The McKayla Maroney “not impressed meme” showcases the power of Twitter in allowing celebrities to interact with their own pop culture moments. These kind of water cooler moments have occurred around large televised events like the Olympics for decades but prior to Twitter, the central celebrity players lacked a simple lightweight way to respond.
Maroney was able to tweet out her own “not impressed” image with a sentence and an image upload, all using tools built into Twitter. Prior to Twitter, she would have needed to host a blog, sit at a desktop, create the post and find a way to get the word out.
Prior to blogging, she would have needed to hold a press conference or issue a press release, which would have made too much of the situation. So she’d have been left saying nothing or waiting for an interview to comment.
Twitter might not be a flying car, but it definitely changes celebrity and pop culture; it definitely has a big impact on how we directly consume content from entertainers and public figures. On the surface it’s not a huge leap from blogging, but in practice, its ease for anyone to post, its public nature, and its fully functional mobile posting experience make it punch above its weight.
