From Ashton Kutcher to Jennifer Lopez, more and more stars are asking fans to text them directly. Here's what's really going on.
If you've greeted each of these rare instances of private made public from the celebs who've gotten in on the fun with a healthy dose of skepticism, resolute in your belief that there's no way anyone so famous would willingly share their direct line with millions of people, congratulations. You were absolutely correct.
A text to any of the phone numbers made available by the stars mentioned above generates some variation of an auto reply that encourages the fan to click a link and"sign up" so they can be added to the celeb's contacts. Once the link is clicked, you're taken to a website called, where you're asked to provide personal information such as your first and last name, date of birth, gender identity, location, and email address. In essence, you're joining a mailing list.
And if you try and call any of the numbers? All you'll get is a message recorded by your celeb of choice, requesting that you not leave a message and only text them. "I will read it, I will respond to it, and we can all feel seen and loved, hopefully," Washington's message promises, though the likelihood that you'll get a personal response every time you text seems, well, slim.
What you're more inclined to receive is targeted messaging from your celeb of choice, perhaps promo for their latest project or simply their random musings, all of it unencumbered by the increasingly restrictive algorithms of the traditional social media networks that make it hard to guarantee anything you release into their ether is actually ever seen by every last one of your followers.
"Nobody else should have your fan's information other than you — the fact that Facebook owns all of it and we can't have access to it unless we want to pay exorbitant fees is ridiculous," he explained, adding, "When I’m trying to tell people in Philly or in Shanghai, 'Hey, we’re in Shanghai and we're going to pop up at this record store, we’re opening up the final thousand tickets that we’ve saved until today,' I can’t do it [on social media].
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why the impeachment hearings are historic, but may not change minds: OpinionUnless Pres. Trump's wall of Republican support begins to crack, don’t expect the hearings to move public opinion very much, matthewjdowd writes.
Read more »
Data Is Great and All, But Here’s Why You Should Try Running By FeelQuantifying how hard your workouts feel can help you push past the psychological barriers that may be slowing you down.
Read more »
Garance Doré Walked Away From Social Media At The Height Of Her Success, But Why?Fashion Influencer Garance Doré Walked Away From It All At The Height Of Her Success, But Why?
Read more »
Why Germany sticks to strict budget rules despite a slowdownGermany's budget has been in surplus since 2014. Should the government spend more to ward off the threat of a recession?
Read more »