First and foremost, Kerry Washington, is fabulous and an inspiration as a person and actress. In a conversation with Ariel Foxman, Kerry talks about social branding and how she engages with fans but also keeps her privacy. Kerry has harnessed the power of social media to promote not only her career and hit TV Show, Scandal, but also positivity and social good.
Kerry follows 481 accounts on Twitter and as a celebrity wants to keep her private life private so that means she will not engage in anything regarding her ‘personal life.’ As an avid watcher of Scandal since the start, I want to know more about her and her family. I want to see her child but value her privacy and need to want to keep personal and professional separate. Kerry is a huge social media icon, with 3.87 Million followers on Twitter she shares with us that she is similar to many of us in a sense that get our breaking news from social media specially Twitter. As an avid twitter user, the key to social media usage is to be authentic in your posts and feel good about what you are posting. With social media the world has become smaller and we are all able to have global conversations about what is going on with humanity.
When I tweet it is my true self, it is ME it reflects ME and the truth as to you what I am doing or thinking. I try to talk about things that are important to me,” Kerry said.
Facebook gets 1 million reports daily for abusive behavior says Facebook leader quotes Ariel. Kerry being a celebrity figure is placed under scrutiny where people post very negative comments such as “I want to rape you and take you back to Africa,” Kerry says. She does not read comments but Allison Peters gives her the inside most times. These negative comments on social media have to be stopped it is not about the person you are attacking but it really says a lot about the individual that posted the negative harsh comment. Truly it is impossible to keep everyone happy so you have to just give them a space to express themselves but trying to not get affected by it, as hard as it might be at times I am sure.
“I have learned that engaging is important and will determine if I should engage based on how close I am to a therapy appointment,” Kerry said.
“I block voices that are violent messages that are negative, I try to stay active and positive,” Kerry said.
We live in a country today were we should have an opinion and a voice in things we are passionate about. Kerry mentioned that she had previously partnered with some companies that wanted her to be the brand image however, would give her no voice at the table. Social media has given the voice to the previously voiceless. They are able to express themselves and have their feelings heard, respected and shared to the eyes of many. That is the power of social media, a great Domocratizer.
“As a consumer you matter and as a person of color you create a change; your voice matters. That would not be possible without social media,” Kerry says.
When Kerry partnered with Neutrogena there was no foundation with her skin tone that she was able to wear. Now Neutrogena is able to respond to each person in our relaunch of products with a letter signed by Kerry Washington herself, thanking everyone for their contributions to the business.
Kerry Washington is absolutely amazing. She is not only an actress but she is an activist for things she believes in and is passionate about. She wants others voices to be heard. Something I did not know previously just because I was only able to relate her to her TV show “Scandal,” is is really funny. She made a couple jokes about us having gone to church today because it is Sunday and saying BS instead of bullshit because it is Sunday. It was a great panel on a topic that is so widely talked about today: social media usage. Love you Kerry!