Tomorrow will see the last of celebrities like Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake on Twitter and Facebook, in honor of World AIDS day.
Alicia Keys’s charity, Keep a Child Alive, has launched a new campaign called Digital Life Sacrifice, in which entertainers and celebrities plan to “sign off” all social media platforms on Tuesday, World AIDS day, until the charity raises one million dollars.
All of the celebrities involved have filmed “last Tweet and testament” aptly featuring them lying in coffins that, according to the AP, “represent what the campaign calls their digital death”.
At first, I admit that I thought this campaign sounded a bit ridiculous. I’m all for people raising money for charity, but giving up Twitter and committing a faux social media suicide at first doesn’t sound all that profound. But considering the manic nature of celebrity followings and the Western world’s obsession with celebrity culture, what better way to raise a bit of money then through the desperate need of fans to see 140 characters from their favourite entertainer?
Although Justin Bieber isn’t involved (I estimate his rabid fans would drop one million in 30 seconds to have him back online) Lady Gaga alone has than 7.2 million followers on Twitter, and nearly 24 million fans on Facebook. She’s technically the Queen of Social Media, and the due to the loyal nature of her Little Monsters – I bet not only will they donate the cash to bring their Mother Monster back online, but because they know that Gaga cares so much about raising money for charities such as this.
As Leigh Blake, the co-founder and president of Keep a Child Alive says, "I have a feeling that Gaga is going to raise it all by herself. She's got a very, very mobilized fan base and that's beautiful to watch I think (and) she's able to draw their attention to these issues that are very important, you know, and that people follow it and act."
How long will Gaga, and the rest of the celebrities be offline? Chances are, not very long.
Image via petercruise's Flickr