FAMILY FEUD CONTENTS: A DEAD END FOR NOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES.

The emergence of social media has not only brought humanity closer in global connections, marketing awareness, social reach, online presence, groups and communities, it has impacted human advancement. Despite its good side, there are also the bad side, so subtle that without a careful approach to it, could either make or mar its user.

Regardless of the consequences of misuse, many Nollywood stars have taken the path of less resistance in their approach as to how they’ve decided to use their online presence. In their desperate quest to gain traction to their pages, they have resorted to displaying their family feud as a consumer content.

Is this the new way to social media traffic or is there a real, underlying reason to such actions?

The only answer to this locust rush is as a result of the recent awareness in online monetization. This has fostered numerous Nollywood stars in coming up with various kinds of contents for their loyal fans. Contents which range from comedy, romance, tragedy, epic, and now the new normal, family feud.

It is imperative to point out that this feuds, though with no clue as to where, how and when it all started, fans are constantly becoming confused about the uproar going on with their choice actors. Their personal concerns could be seen in their mixed comments, prayers, counsels, advice and admonitions. Some go as far as becoming disappointed in their celebrities’ public charade, warning them about the implications of their misguided action.

What then are the merits associated with this new normal (family feud) contents celebrities resort to lately?

Increased Engagement

Social media has enriched many people’s lives, who didn’t have an iota of what lay ahead of them. For some, it translated from passion to fame, more like a miracle while for others, it was intentional. Recently, the desperate hunt for engagement has proven to be the trigger behind many Nollywood celebrities’ contents. In a bid to gain online traffic, they shun out contents that sparks reactions and concerns. The main objective being that they understand the significance of higher engagement rates. They carefully take note of posts that perform well over time, and this helps them to know the realm of content to focus more on, in line with audience anticipation.

Wide Reach

A significant success in engagement results from a wide organic or paid reach. The more people engage in a content, the easier the algorithm recognises it. The algorithm is programmed to understand organic engagement, and as the volume of likes, comments, shares, impressions etc increases over time, it will automatically grab the favored post and begin to suggest it to more potential people, who might as well develop interest to view it. Nollywood celebrities use this as a tool to project their brands, and they do it through the power of social influence.

Monetization

This is the icing on the cake. This is simply piling money in the bank while doing what their audience loves. Only few creators do what they love, with the majority doing what brings the money instead. They don’t care about the dent on their status or brand loyalty. The quest to earn more passive income lure them into making content that sparks viewership, reaches global audiences, increases engagement, and lastly, earns the money.

Aside from the juicy extracts many Nollywood celebrities enjoy from shunning out family feud related contents, there are underlying disadvantages this misguided venture might bring with it. Among them are loss of loyal fans, reduced social status, and associated dishonesty that results from misleading fans, public charade and eventual brand damage. The damages slowly creep in, one post at a time, and finally leads to loss of brand loyalty and trust. When this happens, Nollywood celebrities, who didn’t consider the pros and cons before investing in the fake family feud, become irrelevant, overtime on the big screen.

By Okechukwu Obi