You and the Celebrity

About a month ago, my husband complimented me on a short piece of writing I did, comparing my style with one of our favorite authors, Jennifer Rardin. Of course, as any compliment would do, I was grinning because it was sweet and it's really cool to be compared to someone you admire.



My very first thought (well, maybe second since the first was "Aww, that's so sweet...") was "I'm going to tweet this." My next thought was "Ooo! I wonder if she's on Twitter to, so when I post this she might see it!" Unfortunately, I found out during my search that Mrs. Rardin had passed away last September. This left me with a number of conflicting emotions. This happy feeling of being compared to her turned bittersweet. And I really wished I had had the opportunity to share with her what my husband had said.

A few days later, with all of this stewing in the back of my head, I started to think about how easy it is to share information now-a-days (that phrase makes me feel a little old...). Ten years ago, if I had wanted to share a message like this with an author - or whoever - I would have had to write a letter, mail it and cross my fingers that it gets to them. When I was younger, I was never one of those kids who sent off fan mail to their favorite celebrities because the cynic in me always believed that the letters were probably stopped at the agent's door where some assistant hand-picked letters that the celebrity would read and threw away the rest. Horrible, isn't it?

Now, though, there is an appearance of transparency, that the person who is behind the Twitter or Facebook page is actually that person. In some cases, I know, it could still be someone who steps in to handle the PR, but overall, these are personal venues so you can get to know that person outside what they are famous for. It makes it seem less like you're trying to talk to someone who's untouchable, and instead someone more real.

Now, I can post a message that everyone who follows me will see and tag it for that author/celebrity/musician and they will also get a chance to see it. In some cases, especially with how easy it is, they even respond.

Thinking about it after all of this has happened. It is very cool that we have such instant communication these days.

It is also still a bittersweet revelation for me. I wish I had been able to share my compliment. I'm sure Mrs. Rardin would have thought it was cool too.