A group that has had an interesting development in terms of social media is the punk rock band, Green Day. The band primarily uses Twitter for social media. The band’s Twitter page is simply used to promote and market particular items or events that are taking place. For example, for Black Friday, they tweeted out a picture stating that their were certain sales taking place on their store website. They also would tweet upcoming shows of their traveling Broadway play “American Idiot.” Green Day’s Twitter account also does not interact with fans in any way. They tweet about events or market items, and other than that, they don’t tweet at anyone else. Since Green Day is one of the biggest bands in the world, it would make sense to keep a high level of professionalism and not come across as a personal Twitter account.
Where Green Day’s development of social media gets interesting is with the actual band members’ use of it. Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of Green Day, has been outspoken about his disdain for the advance of technology. In an interview a handful of years ago, Armstrong stated that he would never get an iPhone or iPad or anything like that. However, he now has a Twitter account and an Instagram account, both of which he uses frequently. There’s no doubt, especially with the dominance of social media and the fact that Green Day is an older band, that whoever is in charge of Green Day’s PR encouraged Armstrong to get involved with social media. Soon after, the other members of the band joined the social media world as well.
It is definitely important for Green Day and its members to get involved with the world of social media. It is imperative for them to stay as relevant as possible if they wish to stay in mainstream popularity. While their music has had undeniable success, its been over three years since their last release and each member is entering their mid-40s.
