Over the years, the entertainment industry hasn’t really undergone any overly drastic changes, but like every industry it certainly evolves with time.

Something that’s had an impact on the entertainment, including how accessible it’s now becoming for “ordinary folks” to access and enter into is the rise of social media and the internet overall.

These effects can be, both positive and negative, so we’re going to look at some of the changes the entertainment industry has seen thanks to social media.

Being famous means less than it used to:

From the very beginnings of the entertainment industry, it seemed like celebrity status was reserved for a very special few. It took something very unique indeed for someone to rise to fame, and although the fundamental aspect of hard work has never changed, many people seemed to just have a certain amount of luck.

Celebrities were idolized, and there certainly wasn’t as many as there are today, but thanks to social media, today anyone can become an overnight star – and many have. Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube of all places. Before social media, it would have been highly unlikely that Justin would ever have been discovered since he wasn’t actively pursuing a career as a singer.

Nowadays, although celebrities are still seen in a certain way, they’re nowhere near as magical as we once assumed them to be. The ease in which people can achieve fame online has caused us to define what a celebrity is in a totally different way than we did before we had social media.

Celebrities are more accessible:

Before social media, or even the internet was a thing, celebrities seemed so far away from normal people. Sure, we would watch them on TV and read about them in magazines, but actually be able to connect with them in any way, let alone have them reply to us was something none of us could ever have imagined in the pre-social media days.

Although you’re probably not likely to become best buddies with the former members of N-Sync, you can get a deeper look into their everyday lives and who knows? You may even get a response back if you ask one of them a question or drop them a compliment on Twitter or Instagram.

Thanks to social media bringing the world closer together overall, celebrities are now more accessible to us, and even appear more like normal people, which they actually are.

The effects of fame are more visible:

On some level, we’ve always known about the negative side of fame and fortune, but now with social media bringing celebrities into our lives in a more personal way, we get to see those effects played out first hand.

Due to the pressures and stresses placed on those working in the entertainment industry, substance abuse, mental health problems, and even tragic suicides are things we’re now hearing about and witnessing on an almost-daily basis.

These are not necessarily new problems – all we have to do is look at people like Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger and even Britney Spears to see that the entertainment industry has always had these problems, but it’s just now that we’re more aware of them and exposed to them.

More opportunities to enter the industry:

With more exposure and more awareness comes more opportunity, and that’s something that social media, and the internet in general has definitely been providing those of us who have spent a good portion of our lives in this digital world.

For as long as the entertainment industry has been around, so has the dream of many children to be a famous singer, dancer or actor, and although those who showed great talent, worked hard, or even just seemed to get lucky at the right moment have always been able to make those dreams a reality, nowadays it’s significantly easier to break into the entertainment industry.

Whether it’s through social media itself, through reality talent shows, such as American Idol, The Voice, etc, or simply through being able to find and connect with people in the industry easier.

Most people now realize the potential of social media and the internet, and so whether you want to be a singer, an actor, or even an anime script writer, there are so many opportunities available today thanks to technology and people’s openness to trying new things, so breaking into the entertainment industry today is going to be a good bit easier than it was 20 or 30 years ago.

Competition is higher than ever:

Although there may be more opportunities for those looking to break into the entertainment industry, with this comes far more competition thanks to the ease in which people are able to market and promote themselves across social media and make valuable connections.

Competition in this industry was always tough, but now it’s reached all new highs, and unless you’re really prepared to keep going and stand out, as well as keep believing in your own talents and abilities, then it could start getting quite tough for you to get the break you need.

It’s not just aspiring artists who are finding the competition to be really tough, but it’s those who are already established – maybe since even before the rise in our love of all things social media.

As well as having to compete with the sheer number of new artists breaking onto the scene, they also have to compete with the new ways in which music and movies are being viewed and distributed, including streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix.

Less privacy than pre-social media:

Celebrities and those working in the various fields of the entertainment industry have long been a source of public interest, and unfortunately that extends to the media, which includes the infamous paparazzi.

Nowadays, although the media and the paparazzi are still going strong, they have to compete with social media and the fact that pretty much everyone can now capture anything on their smartphone and have it going viral on Facebook and Twitter within minutes.

This is a problem for celebrities who had very little in the way of privacy before, and now find themselves with next to no privacy thanks to every detail of their lives being shared, not just in gossip magazines and tabloid newspapers, but all over the digital world, too.

More exposure for fans and artists:

Back in the days before social media was a thing, we had to rely on the radio, the tv, or wait for the next weekly installment of our favorite music magazine to give us any updates on new songs or albums coming out. Then, if we were lucky, we could either use a cassette to record a song from the radio or wait until we were able to buy the CD when it came out.

Our parents had it even worse than we did – CD’s were quite the technological marvel compared to what they had to do in order to listen to their favorite music.

Nowadays, we literally have the latest movies and music at the push of a button, and even if we’re not immediately aware of a new song or album, it will pretty soon be on social media somewhere and we’ll be able to get a hold of it.

We can also discover so much more new music that we may not have thanks to streaming services like Spotify, iTunes, and Apple Music, so we can become more musically diverse in our tastes, which is never a bad thing.

This is also great for artists – especially up and coming ones who are looking to grow their fanbase. They, too benefit from more exposure to fans and because of social media, if someone likes something, they’ll generally share it with their friends, and for artists, this is definitely the best kind of marketing they can ask for.

Fans have more influence:

Any good business owner or influencer who understands the role of social media in their sales and marketing knows that listening to their audience is key.

The entertainment industry and celebrities are no different. Whilst James Cameron may not take your idea to create a sequel to Titanic in which Rose and Jack come back to life and live happily ever after, artists and industry influencers will be paying more attention to feedback than you think, and if they’re smart, they’ll act accordingly – of course it has to make sense for them, but thanks to social media being used as a connection and communication tool, fans are now more connected than ever to celebrities, and will have more influence than they’ve ever had before.

As you’ll see from the above points, social media has definitely made an impact on the entertainment industry as well as how fans and artists all benefit from it.

Whether you’re an aspiring artist, movie star, or just simply someone who loves and appreciates the industry and the creative talents within it, then you’ll need to understand and accept that social media is simply going to be part of the industry, and that it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.