I recently went down a faux-celebrity rabbit hole, earnestly googling how much the reality stars I grew up watching made from the shows that turned them famous. I was raised by Snooki and Jwoww, girls who didn’t care if they looked stupid on TV. After all, they say that all press is good press. People said that they wouldn’t last, that they were just looking for their 15 minutes of fame before they disappeared into the ultra-tan abyss. However, the Jersey Shore cast is still around. Where would Jersey Shore be without social media? I have some thoughts.
Let’s break it down. Jersey Shore first premiered in 2009. Their claim to fame was paved with an epic amount of bronzer, hairspray, and fist-pumping at the club. The fights between Ron and Sam no doubt kept fans engaged throughout the six seasons. I blame them for my obsession with watching grown people fight on television. However, their fame continued when the last season aired. Now, with spinoff shows like Snooki and Jwoww, Reunion Road Trip: Return to the Jersey Shore, and Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. I think it’s safe to say that Jersey Shore without social media simply wouldn’t be as popular as it is now.
Keeping Up With Snooki
Snooki is one of the most popular cast members with over 14 million followers on Instagram. There’s no way every single one of those followers are mega-fans of the show. The fascinating thing about social media is that it ignites our curiosity. Even if you’ve never seen a single episode of Jersey Shore, your interest in their lives remains simply because they’re famous. I’m sure some people, like me, who follow her have seen every episode of the show multiple times. We follow her because we want to see how her life has changed because of the show.
For everyone else, there’s a fascination surrounding the Jersey Shore crew because the show was so popular. People follow her because they want to figure out what it is that makes her so appealing. Maybe they learn to love her and keep following her, or maybe they decide she’s no more interesting than the next reality star and hit the unfollow button. Either way, this interest in her life just because she was on TV lingers because of social media.
Interesting Endeavors
Because of Social Media, the stars of the infamous reality TV show have become entrepreneurs. Snooki wrote a few books (albeit poorly) and was paid large sums of money to appear on shows like the Late Show with David Letterman and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Sammi launched a clothing line, Jenni starred in a ton of other reality TV shows, and the boys are doing whatever it is you do as a guido. I’m not as interested in them.
The point is, they all have turned their lives from making tee shirts at the Shore Store and getting arrested for being drunk and disorderly to being millionaires and having babies. It’s pretty crazy what fame can do to you. Jersey Shore without social media wouldn’t have created the stars we know and love today. We need social media to keep up with them.
Apps like Instagram, Twitter and TikTok can turn ordinary people into cultural icons. The Jersey Shore cast proved that they have what it takes to make people fall in love with them, but the only reason that love has lasted for this long is because of social media. We got to see Snooki get married and have babies, we saw Ron and Sam finally find love in people who are actually good for them, and we got to see Angelina completely change her look. The love for Jersey Shore goes on. We have Instagram to thank for that.
