Spaces and Stars: Why Twitter Spaces is the next big thing for celebrities

For Tamil film personalities, Twitter Spaces is more than just a feature that enables them to interact with their audiences

Bhuvanesh Chandar

(Originally written on 2nd June 2021)

Ten to 15 years ago, a sensational TV idea was to invite celebrities to the studio and allow callers the rare opportunity of interacting with them. This was an idea that they picked up from the radio, of course. But largely, communication from celebrities has been one-way—from them. They relay messages to their countless fans, whose responses largely get ignored. But everything changed recently when Twitter introduced a feature called Spaces that would allow its users to host and participate in live audio conversations with anyone. A couple of weeks ago, Tamil Twitter reached fever-pitch excitement when singer-songwriter Pradeep Kumar hosted a Space session and did not just interact with fans, but actually took song requests as well. This was heaven for his fans.

Pradeep credits another Space session he was a listener of—one about Ilaiyaraaja—as the inspiration behind his own initiative. “With the pandemic going on, I wasn’t in the mood to do something like this,” he begins, and shares that it was mainly launched to help Preejo TJ, an independent social worker helping COVID-19 patients by providing beds, medicine, and oxygen concentrators. “For me, it was a way to procure donations and spread awareness. We are living in such a distressing time, and so, I thought it would be good to spread some positivity. If it could help more people get oxygen, why not?” asks Pradeep.

As much as it was for the cause, Pradeep found that the artist in him was also satisfied. “I was glad to..

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