There’s something charmingly/annoyingly antiquated about Julia Roberts. She’s charming because she really doesn’t give a flying f—k and there’s a complicit understanding that everyone in the cheap seats can say whatever they want about her and she’s fine with it because she’s a damn movie star and movie stars don’t have to care what the peasants say or think. The annoying part? Sometimes that comes across as smug and self-satisfied when really she’s just a throw-back, some movie star from a different era (and, to be fair, she’s pretty smug too). Anyway, I was reminded of this Julia Conundrum when I was reading her thoughts on social media:
If you’re waiting for Julia Roberts to get on Twitter, don’t hold your breath. During a press interview for her film August: Osage County, the A-lister explained why she won’t be joining any social media networks anytime soon.
“Well, I haven’t chosen to not be a part of it. I kind of just don’t get it,” she said when asked why she’s steered clear of certain sites.
“See that’s the thing I don’t get. It’s like screaming into the wind. I guess I just don’t get it. If somebody has a grievance with me, or if it’s a friend or somebody has been misinformed or misunderstood, I would go to them directly,” she added.
“There’s a directness that I miss and the idea of Internet or Twitter…I picture Twitter on a pager which I know is also antiquated, I don’t know where you Twitter!”
On a pager?! Julia, we love you. Don’t ever change. Keep playing snake on your Nokia 3310.
“There’s just a lack of human connection to all of it and that doesn’t appeal to me,” she said during the interview.
But the Oscar winner isn’t completely against websites like Twitter or Facebook, they’re just not for her. She added that she recognizes that social media can be amazing and even help people.
“It makes people feel connected and it brings people together and does all these awesome things, but for me, I like to look at somebody and have more tangible connections. That’s what I as a person am invested in.”
“It’s like screaming into the wind…” Part of me sort of agrees with her, and the fact that I’m agreeing with Julia Roberts upsets me. So much of social media is just a stupid time-suck, an inventory and management of nothingness. But I do enjoy how Julia tries to make it sound like she’s so holier-than-thou when really she’s just a technological Luddite, like so many people past a certain age. *shakes fist at cloud*
Photos courtesy of WENN.
insufferable, as always.
Maybe if she spent a little time on social media she’d learn a few tips on how to dress.
I’m actually not getting any kind of smug vibe from this, and I’m not a big Julia Roberts fan because I have seen interviews with her where she’s just…ugh. I genuinely think that she doesn’t understand social media, perhaps in part because she’s not of that generation. I mean, the fact that she even mentioned a pager sorta shows that, no? LOL
Yeah, that’s what I thought and I find myself agreeing with her a bit. I don’t have a problem with all social media, mine’s concentrated on Twitter. I don’t know that I will ever understand it.
I’m not getting a smug vibe from this either and I agree with a lot of what she said, there’s definitely a downside to social media.
I’m part of her generation. I don’t do Twitter (by choice) but I don’t need to use a pager to describe it. She’s playing up the “I’m old and get those kids of my lawn” shtick. I get it. I do that too sometimes. I also understand what she’s saying about wanting to be connected face to face. That is generational. Her pager comment. Not so much.
I like Julia, but I have to agree with you … she and George Clooney don’t understand the power of social media and come from a different era.
Although I’m a few years younger than Julia, my lively hood depends on the Digital/Social Media era or else my family I would be homeless.
In the real world, some of my older co-workers who couldn’t or were not willing to adapt to digital/social media lost their jobs.
It’s sad, because as a 10 year old I still appreciated/loved older HW stars and musicians. I don’t think my daughter who is 11 years old follows or know any celebrity that was born before 1990 other than Beyoncé, Rihanna and Taylor Swift and they were 9, 3 and barely 1 years old in 1990.
I don’t agree that they (Roberts and Clooney) “don’t understand the power of social media”. Of course they do– they understand it has the power to give a mass of anonymous, faceless people the power to be judge and jury over their every stupid ‘tweet’ and has caused huge problems for many celebs who don’t seem to realize everything they write (via FB, twitter, or what have you) is never going to go away no matter how fast they delete or apologize.
Staying off twitter (for people like them) is very smart, IMO.
@Anne,
I agree with you that they do understand social media and its power. They, also, and rightfully, imo, know that they don’t lose anything by not being apart of it. They are not courting new fans, of course, but everyone knows who they are. As I believe Clooney stated his reasoning was that if you were a famous person “you are an idiot to be tweeting” or something like that. I just think they have nothing to really gain but plenty that they could lose will some ill-placed tweet.
I agree with Anne also.
I don’t tweet. I understand it and can be a great tool for business, promoting, etc., but I’m 42 and don’t have time or inclination. If I were in a business, like some of friends, that is necessary and vital, I would do it.
I have a FB page but I literally get on 1x a month. It includes only family and close friend’s. I have no revelation to share about the weather, state of my relationship, work. I speak to these people via phone, email, skype and text.
Although, this is a personal pet peeve, it starts to drive me nuts when say my sister, who is 10 yrs. younger, has an entire conversation with me via text. I start voice texting and the grammar and words are atrocious. Some of my friend’s do it also. I just feel like call me when you or I are available. I’m hands free in the car and that’s were I conduct many conversations.
I agree, I don’t get a smug vibe either. To be honest, I’m 32 and don’t get twitter. I don’t see the point of “following” people to read about their every thought or mindless activities everyday. Isn’t just like a FB status? I get FB but I still can’t stand the “look at me” attitude of many on it. I think it’s a great way to stay connected to people you can’t see all of the time but when I go on and see that you have posted 10 pictures of your children and updated your status 5 times with in a few hours I think that’s when it turns into something not so good. Like Julia I would rather have the real live human connection and I think all of this social media has had a negative impact on that in that you no longer have to pick up a phone to communicate with someone or actually visit them to see their children. Idk, I guess I’m old fashioned.
I kind of agree, but I also think there is more potential than that. I get tired of the good/evil dichotomy when it comes to social media. Certainly, sometimes people (including myself) post to hear the sound if their own voice, and there is nothing more infuriating than trying to debate with someone who doesn’t listen, or thinks that anonymity validates vileness. But, I’ve also found great friends on this site, in particular, and have established great professional bonds with people I might have been to shy, or too geographically removed, to talk to in the first place. To dismiss it entirely seems a little near-sighted.
“She added that she recognizes that social media can be amazing and even help people.”
I guess, if you are a movie star, your view of social media is quite narrow. You see and hear about more of the crazies (positive and negative), more of the graffiti, more of the pointless self-promotion, and more of the fakery. You don’t hear about the tremendous number of positives.
Social media offers new kinds of relationships, which can be tremendously valuable. It allows people to be as narrow or as broad as they wish with their interests and friendships. It can specialise for those who want to specialise and broaden the horizons of the curious. It can make the lonely less so.
We’re the guinea pig generation and at some point we will come to a general view on what is graffiti and what is genuine abuse. What else is acceptable and what else isn’t, etc etc etc.
I mean, it’s an inescapable move forwards. There’s no going back now. But if Julia thinks it’s all a bit pointless and newfangled, then it’s fine by me. Not annoying of her.
As a celebrity, social media comes with way more negatives than positives. So for her, I don’t think your points are valid Fanty so I agree with Sixer here.
I fully get a celeb not wanting to get into all that, but is it just me or was that a lot of nonsense rambling? “I don’t know where you Twitter!” What?
I don’t think that she literally doesn’t have comprehension of how it (or IT, ha, social media) works, but that she doesn’t get why people air grievances that way, hollering into the public wind, instead of addressing the issues directly with the person they have an issue with. I think she comes across as sane in regard to that opinion. I wasn’t feeling the smugness. Clooney said the same thing about Twitter. So many celebrities get themselves in trouble by posting every little fart that comes to mind, and then they have to spend days trying to explain what they meant in the first place.
I agree with her. Twitter for me only makes sense for conmunity organising (Egypts revolution is a great example) and emergency alerts (think Tsunamis, Hurricanes). Why someone would think that we need to hesr how your day of shopping went is bizarre and I can think of nothing worse than having to read some random celebs self-important tweets. Julia, Clooney, Beyonce and all other haters of that medium get an extra 10 points from me.
But Beyonce does Tumblr isn’t that just another site where vain people post pics of themselves? I actually have never been on tumblr or Instagram. I only ever go to twitter if I am looking for a food truck or certain random things like that. Oh I like to follow Lainey’s blogging during award shows and such but I honestly don’t know how everyone knows what everybody is saying.
Yeah, Beyonce is very active on instagram.
‘ Keep playing snake on your Nokia 3310.’ LMAO that game was the ishh 🙂
Well, no. Because she’d rather scream at people in person.
Okay now… lets not bash the girls in their mid-40’s for being too old to get it. Since I am one of them. 🙂
What so many folks seem to still not “get”, it is in your best interest, to keep your crazy thoughts to yourself. Before they cost you a relationship…. or a career.
There is an entire generation that still does not grasp that simple premise.
Freedom of speech, does not mean freedom from consequences.
And placing a crazy rant on Twitter or Facebook can have some brutal consequences. And all the deleting in the world… will never get rid of it.
It will live on f.o.r.e.v.e.r.
Yes, consequences. Courtney Love is currently on trial for a twitter rant. Employers can use a person’s Facebook posts and Tweets as a reason for termination. Courts are allowing admission of Facebook posts and Tweets as evidence in criminal cases. Schools suspend and kick-out students based on their actions, which have been immortalized on Facebook. Yet many are STILL using social media as if it were a diary kept hidden in an underwear drawer.
ExACTly. Our generation gets it. Difference is that us old fogies can put it down.
God, I love her. I can’t help myself. Always have. Always will. Long live Julia!
Saying you don’t know where to get Twitter doesn’t make you look like a luddite, it just makes you look like an idiot. Like she doesn’t have an iPhone?
Is age really a factor in this anymore? I’m in my mid-forties and I love Facebook and Twitter, as do my middle-aged friends. My Mom is in her 60’s and she loves it, and so do her senior friends!
There are those who just don’t care much for social media, and then there are those who think they are ‘above’ it. She’s the latter.
Exactly. Stay off twitter by all means. but deriding it and claiming to not “get it” is also screaming into the wind. Funny, the only thing she can thin of using it for is airing grievances.
I don’t find it smug either. Aside from this site which I really enjoy, I stay away from commenting on other sites, FB and Twitter. They just never appealed to me. I kinds always figured if there is someone I haven’t thought about in 20 or more years, chances are I’m not interested in ‘friending’ them on a social site. There is a human factor that is going away, and there is too much room for people to be mean and at times cruel because they are spewing things on a keyboard that they would never say to someone face to face. Can’t imagine how hard it is to be going through your teens now and having to deal with social media. Bullying has taken on a whole new life from what it was when I was growing up. I’m glad I grew up in a time when we talked on a phone instead of texted, when we went outside to play or hang out instead of spending a day glued to a video game or a computer screen. My ten year old son makes it sound like we are from the Stone Age and maybe we are, but there’s something to be said about things being simpler and more personal.
+1000
Well I’m not a fan but I see her point. My parents don’t use fb or twitter , they’re in their 60s and they don’t miss it at all…
I’m 28 and have twitter and fb but I barely post things and I definitely don’t rant there because I know potential employers are watching and yes I could be discarded as a future employee if all I do online is post crazy rants and naked pictures.
I think celebrities and alike sometimes get into shit because they write/post pics that are controversial and then loose endorsements and get fired so in their business having that is kinda stupid I guess…
Ever since her “I just don’t get the point” comments regarding people who have singletons instead of twins (Wtf was that about anyway?), I’m off her. She always comes off as that person everyone knows who is so proud of social ignorance (“Twitter? Like a bird? Ha ha I don’t own a t.v. so I don’t know what your simple minds are on about…”) and a real snot besides, if what people say about her on movie sets is true…
What did she say about singletons vs twins? Doesn’t she have a singleton in addition to her twins?
“I like to look at somebody and have more tangible connections.”
Either all of her friends and family are in the same country and state as she is, or it doesn’t even dawn on her that not everyone can simply hop into their private jet to get some face time with their far flung friends and relatives. She’s so Goopy. They should get together.
I agree with her so much and I am right smack in the middle of the social media generation. What’s funny though is that at least two thirds of my friends who couldn’t function without social media updates at least every minute two years ago are now barely ghosts on the sites. Now it’s my parents and their friends and my teenage cousins who can’t live without Facebook, and for my cousins, anything less than eight social media accounts going at a time.
‘Screaming into the wind’ is actually a great description of social media IMO. I think that’s also a huge part of the disconnect for Twitter obsessed people. They forget that it’s not just a place to air the crazy in your head, it’s actually public communication. It’s gotten people I know in trouble more than once when they went on a rant about something then realized that oops, the people involved read it too. Or made some vague comment with no context then got upset when people misinterpreted. Maybe ‘screaming secrets blind’ would be a better description. Give me Skype and Facetime any day. Or ‘old-fashioned’ texts that you can specify who receives them and e-mail.
Of course she gets social media. It’s an act! Hello, actress! Smug? Check. Above it all? Check. Not a fan. Totally over the whole Julia in another movie about Julia being Julia ::cue fawning over big horse grin::
I usually avoid any Julia posts because I am not interested in her, but today came here to say “I’ll give her that.” Use of social media does indeed seem well-described as “screaming into the wind.”
Lila, above, explained so well! But, ya know, not everyone is a good communicator or is balanced or disciplined or mature enough to use the tool effectively. Not everyone should have a driver’s license, not everyone should have a Twitter account…. Just because the tool exists does not mean it is the one that should be used. And I do think that humans can be so self-centric, which use of some social media addles.
In my opinion, there are talkers and there are doers. I often think there are way too many talkers.
Sorry but I totally agree with her. I cant think of a bigger waste of time except Video Games. Never ceases to amaze me how people, young and old, love to waste precious valuable time spouting their opinions and “rants.” Hello, no one gives a damn and in the grand plan of life your time on ‘social media” counts for nothing. Do something worth while with your life.
Those making fun of her: you Twitter your opinion regarding social media no one cares but you THINK people care because a bunch of randoms acknowledge you.
Julia holds a press conference. Um, hello.
So agree with this!
i’m right there with her believe it or not! i’m not on any of twitter, twatter or whatevers.
🙄
plus, my kid’s a 2nd year communications major & says twitter & facebook are donzo!
she’s not even on them & i ALWAYS listen to her about these things. she’s my cool guru!