Abby Callery, Staff Editor There was a time when celebrities were seemingly on a pedestal far away from any fan’s reach. Admiring from a far distance, fans would hang posters, buy albums and films and watch every TV special there was featuring a certain celebrity. Now, in 2014, communicating with the uppercrust of Hollywood is not as unattainable as it used to be. Between Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media websites, fans have the ability to talk to a celebrity. From time to time celebrities on twitter will give the opportunity to their followers to ask questions using a certain hashtag. “Spamming” plays a large role in contacting famous people. Fans make separate twitter accounts to spam the twitter feeds of their role models to get a mention or even just a retweet. Despite the impact Twitter may have, most fans still see talking to their favorite celebrity as a distant, unreachable dream. NHS junior Mike Eisele would oppose that, seeing that he has turned a virtual friendship into a real one with pop star Kesha (Ke$ha) Sebert and her mother, Pebe Sebert. In 2011, Eisele made a Twitter account when he first became a Ke$ha fan. He would tweet at her daily just hoping to get noticed. Once he increased the amount of tweets being sent, he received a few sporadic replies from Ke$ha herself. Eisele idolized her not only for her talent, but all that she had gotten him through; coming out of the closet, middle/high school and all the struggles that came along the way. So, when those few words were sent to him and only him, it meant the world. Not long after did she and her mother end up following him on Twitter, which for a young die-hard fan means a lot. Eisele had never dreamed they would eventually be friends. “And to think that it all started with a follow and a few simple tweets. If I never made a Twitter and started tweeting them they would never know who I was. Never underestimate the power of the internet,” Eisele said. The internet not only provides an opportunity for ordinary people to interact with celebs, it also allows them to befriend them. With Kesha being one of Eisele’s friends, she still has not lost her role model aspect in the eyes of Eisele. “Ke$ha changed my life in 2011. She made me feel like my imperfections are perfections and being gay is completely alright. I struggled a lot with acceptance of others and she molded me. The impact she’s made on my life after becoming friends with her could be considered even more powerful,” he said. A website which some parents call distracting and frivolous, changed a young man’s life. Eisele is proof that there is still hope to become friends with your idol. Along with friendship, Eisele has been to numerous free concerts and meet and greets. “I can’t tell you the last time I actually paid for a meet and greet or a concert ticket to see Ke$ha. We’re at a point where she invites me to go and see her,” Eisele said. The media has the power to cross the paths of two complete strangers with one simple sentence, just ask Eisele. He never thought that he’d be receiving letters and pictures from his idol and even her mother. “Being so close with the woman who raised such a pop icon, Pebe, it’s interesting to see how real they are and how celebrity families are really no different than our families,” Eisele said. Pebe not only comes to Mike for advice, but she also listens to him like a real friend. The media can be a burden, but when it comes to crossing the paths of two strangers, the media is an expert. Eisele is a prime example of building a bridge between celeb and ordinary person.
Photo credit to www.collabcubed.com.
