Michael Jackson: An Idea for Social Media

Michael Jackson, often referred to as The King of Pop or simply MJ, is one of the most entertaining individuals in the history of the entire world. Armed with more awards than any aspiring artist could ever dream of, he produced hit songs over forty years ago in 1970, such as “ABC”, “I want you Back”, and “I’ll Be There.” Michael continued to dominate the 80’s when he wrote songs such as “Thriller”, “The way you Make me Feel” and co-wrote “We are the World” with Lionel Richie in an attempt to help raise money for charity. Even into the early 90’s Jackson’s glamor was simply unmatched, as he set the foundation for future Super Bowl halftime shows with a flashy show in 1993 during Super XXVII, the first time ever a network actually gained viewers during the half time performance. However, as with all iconic celebrities, Jackson had a multitude of problems to deal with himself. After a strict, vicious childhood, Jackson dealt with multiple child sexual abuse scandals, both of which he was never convicted in, as well as a huge public controversy over his skin tone. Michael Jackson was found dead on June 25, 2009, the autopsy revealed it was a homicide from cardiac arrest; his physician was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for administering the drugs. When Jackson died in 2009, it triggered a social media outburst of grief, with nearly one billion people watching the Memorial Service online. From the sheer amount of fans Jackson had and still currently has, if a social media site were to catch on that featured Jackson, the possibilities would be endless. Before any idea can be developed, the audience and demographics must be taken into account for first. Since the death of Michael Jackson was so popular, companies actually took polls and notes from their audiences when they tuned into the Memorial Service. CNN (2009) polled over one thousand Americans to try and understand the demographics of MJ fans better. Michael Jackson fans were split relatively evenly

Cited: Strauss, J., & Frost, R. (2009). E-marketing (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Poll: Majority of Americans are Michael Jackson fans - CNN. (2009, July 3). Featured Articles from CNN. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://articles.cnn.com/2009-07-03/entertainment/us.jackson.poll_1_michael-jackson-fans-new-national-poll?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ