Tumblr. It’s the land of cult television show GIFS, angsty teen rants and cute pictures of cats. When Facebook stalking your ex-boyfriend loses its excitement, tumbling is a viable procrastination option.

And now, it seems even the busiest of ladies needs a good distraction sometimes. The Queen Bey herself joined the Tumblr community. Yes, just like the moody girl from 10th grade, Beyonc has a Tumblr. Although, ‘I Am Beyonc’ is much more fabulous than any blog before it.

Beyonc’s note on ‘I Am Beyonc’ says, ‘This is my life, today, over the years – through my eyes. My family, my travels, my love. This is where I share with you. This will continue to grow as I do.’

Queen Bey’s motivation is something most people on social media can understand. She’s made her Tumblr to connect with a supportive community and reveal her own personal growth, just like the rest of us.

Today celebrities are more overexposed than ever – and no, that doesn’t just apply to Lindsay Lohan exiting limos. Any star worth being on the cover of People has an active Twitter or Facebook page. Maybe Tumblr will be the best big thing in star public relations.

The line between celebrity and everyday person is quickly blurring with Hollywood’s access to social media.

If you love someone’s new song, you can let him or her know immediately. Congratulating someone you’ve only met through the TV screen on the birth of a child is now socially acceptable.

I even tweeted at Beyonc while writing this column. I told her, ‘Writing my column and listening to @Beyonce.’

Getting in contact with your favorite celebrities is just as easy as getting a hold of an old friend from high school. They’re all only 140 characters away. We can follow celebrities and friend them – just like anyone we’ve had actual eye-to-eye contact with.

People usually love celebrities because they represent our society’s bizarrely unattainable ideals. They’re traditionally untouchable.

They haven’t had a pimple since the second grade. Their hair is better than a mermaid’s mane. And we could only have bodies like that if we took 19 credits of gym next semester, and even then it might be a stretch.

In the immortal words of Tyler Durden from ‘Fight Club,’ celebrities ‘look like you wanna look.’ Luckily, most of us know it’s a full-time job to look picture perfect 24/7. Rihanna definitely doesn’t wake up looking like Rihanna.

But when the celebrity falls from Mount Olympus onto the social media landscape, they lose a little bit of their sparkle. They are no longer the perfectly made-up cover girls we know are photoshopped and styled to within an inch of their lives.

Celebrities are just like us. They’re addicted to Twitter. They take spin classes. They eat salad but sometimes get hungry. Just this Tuesday, Lady Gaga was complaining about burger cravings.

Although it’s weird to have such a high level of access to a stranger’s life, it can be a good thing. It’s nice to know no one is actually as perfect as they seem during an interview with Ellen Degeneres or in a Vogue spread.

We’re still far from seeing celebrities completely stripped down. Yes, they may tweet pictures of their lunch to millions of followers, but none of us are about to grab coffee with Katy Perry.

Beyonc’s Tumblr is still filled with perfectly shot vacation photos in countries and cities I can’t pronounce. Sadly, I’m pretty sure she isn’t inviting me to join her at the beach anytime soon.

Ariana Romero is a sophomore magazine journalism and political science major. Her column appears every Thursday. She can be reached at akromero@syr.edu or followed on Twitter at @ArianaRomero17.  

Published on April 11, 2012 at 12:00 pm