All Noise Matters: Social Media, Self Promotion and Moving the Needle

If it all seems to be a bit much, that's because it probably is. But that doesnt mean it isnt effective. Remember that all that ridiculous spam email you receive is making someone a bunch of money.

This reminder is pertinent because the Academy Awards are tonight. Havent seen most of the nominated movies? You're in good company: neither has most of the rest of the world. But that wont stop tens of millions from watching and countless publications from commenting on the outcome.

The question is to what degree the new world of public communication is helping actors, actresses, directors, set designers and the studios that fund them win awards that can be translated into even more box office income. The answer is not yet clear. And most people wont particularly care because they - we - have become so inured to the relentless barrage of self-promotional jabber.

But we may begin to care as the returns infer - and as the title of this post suggests - that all noise matters. That in an Attention Economy, garnering attention translates into future success. It may seem excessive or in bad taste or simply annoying, but people like you are paying attention. Which means that needles are being moved to the extent that, eventually, this sort of thing will be analyzed and deconstructed and then sold as a useful promotional tool for that raise or new job or corporate strategy for that eminently scalable Brand Called Me. JL

Rachel Dodes reports in the Wall Street Journal:

It remains unclear to what extent social media can help move the needle when it comes to garnering actual Academy votes. One long-standing Academy member says that voters "are primarily middle-aged white guys who are not influenced by Twitter." But another member disagreed: "All noise matters," this person said.

Actress Lupita Nyong'o quietly joined Twitter  TWTR in Your Value Your Change Short position on Jan. 7, when she retweeted mentions of her appearances at the Palm Springs Film Festival (in a pink and gold Elie Saab dress) and on the cover of W Magazine's "best performances" issue. "This is LOVELY," wrote the Kenyan actress who was nominated for her performance in "12 Years a Slave," before linking to a photo of the magazine cover.

In little over a month—and only two weeks before the Oscars on March 2—Ms. Nyong'o's amassed a sizable follower base—45,900 on Twitter at last count, and 176,543 on the photo-sharing site Instagram. Notable for being the only new actress nominated in the supporting-actress category, Ms. Nyong'o is also unusual because she is the only actress, in either lead or supporting categories, campaigning for an Oscar this year by actively engaging in social media.

Ms. Nyong'o's comments on Twitter and Instagram have been able to amplify the conversation celebrating her style and awards-season wins—so far, a Screen Actors Guild award and a Critics' Choice award. She's tweeted more than 340 times since the nomination, often about press she has garnered ("See yours truly in @Essencemag's March Hollywood Issue on newsstands 2/7,") as well as fan mail and awards appearances. "She's using it to put herself on the map," says Lara Cohen, head of TV and film talent at Twitter.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued social-media guidelines for the first time in 2011, stating that anyone associated with an Oscar-eligible film is prohibited from casting a competitor "in a negative or derogatory light" on social-media platforms. But it left the door open for all manner of positive self-promotion, including stylish selfies and humorous photobombs.

A handful of actors in this year's Oscar race are avid tweeters—notably Jonah Hill (4 million followers) and Leonardo DiCaprio (9 million followers). But none of Ms. Nyong'o's competitors in the supporting-actress category have public Twitter accounts that have been verified.

Since the nominations were announced, Ms. Nyong'o has become the number two most-talked-about actress on Twitter in the supporting-actress category with 232,863 conversations, after Jennifer Lawrence (631,619) and far ahead of Julia Roberts (87,443).

Before her breakout role in director Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave," Ms. Nyong'o, 30, was completely unknown in Hollywood circles. The actress, who was born in Mexico and grew up in Kenya, studied drama at Yale and had appeared in a Kenyan TV show called "Shuga." But she had never made a film before. She was plucked from a pool of hundreds of young actresses to appear in the drama about Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. Her character isn't seen until halfway through the film, but Ms. Nyong'o delivers a moving performance as Patsey, a field slave who suffers greatly at the hands of her master's jealous wife.

Ever since the film's September showing at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Ms. Nyong'o was photographed in a white Prada gown, she has been turning heads. The attention is as much for her acting performance as her unbroken string of best-dressed list kudos. She landed an advertising campaign for the Italian fashion label Miu Miu and, more recently, a place at the center of Vanity Fair's March Hollywood Issue ensemble cover, as well as this week's cover of New York Magazine.

She's making sure the word gets out. When she showed up at the Golden Globes on Jan. 12 wearing a crimson Ralph Lauren column dress, Ms. Nyong'o nabbed 5,000 new Twitter followers, and her name was mentioned on the site 44,000 times. Although Jennifer Lawrence wound up winning the Globe, Ms. Nyong'o nabbed a best-dressed award from the entertainment news magazine Access Hollywood and tweeted a photograph of it with the cheeky caption, "I won!"

When it comes to ginning up red-carpet excitement, "nobody has had this kind of run in a really long time," says Sasha Charnin Morrison, fashion director at Us Weekly magazine, which ran a two-page spread crowning Ms. Nyong'o "the reigning style queen of the 2014 awards season." Ms. Nyong'o immediately retweeted it.

The move to go on social media was Ms. Nyong'o's decision, according to people close to the actress. Her publicists at ID PR declined to make her available for comment. "It's a balancing act—she's getting so much attention for knocking it out of the park on the red carpet, but they want her to be known for her acting," said a person familiar with her team's strategy.

In recent years, Twitter usage has been more common among television actors than film stars. While nearly half of the television actors nominated for prime-time Emmys in the drama category were actively tweeting with audiences, only 30% of film actors nominated for this year's Oscars are.

"There are certain film stars who only like to be identified by the roles they play," says Twitter's Ms. Cohen. By contrast, "with TV stars, you are more familiar with them, because you see them every week," which can make social media feel like a more natural transition. But gradually things are changing, as studios and movie stars try to draw in new audiences and promote their projects. In the past few months, Cameron Diaz, Vera Farmiga and Drew Barrymore have all joined and gotten verified on Twitter, Ms. Cohen says, a procedure to make sure the account holder isn't an impostor. Farmiga joined Jan. 29, while Ms. Diaz joined Nov. 8 and Ms. Barrymore on Aug. 20, according to Twitter.

Producer Megan Ellison, who has two films up for best picture, has been using her Twitter account to support "American Hustle" director David O. Russell as well as "Her" director Spike Jonze. Early in the race, A24—the distributor behind Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers"—tweeted that voters should "consider this s— very seriously. James Franco for Best Supporting Actor." (He wasn't nominated.)

Francine Maisler, the casting director for "12 Years a Slave," can't remember what Ms. Nyong'o was wearing in the spring of 2012, when she auditioned in Los Angeles for the role of Patsey. "She had this grace and confidence," says Ms. Maisler, who recalls draping a brown scarf around the actress's shoulders before she started reading her scenes. "I thought 'Visually, this might help her.'"

When Mr. McQueen, the director, saw the tape of the emotionally wrenching audition, he immediately called Ms. Maisler and said he was casting Ms. Nyong'o. Beyond being impressed by her performance, he mentioned "there was a bit of Grace Jones in her look," she says. (Indeed, in the February issue of Italian Vogue, Ms. Nyong'o appears in a fashion spread in bold looks and fierce poses that appear to be inspired by the 1980s fashion icon.)