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Bennett analysed how Lady Gaga uses social media as a platform to engage with her audience and incite them to get involved with philanthropic causes. These efforts 'go beyond her role as a musician' and ergo challenge our assumptions about her star image as a pop star.

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This study explores how modern celebrities increasingly utilise social media to mobilise audiences towards philanthropic and activist causes. Achieving millions of followers on all social-media platforms, Lady Gaga is a timely example of how social media can be used as a tool to promote specific causes and to secure an active response from fan networks. This essay traces how Gaga has been actively engaged in a range of philanthropic and activist efforts that often work to address her fans as fellow partners and subsequently inspire many of them to engage in further initiatives. Incorporating an online survey and seeking to unravel the motivations and aspirations for this active engagement by fans, this study explores the relation of these acts to Gaga as the celebrity object of fandom and examines how she engages these followers through social media. The article also investigates how Gaga appears to reach those who have never participated in the philanthropy/activism realm before, with many making their first powerful connections with political figures and witnessing the change they can make as citizens. This study argues that the use of social-media platforms by celebrities such as Lady Gaga to communicate with their audiences can be interpreted as instigating a re-emphasis of the dominance of 'the celebrity confessional' and a reconfiguration of celebrity activism.

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Lucy Bennett
Lucy Bennett completed her PhD in online fandom at Cardiff University. Her work appears in the journals New Media & Society, Transformative Works and Cultures, Social Semiotics, Continuum and Participations. She is the co-founder of the Fan Studies Network.

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'If we stick together we can do anything': Lady Gaga fandom, philanthropy and activism through social media

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This study explores how modern celebrities increasingly utilise social media to mobilise audiences towards philanthropic and activist causes. Achieving millions of followers on all social-media platforms, Lady Gaga is a timely example of how social media can be used as a tool to promote specific causes and to secure an active response from fan networks.

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Lady Gaga One-On-One Interview | 2019 GRAMMYs

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Gaga and her mother created a charity called the Born This Way Foundation to 'empower young people in building a kinder and braver world.' This philanthropic work demonstrates the good heart and genuine nature of Gaga, in a way that contradicts the pop star image of a hedonistic and self-obsessed lifestyle. It also allows fans to feel closer to her as they can experience more of her personal life by seeing which causes she believes in, and they can follow in her footsteps by getting involved.

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Shingler writes that, in regards to TV appearances and interviews, 'Although a star will invariably enact and maintain their established public persona when making such appearances, these do also provide some opportunity for stars to reveal (and audiences to glimpse) aspects of the 'real person' or, at least, they promise this opportunity even when it is seldom granted.' Gaga's approach to interviews seems to have changed over time: in the first interview from around 10 years ago, she's reluctant to speak about her feelings and family life, but in the second interview she admits to being scared about performing and trying to be herself despite the challenges that brings. This signals a lack of coherence in how she behaves in interviews and her most recent interviews show an intimacy that goes beyond her pop star image.

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Lady Gaga, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross 04/17/2009

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These magazine covers emphasise Gaga's star image by focussing on fashion and visuals. The association with Vogue, the most prestigious fashion magazine around the world, means that her name is identified with fashion, style and art. Interestingly we can see how this style has changed from her Born This Way era to her current stripped back look: whereas her star image started out very artificial with excessive make up and false hair, she has now adopted a more natural approach with minimal make up, her own hair and a plain black outfit. The covers therefore aid her in creating and also changing her star image.

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Gaga is active on several of the biggest social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Across these three outlets alone she has more than 165 million followers. This presence allows fans to connect with the star and share her music to their own followers, thus distributing her brand and star image to others. She also uses these social media outlets to mobilise her audience into action for certain causes, for example when she endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. Thus, her social media act as a platform to emphasise her star persona as an influencer to the masses through her charity work and political activism. It also serves as a platform for her to endorse products and brands, for example in her posts for Tiffany & Co.

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Gaga has appeared on advertisements for the fashion brand Versace and jewellery company Tiffany & Co. Versace and Tiffany and Co are using Lady Gaga's star image and talent to create the same impression of the brand as high quality. By using Gaga's image, it suggests to consumers that their products must be the best because it is being endorsed by a superstar. Fans may also feel trust for or loyalty to the star, and therefore assume that the things they promote must be high quality, and/or that they have a duty to purchase something the star believes in. This endorsement also benefits Gaga's star persona by associating her with high fashion, given how important clothing is to her own brand image.

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Gaga has reinforced her star image by collaborating with similar artists. She has worked on songs and performances with the likes of other pop icons such as Florence and the Machine, Christina Aguilera and Beyonce, providing continuity in her work as a pop star. This star image is challenged, however, by her work with Tony Bennett: the two created a jazz album together with the aim of introducing the genre to the younger generation. Like her Joanne album, this shows a deviation from her traditional pop sound that contradicts her pop star image.

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In the same vein as her strange fashion choices, Gaga uses her stage presence to further her star image as an unpredictable and provocative performer. Her entrance from a gigantic egg at the 2011 Grammys is a prime example of this. Other shows, such as the Super Bowl Halftime Show, demonstrate her pop star prowess and amazing vocal talents.

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One major hallmark of Lady Gaga's star image is her outlandish and bizarre sense of style. Her outfits are regularly plastered across magazines and websites, prompting reactions of shock, disgust or amusement, and her clothing choices are frequently a topic of discussion. Some of her most infamous costumes - notably her 'meat dress' - gain as much attention, if not more, as her music, making fashion a central element of Gaga's star image.

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Gaga's Netflix documentary provides an intimate view into the artist's life with fibromyalgia, showing her normal day and giving the viewer access to the star's personal life. Similarly, her single 'Till It Happens to You' reveals her personal experience of sexual assault and lets the audience in on this deeply intimate event. As Geraghty puts it, 'it is the audience's access to and celebration of intimate information from a variety of texts and sources which are important here.' This type of media gives the audience a personal insight into the pop star, helping them to feel connected to her and her work, whilst simultaneously and contradictorily establishing her as more than just a pop star as she is also an ordinary person with ordinary experiences.

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Gaga's most recent album, however, is a step away from her usual pop offerings. Although some of Joanne is in keeping with Lady Gaga's traditional sound, a lot of the album fits squarely in the genre of country music. The album also deals with themes of family life, friendship and death - a far cry from her usual pop motifs of sex, love and partying. This signals a change in the artist's musical direction - perhaps in the future her star image will no longer be limited to 'pop star'.

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Redmond wrote 'Merchandising... is meant to touch every facet of a fan's daily life. The desire for their products comes out of a desire to be close to them, to have them close to you, in your pocket, in your school bag, next to your heart.' It is no wonder, then, that Gaga has taken advantage of her popularity to create a range of merchandise: posters, shirts, badges, bags, perfume and even her own singing toothbrush. These contribute to her star image by distributing her name and image all over the world in products that are otherwise not connected to her, for instance perfume.

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Lady Gaga has appeared in various shows and films, including Ru Paul's Drag Race, American Horror Story and more recently A Star is Born. This convergence of media both contradicts and supports her image as a pop star. Her acting roles show that her talent goes beyond music, meaning that she could be deemed a film or TV star. Her role in A Star is Born, however, further emphasizes her musical abilities as her performance is based on her singing.

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Gaga couldn't be called a pop star without her music. With 5 UK Number 1 singles and 3 Number 1 albums, her popularity is undeniable. Her musical work is central to her image as a pop star, and by regularly releasing songs/albums over her career, she reinforces this star image over and over. The themes of self love and being true to oneself that are inherent in the Born This Way album also add to the concept of Lady Gaga's star image as an influencer, as she is speaking to and encouraging people who feel marginalised and inadequate.