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By Karan Shah
It has a been an exciting year for most celebrities from the entertainment industry with box office successes and new ventures. This year also saw a multitude of stars actively using twitter to speak their mind, connecting with their fans, or simply promoting their films. Twitter has acted as a live source of news for the breaking news in the telly world and film industry as they unfolded across the world. Whether it was Salman Khan’s tweet for releasing the trailer of his movie Kick, Rajinikanth joining Twitter, or anything in between, what happened in tinsel town was simultaneously tweeted for the virtual world to see.
As 2014 comes to a close, we’re chronicling the year on Twitter. From innovations like the video and audio card which enabled celebrities to upload and share their videos, or audios online. Now, Twitter has come up with yet another innovation: 2014.twitter.com/India, a web page which showcases celebrities’ biggest moments in 2014, other events in India and even perspectives of a few select A-list Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Priyanka Chopra.
As Pratiksha Rao, Head of TV and Entertainment, Twitter India mentions, “The year has been great for Twitter. We have seen more celebrities increasingly taking to Twitter to share things with their fans and audience. We have had some great moments this year and we have specially compiled a video of all the moments on our newly created web page. Twitter has given a platform for talents to show their true selves and interact with their fans as well. Actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Arjun Kapoor had interactions, Q and A sessions with their fans, no other platform gives such an opportunity.”
‘Happy New Year’ started the trend of releasing video teasers of each character on Twitter which led to other upcoming films releasing, or showcasing their trailers on Twitter. PK also used Twitter’s audio card to launch its audio trailer. Televsion shows like Satyamev Jayate also capitalised Twitter’s features and broadcasted user’s tweets about the show and its host, Aamir Khan even participated in a Q and A with the Twitterati.
Twitter’s other initiative includes Flock to Unlock, where they ask users to tweet a particular hashtag to unlock a trailer on Twitter, even before it airs. Film actors, production houses, TV studios, all of them were seen on Twitter like never before to advertise or promote their programs or films. Stars also used the audio card to interact with their fans. This year, Twitter has emerged as the biggest social media network and their biggest rival, Facebook has been left behind.
But Rao thinks otherwise as she explains, “We don’t think we have any rivals. We are a very different platform. We are a real time, public and conversational social platform. Conversations about anything and everything only happens on Twitter, there is no other platform as such. For example, Arjun Kapoor and Anushka Sharma were randomly chatting on Twitter and it seemed like they were BBMing each other. You won’t hear of something like this happening on any other social media platform.”
Amitabh Bachchan also took to Twitter by replying to his fans after seeing comments about stars appearing on Kaun Banega Crorepati. He even personally replied vis a vis videos to lucky tweeters during his birthday, thanking them for their wishes. As Rao mentions, “Indians take Bollywood stars very personally and they actively follow, and interact with them. So, Twitter has tried to bring fans closer to their stars and this year has reflected just that.” Twitter has also started an initiative for people who don’t have access to the internet who only need to give a miss call to a certain number which is linked to a star’s twitter account. After which the caller starts recieving the star’s tweets on his cellphone, free of charge.
Selfies behind the scenes and news were also shared on Twitter. So, Twitter basically gave a platform for stars and fans to connect as well as bridge the gap between them and their audience. Twitter India has planned a few things for 2015 as well.
“We are planning to increase stars’ interactions with fans and for that we will try to make some more innovations. We will also compile all the learnings of 2014 to extend Twitter to other places such as the South where the Telugu and Tamil film industries are also flourishing. The love for movies is all over India so we want to capture that and help fans connect with stars and vice-versa.”
Movie buffs with trending hastags and Bollywood celebrities actively tweeting trailers, exclusive pictures, numerous contests and audio conversations, this year end Twitter is obviously trending.
Top Moment on Twitter for 2014
Date–Moment
4 May 2014: Rajinikanth joins Twitter with a message of thanks to his legion of fans and has over 200,000 followers within the first 24 hours
Top 3 followed Bollywood Celebrities
(Rank, Name, Followers)
1 Amitabh Bachchan 11,881,345
2 Shah Rukh Khan 10,296,567
3 Aamir Khan 9,925,022
Top 3 followed Television Celebrities
(Rank, Name, Followers)
1 Kapil Sharma 17,17,777
2 Mandira Bedi 4,93,190
3 Anusha Dandekar 3,28,262
Top 3 Celebrities joining Twitter in 2014
(Rank, Name, Followers)
1 Rajinikanth 1,128,418
2 Arjun Kapoor 5,37,539
3 Kajol 66,166
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