by By: Carly Grossman
Social media fuels the fire when it comes rumors or celebrity gossip. For example, all of my social media platforms have been blowing up with the Jordyn Woods and Tristan Thompson scandal. This incident has escalated through the power of social media.
For those of you who do not know, Jordyn Woods, Kylie Jenner’s best friend, was said to have been seen “getting close” with Tristan Thompson, the father of Khloé Kardashian’s child, at a party. They allegedly slept together, which caused Khloé to end their relationship officially. Now, you can see the dilemma that surrounds this situation. Jordyn’s whole empire was made through the connections she has made through Kylie. Kylie has supportedJordyn since day one. She bought Jordyn her first car, very expensive designer jewelry and accessories, and they lived together in the house that Kylie bought. If you say you have not seen any articles on this, you are probably missing something.
Celebrities usually turn to social media when things like this go public. They turn to different platforms in order to confirm or deny rumors and assumptions. On their social media platforms, they are able to reach their following and the public easily and with convenience.This story has not been confirmed nor denied but the publicity of the story has led people to believe it is true. Tristan Thompson turned to twitter to respond to the controversy. He tweeted, “FAKE NEWS”, but quickly deleted it. Another example of a celebrity using social media to address conflict is Khloé Kardashian’s Instagram story shortly after the incident was reported. Khloé posted a picture reading, “The worst pain is getting hurt by a person you explained your pain to”. There was another story that stated, “Somebody needs to hear this…that betrayal was your blessing!!!” Though the statement did not explicitly call out Woods or Thompson it sure was a coincidence that she posted it the day after the incident hit the media.
This story has completely taken over all social media platforms and everyone observing is getting invested in all of the drama surrounding this situation. People are getting nasty and posting on Jordyn’s social media accounts. They are bashing her and using this circumstance to make memesand jokes about her. People forget to recognize that celebrities are real people and that this exploitation is something that could cause significant trauma. Imagine reading negative, hurtful headlines about yourself.
Most of us do not know celebrities personally but here we are reading about them on websites like MEA Worldwide and similar others, posting about them, and consumed by their personal lives. This goes along with the idea that we, as consumers believe almost everything that is put in front of us because of the power of social media. Social media has such an influence over us that everything we do revolves around it.
Overall, social media can be used to tame or fuel fires of all sorts; it just depends how you use it which is why there is such a demand for high profile PR agencies like the ones found at https://lobeline.com/public-relations-for-celebrities-entertainers/.
Twitter: @carlyypaigee
Instagram: @carlyypaigee
LinkedIn: Carly Grossman
Hi Carly, your blog is so relatable and really reflects the power of social media. Personally, I learnt about the Jordyn Woods, Tristan Thompson scandal through Twitter memes; I would’ve never known something had happened until I came across the rumors on social media. Like you said in your blog, social media does more than we give it credit for as, it spreads rumors and gossip quicker than any other type of media. I also agree with your idea of people forgetting that celebrities are people too, since social media is so quick to put them down or to bring them up. Overall I think your idea of the way an individual uses or interprets social media is entirely up to them.
Hi Carly,
I have been hear a lot about the Jordyn Woods and Tristan Thompson scandal as well so I appreciate you bring this to light! I could not imagine posting that much of my life on social media as a celebrity, but I understand why they would on the other hand. The Kardashians especially have been on television since 2007 so these women are more used to having their life public than not. I really agree with you in that social media can either help or make a situation worse and it really just depends on how the influencer is using it.
Carly, great analysis of the most recent Kardashian-Jenner scandal. I agree with you that people are being cruel to Jordyn Woods in the situation. The memes and bashing on her social media pages are not necessary and because she is a “celebrity” people think it is okay to be extra mean and make jokes at her expense. I think that it is unfortunate but when you live such a high profile life and you associate with one of the most famous and influential families in the world, you have to be extra careful about what you do and how you present yourself. It is nearly impossible to have a private life when you are broadcast in the spotlight all the time. I think that in a situation like this when it is easy for people to head straight to Twitter and be mean and make jokes, it is important to be compassionate for people hurting and going through something.
Hi, Carly. Thank you for bringing this topic up. It is definitely true that social media fuels celebrity gossip. It makes sense that these rumors can become so public so quickly, especially when we are talking about celebrities who have large followings and share so much of their lives. It was hard not to see posts about the Jordyn Woods and Tristan Thompson scandal this last week. I definitely noticed that many people were bashing Jordyn Woods, which made me think about our class discussion on online bullying and the role of anonymity.
Carly,
This is a great post, and I am too guilty of being one of the consumers so interested in this incident. It is interesting and fascinating to be a part and see such a dramatic story unfold in real time, especially with such a public family that we all know and have followed for years. But even though the Kardashians have subjected themselves to the public eye for more than a decade now, its benefits also come with the negatives with being that famous. And unfortunately all of their private life is open out there for us consumers to see and live through with them. This situation in general is a really good demonstration of the power of social media in which you are discussing and how powerful and impactful it can be, negative or positive. It will be interesting to see how this story unfolds and how social media and the consumers will continue to impact it.
Going on Twitter to see celebrity drama has become one of my favorite past times. I tend to get all my news of Twitter now that it’s the fast and easiest social media platform to tell me news. I used to just go on social media to read the news weirdly enough but eventually it became a source for all celebrity news too. Twitter is how I actually found out about the shooting in my hometown because it was reported on extremely fast it was trending number one on Twitter. Twitter has this ability to be a great source of news and drama.
I really enjoyed reading this article because I have been keeping up with the Kardashian/Jenner/Woods drama this last week. I think it is important for celebrities like this to post their thoughts about their drama one social media but I also think it can be a little dangerous. It can easily become cyber bullying and almost has become that in this case. It is crazy how little we actually know about these celebrities, yet it seems as if we know their whole life from just a few simple posts.
It truly feels wild how quickly information such as the Khloe/Tristan/Jordyn scandal can spread across social media, and the range of presentation of information as well. Not only were there news articles, but also memes, and posts from people who were close to people in this triangle. I also recently read that Jordyn Woods’ family members are experiencing threats and that her siblings aren’t able to attend school. I think what often gets lost in social media blowouts like this is that these things are happening to real people, and the way we continuously talk about it is effecting the lives of people who basically had nothing to do with it. I’m very consumed by celebrity gossip, however, I am trying to be more conscious of the fact that these people are real, and social media can be damaging in a lot of ways. Thank you for your post, it was well written and I totally agree that social media can be used for good or evil, depending on how you’re using it.
I really enjoyed reading this because I feel like I have been out of the loop with everything that goes on with the Kardashians up until this drama with Tristan/Khloe/ and Jordyn. It really is amazing how everything about this has circulated around social media with Khloe using Twitter as a way to address Jordyn by tweeting at her rather than doing it off social media in private. Today I saw on Instagram Jordyn was on a redtable talk with Jada Pinkett Smith airing out the entire situation and asking people to hear her out and her side of the story. It truly is remarkable how social media has allowed people into celebrities personal lives without knowing them.
Carly,
This post title immediately caught my attention. I have to admit, I am guilty of keeping up on celebrity lives. Personally, I stick to Bachelor/Bachelorette stars and my favorite musicians. I find myself taking a step back and wondering why I am so interested in their lives.
I think for all of us we look at celebrities in a way like they are above us, almost not human. When scandals and real-life problems happen in their lives, we are drawn to it. The problem is like you said, social media spreads so much information and rumors it’s hard to know what to believe.
I think we have to take gossip news about celebrities lightly. I read a statistic once that if every tabloid of Jennifer Aniston reported pregnant was true, she would have been pregnant like 30 plus times. Social media has only increased the amount of false information and rumors out there.
In my opinion, I think keeping up with celebrities and drama is okay, but be careful where the information comes from!
Carly, thank you for sharing this article! I kept up with the Kar-Jenner/Woods/Thompson drama last week. And I think celebrities feel the need to share their lives on social media, despite the backlash and negativity it can cause for other parties involved. Aside from reading People Magazine while I checkout at the grocery store, I get most of my celebrity drama from Twitter and seeing how the negative comments about Jordyn Woods eventually turned into cyber bulling and threats and how little we personally know about the affected parties.
Hi Carly!
I really liked reading this post because it’s so relevant in todays social media world. Almost every day I go on social media, I see some gossip about what a celebrity did. Gossip about celebrities does consume social media and creates it a bigger deal than it already was. Social media can change the original story so quickly. I also heard about the Jordan Woods/Kylie Jenner scandal through social media. When I would open my popular page on Instagram, I would see so many pictures with captions and articles about what happened with that scandal. Thanks for sharing this post!
When you make your personal life a matter of business, curating your brand through public-facing platforms and appearances, this is one example can happen. I offer no sympathy here. The Kardashians and the like have already been compensated for the cost of doing business. They are getting richer daily because of it.
Why should a personal brand be any different than a corporate brand? What would the public think if Airbus used this week’s events to bash Boeing? Should an avionics manufacturer publicly bash Lockheed Martin if they choose another supplier for those parts for a new helicopter? Absolutely not. You don’t see (good) companies engage in that sort of behavior because it just causes and likely amplifies trouble.
Let’s take another example. For most companies, you don’t see the CEO’s Twitter as the public facing mouthpiece for the company in official government filings. One company you do is Tesla, with Elon Musk’s account. Even though he has a reputation for being difficult to work with, ego-driven, and selfish, the company filed papers listing his Twitter as an official source of company information. When he ran his mouth off about taking the company private last summer because he was personally offended by completely reasonable investor and analyst criticisms, he ran afoul of Security and Exchange Commission regulations. His stunt cost both him and his company several million dollars and a lot of uncertainty through a mandated company executive restructuring.
I think the words “you reap what you sow” are pretty apt here, but I really like “play stupid games, win stupid prizes so much more.”
Hi Carly,
Thanks for sharing this topic for your blog post! I personally have been closely following the Tristan Thompson and Jordyn Woods scandal, and because I’ve followed the Kardashian family for so long I feel invested in anything that comes out publically about them. Social media allows for celebrity drama to spread like wildfire. People online feed off of one another in terms of online discussion of the scandals and leads thing to blow out of proportion. It’s crazy how quickly stories get out and how no one really knows what goes on in celebrities lives.
Carly,
Probably like everyone else, I am so sick of seeing this news story. However, it is super interesting how everything played out through social media. Khloe was supposed to be seen as the victim but after her comments on social media she was seen as the bad guy. It is also very interesting to see how both Khloe and Kylie went about the scandal. Khloe was more on social media yet Kylie was pretty quiet on social media about the incident. I think being more quiet on social media after something like this is the best way to go. Rage can really make people say things that they may with that they haven’t said which I believe is the boat that Khloe is in.
Hi Carly,
Thanks for writing this post. I really like your insight surrounding the fact that celebrities are people too. It’s crazy to think that social media is now this way to watch and scrutinize every aspect of someone’s life. It could be said that the celebrity new the risks – putting their life out there for everyone to see. But I think when you really look at it, celebrities are people. They go through things, like the Woods/Jenner/Kardashian scandal under the public eye being constantly judged. I have had friends (normal non-celebrity) go through this same situation and it would have been horrible to have it done in the public eye. Now, I am a consumer of reality TV like most people, but I am able to separate myself and understand the negative connotations of it. I think the twitter mob, and social media celebrity gossip fuels so much judgment, and negativity and often cyberbullying because they are protected by a screen and a keyboard. It’s really a scary thought.