PERFORMING ARTS INDUSTRY

Pros and Cons of Social Media as an Actor

Social media as a whole is an amalgamation of benefits and detriments to our society, as we evolve so does the use of social media in various aspects, in this page I will be discussing the pros and cons of social media as an actor. 

A major use of social media is its capability to build a community of supporters which usually aids in a potential promotion of a new film or series. There are many ways to keep a healthy and strong sense of a community which could include interacting with their fans by responding to comments or reactions that people have left or creating a brand which appeals to their audience. Possibly, the most advantageous trademark that many popular artists such as actors is collectively naming the fans as a group e.g. Beyoncé - Hive, Justin Bieber - Beliebers and Nicki Minaj - Barbz - naming your fans, gives them a sense of closeness to the person that they admire or follow, connecting with them on a more personal level. 

Another popular technique that effectively advertises the actor is branding them; make it clear what defines and alienates them from other actors like their co-stars. This can differentiate in a variety of changes, whether that may be their talent, personality, hair cut or colour or even their style which they may change to appeal a more targeted or open choice in audience. Once the management has set clear in their mind what stands the actor out from others, they make that a staple in their career which can attract more fans or just overall attraction. For example, Ariana Grande gained a lot of attraction for her striking ponytail, on the other hand, Tom Felton gained a lot of attraction for his role in Harry Potter which he took advantage of and interacted with the fans which kept them hooked and entertained for a long while. 

While social media has many positive uses to gain from it, it also has its fair share of difficult issues to pass by. A negative comment or accusation can ruin an actor’s entire reputation and career, many actors struggle to combat the many theories and thoughts that people may bring up about them. Social media is a place where someone who may be unfortunately suffering with personal issues and end up taking it out on social media or even be caught in an argument with their loved ones - which paparazzi can twist and take out of context. Similarly, an actor may even have a social management team to deal with negative comments or posts relating to the actor, even having to filter out comments at times to avoid as much negative attention as possible. Failing to avoid this negative attention can lead to bad publicity and could possibly lead to lesser opportunities for future jobs/ brand deals. 

As an actor, unfavourable attention from the public should be dealt efficiently yet sincere. If something of an actor is posted which is in the process of ruining the actor’s reputation, the actor should immediately delete this piece of content. However, actors and social media management teams must keep in the back of their minds that explicit content can be shared through a variety of ways including: re-posting it, reacting to it or screen-shotting it meaning at the end of the day you will most likely not be able to manage the level of popularity it may end up having. The public may issue an apology from the actor if it is felt needed whether that may be because the post was offensive in some way. Enlighten your followers and sympathise with the ones that you hurt by delivering a heartfelt apology, meanwhile posting more positive content may sway the people that your post has attracted.

My Personal Thoughts & Experiences

Personally, my experience with social media as an actor has overall been positive and helpful in sharing my work with my fellow classmates since communication and working with other people is an effective way to grow as an actor - the possibility to share ideas and work on different projects together. An easy way I did this was to create a separate page for my work and collaborations with the actors named my pieces, but similarly including their pieces in that exact page to show my potential and skill to work with other aspiring actors in the industry; the power of marketing.

On the other hand, posting acting content allows me to watch it back and self-critique in order to improve my abilities. I enjoy looking back on old content and watching the progress made as I study more techniques like Stanislavsky. On a similar note, whilst looking back on videos during performances or rehearsals you may find ideas that you didn’t pick up on at first which you could include in your next rehearsal! 

The Risks to Your Wellbeing as an Actor

Below are some helplines if you're ever in need of support:

#MeToo Movement 

The #MeToo movement is a social impact which its ultimate purpose is to raise awareness against all sorts of sexual abuse like: sexual harassment and rape and their experiences with their assaulters. Initially, the words “Me Too” came around on the late Myspace website (now shut down) in which an activist Tarana Burke, expressed her misfortune in 2006. However over a decade later, in 2017, the #MeToo was used once again to attract attention and raise awareness for sexual assault survivors. The purpose of the hashtag, is for anyone who was traumatised to be more confident and feel as they have more power to speak up, through the immense amount of support and survivors alike in their respective workplace. 

In its entirety, the whole purpose of the #MeToo movement is to empower women and young girls to feel more courage and free will, as many may face danger like lawsuits which many don’t have the financial support or may even be too scared to go through with it. In a similar sense, it goes on to show that these women are in fact not alone with what they’re going through, even going to the extent that this movement was so important, that it was translated into an international level so other women in the workplace could feel safe in other countries. The woman that started this whole movement, Tarana Burke has stated that following on from the virality of it, the movement has grown through the years to include everyone: including men and women disregarding their age and race.

Their Official Website

Personal Strategies to Stay Health as an Actor

Diversity Challenges in the Industry

Marketing Myself - New Opportunities 

During my years in training for the performing arts industry, and mainly in acting, I’ve found that having a social media presence allows you to show not only your potential but also your progress, the work you’ve done and are currently doing. By maintaining and updating various social media platforms I’ve found that I can easily show the various collaborations/ projects that I’ve worked on with other aspiring actors. For example, on my website, I included: my part in Charlotte Rich’s project called ‘Stand Up’ as well as my part in Sam Gwilliam and Misty Coates’ project called Professor Schmirnoff. By showing off my ability to work with other actors, it shows my ambition, willingness and passion for the projects that I’m lucky to get casted in. Below are the various marketing platforms that I use and the links for it!

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo4J3wwVZkmkLfVHmrW7Tqg

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elijah_performing/

• My Portfolio Website: https://sites.google.com/view/get-to-know-fernando/home

In regards to my future plans for my social media profiles, I personally intend to update them as I continue to work on more projects. I mainly like to stick to using my portfolio Instagram and YouTube, since that’s where I can easily showcase the different collaborations or even personal projects that I’d like to share. Personally, YouTube is an essential for me in the acting industry training, mostly because it’s just such an easy way to store different videos that encapsulate your progress whether that may be videos of your auditions, or prepping for auditions or even just uploading rehearsals so you can look at them back later on. Another essential platform that I found is Instagram, it’s a quick and easy way to market the projects you’re working on to an audience on a technological side of view. Especially, if you have a poster or a little teaser which may even catch the audiences’ attention and make them interested in your future projects. As well as, I’m able to see the progress and projects that my classmates are doing and support them in any way I can.

My Instagram:

My Website:

Examples of My Work and How It's Developed

Here is a clear difference in skill of not just dance but also marketing, a clear effort has been made in order for the most recent post to be shared more publicly, with things such as hashtags, whereas last year no credits were given and there were no hashtags. Dance wise, the more recent is a dance piece in which I choreographed myself and formed it to in front of a camera of which I had never done before, by myself anyways. I believe a fair bit of skill has been learnt throughout this past year. 

Below is a difference in a year span of marketing my personal projects that I had been working on at the time. The oldest one is two videos of my fellow classmates, Charlotte Rich and Mike Dullforce doing their monologues but in a recording studio. For next time, I would give proper credit to both of them. In my latest post, however I added a volume warning and credited my classmates who helped me, Misty Coates and Hollyann Freeman properly by leaving their social media platforms in the description. 

Market Yourself - Website Style!