Hannah Craft Interviews ‘Dream Of Gaga’ Admin: Jim Varounis, For The Monster Fandom.
October 31, 2015
Australian student Hannah Craft and her team, took some time to interview the 'Dream Of Gaga' admin about Mother Monster, the Fame, and the birth of her powerful fandom.
Jim Varounis, creator of fan site Dream of Gaga, has experienced firsthand how social media has revolutionised fan culture. “Social media, specifically Twitter, enable and amplify fans’ identification with the stars,” he says. “It allows more direct and intimate interactivity between fans and celebrities…. and allows fans to feel that they have a two-way communication.”
And while Twitter is now a staple of celebrities around the globe, Gaga was its original Queen. It is part of Gaga’s legacy that social media is now one of the foundations of every musician’s PR strategy. What she was the first to realise is that online media enables icons of all kinds to sell not just an art, but an ideology.
Typically this takes the form of a fairly trite encouragement to ‘be yourself’ with only the vaguest of references to what form this might take. Gaga, to her credit, created a rock solid and multifaceted ideology which proved every bit as popular as her infectious pop tunes. She takes direct aim at issues affecting marginalised groups, specifically people of colour and the LGBTI community. She has been a staunch activist for gay rights, founded a not-for-profit anti-bullying organisation and launched an online initiative tackling body image and eating disorders.
