Twitter: Smart marketing or skewed sales attempt?

Lady GaGa is known for being outrageous.

If she isn’t walking around in a dress covered with Kermit the Frog’s happy mug, she’s wearing meat or being delivered to awards shows in giant eggs.

After a yearlong hiatus because of complications with her hip, GaGa has come back with a toned down image and “Applause” — her new single dedicated to her fans.

But lately, it isn’t GaGa’s fashion that’s turning heads.

She tweeted to her 40,019,531 followers — which she calls “Little Monsters” — on her official twitter Aug.13, asking them to participate in a contest to attend the iTunes festival with her.

What’s making headlines is the fact that she asked her Monsters to buy multiple copies of her new single.

She said that the two Monsters who bought the most copies would get to attend the iTunes festival.

Megan Kaley, a senior from Naperville studying graphic design, said she has been a fan of GaGa’s since 2007. She said she saw Gaga at Lollapalooza in 2007 and considers herself a Little Monster.

Kaley said that this a way for GaGa to reconnect with fans and give back to them after being away from them for a year.

“The song ‘Applause’ is about how she had this hip problem. Last year she had to cancel a bunch of shows on her tour and she had to have hip surgery. She was suffering throughout her past, like, twenty concerts,” she said. “And she’s saying that the applause was the only thing that kept her going, that’s what the song is about.”

Kaley said she believes the media is biased in the way that they are reporting on the twitter contest. She said that many articles didn’t mention the other messages she tweeted.

“Seconds after she sent that tweet, she tweeted that you don’t have to purchase the song multiple times to win the contest. She says in her tweets, true fans will win,” she said. “Like, It’s about being creative, it’s not just about the purchase.”

Kaley said she also views Gaga’s use of social networking as a smart business move.

“She’s an expert at getting attention and she’s using social media to boost her sales,” Kaley said.

Ryan Thomas Lay, a sophomore studying photography from High Ridge, Mo., said he agrees about how the media portrays GaGa.

“She is one of the hardest working women in the world and she knows how to keep herself relevant while at the same time making sure her fans are happy,” he said. “I often see so many articles trying to rip her apart, but there are little to no articles talking about her buying thousands of dollars worth of food and sending it out to her fans that wait to see her outside of an establishment that she is in.”

Lay said he views her use of social media as masterful.

“Lady Gaga is the master of social media. She controls media to see exactly what she wants them to see and she hides what she doesn’t want them to see. Her personal life is completely in the dark to media because they’re so interested in what she is going to do next,” he said.

Jon E Quest, the program director at CIL-FM in Carterville, said her strong connection with her fans will boost her sales because they will buy the downloads.

“They’re so into her that they’ll basically do whatever she asks them to do because she really loves her fans,” Quest said.

Quest said the relationship Mother Monster has with her fans is different from anything seen in music before and her use of social networking is very smart.

He also said that social media is revolutionizing the music industry.

“Social media has just made a complete change (to the music industry),” he said. “A band can become popular and develop a fan base simply off of YouTube or off of Facebook without being signed to a record label.”

Professor Jim Wall, a senior lecturer in the Radio-Television department at SIU who teaches digital media with a business perspective, said social media is huge in all types of markets.

“Social media has become a necessity in any type of success in marketing a product, whether it’s a record album or a new brand of soda pop or whatever it happens to be. It’s a must.” he said.

Wall said social media has been accepted as a major marketing tool.

“Because everybody has suddenly embraced the whole concept of utilizing social media it has evolved beyond just being a chat room or a blog, to interactivity with the stars and helping to promote that star or appearance or their record,” Wall said.

“So those that are utilizing and going through the trouble of interacting and being very active in social media, we’re suddenly realizing that there’s a market there,” Wall said.

Wall said as a researcher, he understands why GaGa’s tweets are causing issues, but as a market, he sees her move as strategic.

“Artists have done this all the time. They do tours, the do radio shows, they do interviews. A star promoting their record is nothing new,” he said “so, the questions is, is this promotion above and beyond or over the edge? As a marketer I say no, I think it’s genius. As a consumer I say, gee I don’t know. Maybe it is over the edge. As a researcher I say, you bet. I don’t want this going on at all.

Lay said it’s important to remember that GaGa isn’t forcing her fans to do anything that they don’t want to do.

“I think it’s pretty strategic considering she isn’t making her fans buy multiple copies or any copies at all in order to be entertained,” he said. “Those superfans that want to meet her will spend that money on buying singles to meet her and that’s their personal decision. I’d love to meet her, but this isn’t the only way it is possible.”