Parody Accounts
In the
world of PAC Lab PR, all we talk about is social media. Sometimes it gets tiring,
but then I remember I can tweet about it and not many other students can say
that’s ok in class. Twitter is a wonderful place. From celebrities,
professionals, your local newscast, parody accounts, you can find almost
anything you could desire to read. But that last item on the list is what I
really want to talk about: parody accounts.
This
Mashable article by Hannah Orenstein describes paraody accounts as
“single-topic Twitter feeds that embody a stereotype or a joke to entertain
followers”. And they do just that, some collecting followers by the hundreds of
thousands. So let’s talk about the best (in my opinion) of these accounts and how
they use their influence to create contests and keep fans engaged.
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| This is a tumblr gif of the Very Mary Kate pose |
My favorite
is @verymarykate “The unofficial Twitter of Mary Kate Olsen”. Created by
comedian Elaine Carroll, the account has 49, 497 followers. Her YouTube subscribers
are at a higher number, 95, 609. Carroll uses the Twitter account to stay in
touch with avid fans that followed her fromYouTube communities over to the Twittersphere.
She is constantly tweeting about Mary Kate’s daily activities. She also posts
fan art and fan photos doing the classic Mary Kate pose.
Then
there’s @yaboybillnye the parody account for everyone’s favorite scientist. Fake
Bill Nye has 535, 926 followers and tweets fiction and non-fiction scientific
facts. Recently, the actual Bill Nye the Science Guy has committed to perform
on the 17th season of ‘Dancing With The Stars’. To which
@yaboybillnye tweeted the following:
Celebrity
parody accounts are one thing; there are subject and stereotype accounts too. My
favorite is @FakeAPStylebook because who doesn’t love a good PR joke? With 305,
222 followers, it seems I’m not the only one who likes it. Here are a few of
their gems:
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| And of course this is the best because we all know the opposite is true! |
Great post, Julie! I actually follow all of the Twitter accounts you mention in your post. I think parody accounts can do a good job of keeping the subject (in this case, Bill Nye) relevant, even when we haven't watched a Science Guy movie in years.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a stretch here, but try to hold out and follow me to the end—there is a point to this story, I promise! The Bill Nye parody Twitter account reminds me of the super PACs from the most recent presidential election. While the candidates (supposedly) have no control over what message the super PACs send out on their behalf, the super PACs are still promoting the candidate. Similarly, Bill Nye probably has no control over what @YaBoyBillNye tweets (vulgarity and all), but the parody account is still indirectly keeping the scientist relevant to 20-somethings like us, and maybe even to casting directors of shows like "Dancing with the Stars".