mins to complete, it doesn’t have to be completed in one go, and there are prizes to be won from iPod Touch to Amazon vouchers. If you could spare any time to fill in a survey I would really appreciate it and please feel free to pass it on to anyone you know who would be able to fill it in!
You can find the survey here….http://celebritysurvey.co.uk
The questionnaire explores your knowledge, understanding and relationship to the growing importance of celebrity activists in the UK. It is divided into 3 sections: 1) general questions about your awareness and engagement with celebrity culture and activists, 2) questions about celebrity chefs and food politics, and 3) questions about celebrity charity ambassadors and care. The survey is made up mainly of multiple choice questions, with some short answer questions, asking you to think about your awareness and opinion around celebrity today. If you love them, hate them, or have no idea who most of them are, we want to hear from you and what you think!
Christine Barnes
I think it’s important what celebrities say because they reach a greater audience than most of the rest of us. I write almost daily about issues of animal welfare. A celebrity can get the message to so many more people in one tweet than I will in many blog posts. Envious? You betcha. But that’s the way it is, and I am grateful for those who speak out for animals.
Thank you for the likes and excellent comment! Although many celebrities are not well known for talent, they carry historical notions of heroism and meritocratic skills. The ability to speak about human and non-human animal rights and welfare is indeed an act of heroism and unconditional love. I believe that form of love is one of our greatest talents. Audiences are capable of being celebrated for such a talent and can be recognized as social heroes as well. I do agree that media construction of fame plays a significant role and celebrities are able to share the same message with more people. On this note, I will leave us with a question: can anybody be a celebrity through the strategic use of media? Preferably, can everybody be a fan of each and celebrate our highest talent? More on this topic can be found in one of latest post: http://samitanandy.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/fans-celebrating-each-other/ Thanks again for your participation – more soon! x