Twitter Analysis of the CMA Awards

By: Erica Schmidt

Tweets
Taylor Swift ‏@taylorswift13 7 Nov
I’m never going to forget this. Ever ever ever. @TheEllenShow @MickJagger @jtimberlake #CMAawards http://youtu.be/rNoit4mACZc

Blake Shelton ‏@blakeshelton 7 Nov
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR! Congrats again Blake!!! Amazing!!!! @CountryMusic #CMAAwards – Team BS

Johnny Cash’s Lover ‏@BackwoodsChick3 7 Nov
Is there a cow dying at the #CMAawards ? Oh wait Taylor swift is singing.

Joshua McNamara ‏@UGHJosh 7 Nov
“Dolly Parton was treated for a minor car accident. Thankfully she had airbags….The ones in the car did not deploy.” LOL Brad #cmaawards

Chelsea Marie Goff ‏@chelseagoff 7 Nov
Can I buy Carrie Underwood’s legs? #CMAawards

allie bowers ‏@_MuhammadALLIE 7 Nov
tried watching the #CMAawards. everyone had southern accents. I just can’t. back to planning my nonexistent wedding. 💁

Zap2it ‏@Zap2it 7 Nov
#CMAAwards 2013 Worst Dressed: Cassadee Pope, Sheryl Crow and more misses http://goo.gl/fb/YgTu4

The Fake ESPN ‏@TheFakeESPN 7 Nov
The #CMAAwards can clear black people from a room faster than Riley Cooper and Richie Incognito combined.

Stacy Lukasavitz ‏@damnredhead 7 Nov
Song of the year is entitled, “I Drive Your Truck.” Good to know country is still country. I was worried for a while there. #cmaawards

Analysis
I chose to follow the Twitter feed of what people were saying about the Country Music Awards show on Wednesday, November 7. For the most part of the feed, people were mainly praising on what artists were wearing and how much they love watching the CMA’s. As the night went on, more and more tweets appeared about what they disliked about different artists. These tweets that I chose represent stereotypes of country music in general, racism, the judgment of others, and the idea that consumption can buy happiness.

The stereotypes of country music are all about trucks, girls, beer, freedom, love and boots. People who listen to country music reflect the stereotypes of being heterosexual, white, redneck, and wearing boots. The post by Stacy Lukasavitz, “Song of the year is entitled, “I Drive Your Truck.” Good to know country is still country. I was worried for a while there.” reflects this stereotype of country music that if the song was entitled anything outside of the country realm then it isn’t considered country at all. The post that read, “tried watching the CMA awards. everyone had southern accents. I just can’t. back to planning my nonexistent wedding.” also relates to the stereotype that all country music comes from the south. Racism was seen in the post, “The #CMAAwards can clear black people from a room faster than Riley Cooper and Richie Incognito combined.” This goes along with the stereotype that anyone outside of the white heterosexual people wearing cowboy boots are viewed as different and are criticized for liking country music. The fact that black people are compared to Riley Cooper and Richie Incognito is racist in itself because both of these football players have been heard saying the “N” word. What does this post say about other people of color, not just black people? Some posts were really judgmental about certain artists like “”Dolly Parton was treated for a minor car accident. Thankfully she had airbags….The ones in the car did not deploy.” LOL Brad #cmaawards” and “Is there a cow dying at the #CMAawards ? Oh wait Taylor Swift is singing.” The post by Chelsea Marie Goff says, “Can I buy Carrie Underwood’s legs? #CMAawards”. This goes along with the idea we discussed in class about how consumption can buy happiness. According to the article Image-Based Culture, “advertising talks to us individuals and addresses us about how we can become happy” (Jhally 200). By Chelsea asking if she can buy Carrie Underwood’s legs means she is uncomfortable with the way she looks now. She is also portraying an internalized gaze where she is policing her own body and trying to look for ways to fit in more with society. Most celebrities that tweeted during this time were the country artists themselves. They were mainly talking about how the CMA’s were the best night of their lives and they were thanking others for listening to their music. People tweet these comments because they know other people will look at them and maybe retweet it making themselves known to others. They want to be different because being different catches peoples’ attention.

Bibliography
Jhally, Sut. “Image-Based Culture.” Advertising and Popular Culture. Ed. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. 3rd ed. Los Angeles: Sage, 2011. 199-203. Print.