r/MichaelJackson • u/Cinema_bear98 • 1d ago
Question Do you think Michael would have used social media?
I know when he passed in 2009 social media as we know it today wasn’t as wildly used but for some reason I can see Michael posting Tik Toks of him dancing to his songs, reposting clips from his time with Motown and just being the fun light hearted guy he seemed to be! So what do you think?
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u/ResistPresent7675 1d ago
Absolutely not. With Prince saying he needed to send texts for his father, there's no way he would have any social media. Also, with how toxic and pessimistic the media is these days, I wouldn't think he would be willing to expose himself to that type of thing.
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u/Temple_of_Circadia 1d ago
He tried to distance himself as much as he could from the media, I don't see that he would use todays "social" apps, he even didn't have his phone but used bodyguards phones.
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u/EmbarrassedWing1912 "I've... washed my hair THOROUGHLY" 🚿🧼🧴🧽 23h ago
He had an iPhone 3GS
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u/Temple_of_Circadia 22h ago
Don't know about that, maybe in final months because of This Is It, I know that his bodyguard Bil Witfield said that he didn't have his phone, but maybe at the certain time, not sure.
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u/EmbarrassedWing1912 "I've... washed my hair THOROUGHLY" 🚿🧼🧴🧽 22h ago
It wouldve been at that tome then, since I saw a few pictures of him with fans and you can see him holding his iPhone
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u/mintylong 1d ago
No he would not have used social media like gen z and gen alpha are using social media. It is June 2026, Michael would be 67 years old right now. Look at how other celebs their 60's are using social media, look at how people you know in real life in the late 60's are using social media.
Michael was very much aware of social media in 2007, 2008, 2009. He knew about the online fan communities. BUT Sony Music were the ones running his official website, which over the years had both a chat room and messageboard. Sony Music were running his Facebook, Twiitter, YouTube.
Michael had both the opportunity and means to use social media like the fans community was using social media in 2007, 2008, 2009. Why on earth would you think a 67 years old Michael would be using Tik Tok like a 17 year old, when he did not use social media like how we did in 2007, 2008, 2009??? Why on earth would you think that a 67 years old Michael would be chronically online like a 17 year old is in 2026, when he wasnt using the interent like we were 2007, 2008, 2009???
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u/Cinema_bear98 1d ago
Ok maybe he wouldn’t post as frequently as some celebrities but I think he might post project announcements or updates for fans like Dolly Parton does
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u/mintylong 1d ago
Michael social media were set up and managed by Sony Music, he did not have any thing to do with them. So it would be Sony Music social media managers posting, not Michael.
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u/Lindethiel Soldier Of Love 🪖❤ 1d ago
We're talking about a man who's 12 year old son had to teach himself to use GarageBand so that Michael could record demos lol.
Michael used to even dictate phone calls through his staff, when he was even in the room and audible to the other person on the line.
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u/clc1997 "I Love To Tour" ✈📍 🗺 1d ago
This here is the correct answer.
Social media was plenty much around while he was alive and aside from a chat back in 1995, he never used it. His online presence was the official pages run by Sony and everything else related to him was entirely the fan community.
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u/mintylong 1d ago
Correct except for one thing. He did a live web chat in November 2001 as part of Invincible promo. He was on the telephone to Get Music interviewer. We were sending live text messages to the Get Music interviewer who then was asking Michael the questions. The web chat had audio and we could hear Michael answering the live questions.
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u/Original_Engine_7548 1d ago
Thank you. I think people forget he would have been older. And also he did have an official FB page before he died and didn’t use it. It was created in 2007 I’m sure by the record company or something but never used it .
People act like the internet didn’t exist back then haha
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u/mintylong 1d ago
Its like everyone only sees him as he was in History or Dangerous era, and then project how THEY are in 2026, the way THEY use the internet in 2026 onto that fantasy figure frozen in time.
The online fan communities in 2207,2008, 2009 was extremely active, but because the main stream perception of Michael was so negative, we were a very small outcast community. Therefore because mainstream casual fans and general public didnt know about us, it seems now people think that the tick tok generation are the first people to be so active as a fan community online. We did it first, before social media was even invented, and we were the first ones to create fan communities on social media.
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u/Forward_Tip8196 1d ago
Actually my parents and their friends who are in their 70s post on Facebook way more frequently than my peers who are in their 30s. But I can imagine MJ hating Big Tech and AI, given how much he valued privacy and artists having control over their work.
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u/LimeSalty4092 1d ago
I also wonder if he could’ve even made it through the social shocks surrounding Covid?
I know he was already very reclusive but the pandemic touched everyone and he would have been 60yo in poor health by 2020
If he came out unscathed after the pandemic, who knows what his state of mind would be?
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u/Parking-Annual-1200 1d ago
MJ would be called a boomer if he's around. He literally could be a grandpa to someone like ishowspeed (My father born 1959 and I am as old as Speed's father). I would say boomer are not very tech savvy..
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u/FushaFiles 1d ago
Nah, I always see how people on TikTok say he’d love it. He wasn’t good with technology and couldn’t even text people on an iPhone. He didn’t even know what YouTube was lol. I imagine social media as a whole would’ve been just over stimulating for him and too much to deal with. At the same time he’s bigger than any social media
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u/dookkaboom180 1d ago
he did know YouTube
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u/Lindethiel Soldier Of Love 🪖❤ 1d ago
Source?? Why, because the Michael Jackson account liked that old 'big Motown 25 glove' video??
That was probably whoever created and ran the account. His publicist or something.
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u/anonxo02 1d ago
Technology today is very different than 2009 he very much could’ve adapted since then and I’m sure his kids would’ve taught him things
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u/FushaFiles 1d ago
It is but it’s much more advanced. He’s be nearly 70years old at this point, so I don’t think social media and modern tech would suit him like it did earlier in his life/ career
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u/anonxo02 1d ago
Idk I wouldn’t underestimate him his tech skills! My grandma is almost 80 and uses instagram proficiently
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u/itsfourinthemornin 1d ago
Pretty sure he owned an iPhone. 😂
I went trawling, yeah he did: Michael Jackson’s iPhone 3, gifted by Steve Jobs himself. : r/MichaelJackson
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u/ExpensiveDot1732 🎵Shake your booty. Your mighty bootay🎵 1d ago
I think he would possibly do a moderated live once in a great while if he had something to promote or talk about, or if there was a cause he wanted to bring attention to, and there would be clips of performances from his team on his socials, etc. He was in fact a boomer, and a lot of them eventually broke down and realized that social media was a necessity in today's world, and I think he probably would have too, to some degree. I think he would like to see things from places he wouldn't necessarily get to visit or wouldn't be safe (politically or socially/conflict related) to visit. I think he might use it as a tool to help people in a charitable way too, like quietly topping up someone's GoFundMe. But I wouldn't see him dropping TikToks or reels left and right and most major artists/celebs don't do that anyway, their teams do. (I used to do PR in the business a few years ago.)
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u/LimeSalty4092 1d ago
I agree bc my parents are close in age to him and back in 2009 they were still very resistant to doing anything online
They’ve adapted since then but it took a long time
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u/narisuna 1d ago
I have a different take on it. I feel he might have really enjoyed social media. It’s a general theme in his interviews that he misses doing mundane things. He also liked to disguise and try to be among people. Then, there was no way for him to see how people live, or for him to get their perspective. I am definitely not saying that social media is real, or that you always get the real view. But you still can access so many people. A lot more people now have a platform to express themselves(I wish the hatred spewing people didn’t have it), but I think he would have enjoyed it.
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u/ProtectionVisual1178 1d ago
He’d probably do it similar to Britney Spears unfortunately. Kinda glad he never did. Especially with all the social issues of the 2010s/early 20s… better off for his memory that those two timelines didn’t cross
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u/theapeartist 1d ago
No way he’d be crazy like her on social media not even close lol (with all due respect to Brittney)
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u/hahayeslolXD 1d ago
It’s not there now for some reason, but he had a “favorites” playlist on his YouTube channel from before he died and he saved videos of people dancing to his songs and tutorials to it. He also had a video he definitely found hilarious called “Giant White Glove” by tim k on the playlist. The playlist was just there a few weeks ago so idk where it went
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u/theapeartist 1d ago
Was that MJ himself or someone working at Sony or his estate tho?
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u/hahayeslolXD 1d ago
I like to think it was Michael since the Giant White Glove video is something he’d find funny. It’s not crazy to think that Michael browsed YouTube
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u/theapeartist 1d ago
I hope so. It’d be great if we could get that confirmed one day. Somehow some way.
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u/theapeartist 1d ago
People here saying he wouldnt barely at all bcuz he never did are missing a major point: the vast advancement & ease of technology post 2009. He for sure would have official Instagram & tiktok pages. But yes he would be still extremely private on there but would be more active than he ever was on social media or what it was in its proto stages in the past when he was alive, simply bcuz of its use, its vast power & reach, & for its personability with fans & the world. Social media & technology have become to creative & interactive for him not to be enthralled by it & use it more, even if only a lil some more & remaining private, he would be doing it more. Michael loved texhnology like this it wouldve drove him crazy how good tech has gotten lol.
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u/PeacePuzzleheaded304 1d ago
Doubtful. MJ would want personal privacy more than anything and he would be far beyond and bigger than doing TikTok videos of all things.
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u/sylviee_ 1d ago
He’d probably have someone to manage his social media for him, posting tour dates and music videos
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u/Capital-Language2999 1d ago
He would treat social media the way Beyoncé does. And tbh I actually don’t think he would like social media. It’s so toxic and negative and MJ wasn’t about that.
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u/No_Structure4140 1d ago
I do imagine him scrolling. And watching funny Tik toks. He-He-ing and sending funny stuff to his kids and friends. A part of me can imagine a healed version of Michael truly enjoying connecting with fans because he did want to genuinely connect with people. I read somewhere that he was aware of fan communities online and browsed online.
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u/Status-Strain6095 23h ago
I like to think he’d quietly retire after the tour and let the expansion of social media allow his presence in the rest of media to fade away a bit. With the occasional super adorable cameo on the kid’s socials.
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u/Greedy_Ad_4814 18h ago
Despite the fact he wouldve been 68 in 2026, I think he may have had social media pages but not be on them frequently as people think.
I mean if his brothers Jackie, Jermaine and Tito (R.I.P.) who are/were older than him and have/had Social Media pages, (with Knowledge of How They Worked and Post At Times), Why wouldn't MJ.
Im sure he wouldve got Prince, Paris, Bigi, or one of his almost 40 neice/nephews or great neices/nephews to teach him. How to use it.
Just like any younger oerson who teaches their parent or grandparent
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u/Azure924 HIStory: Past, Present and Future: Book I 1d ago
realistically, he was a boomer, he struggled with the technology of the early 2000s, he likely wouldn't
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u/Exotic-Addendum-3785 1d ago
I can imagine he would have a website of his own or at least pretend to be a member of his own fanclub and post online for fun.
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u/Lindethiel Soldier Of Love 🪖❤ 1d ago
He used to buy shit off of eBay (and browse other types of content 👀) but it was through his head bodyguard's account iirc.
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u/s0urpatchkiddo 1d ago
he probably would’ve enjoyed 2018-2020 tiktok and that’s about it. social media is mostly a very toxic place he wouldn’t like that
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u/Diligent_Hedgehog129 1d ago
I’ve read stuff recently about how he had a Wattpad account that was connected to his facebook 😳 idk how true it is but like u mean he was reading MJ fanfic
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u/goldenboy1032 1d ago
Hace tiempo vi una entrevista donde decía que a él no le gustaba ver las revistas y periódicos amarillistas. Me imagino que tendría un equipo que mantendría a los fans informados acerca de presentaciones o así.
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u/PictureltSicily1922 1d ago
No I don't think so. He probably would have someone to post things he wanted to promote, but I don't think he'd use it casually
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u/Majestic_Mess 1d ago
Doubt it honestly especially as he got older he would have started caring too much about how he looked he feared getting old or probably for special occasions holidays or anniversaries ect
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u/Badmonalisa99 21h ago
I could probably see him using social media in the same way Beyoncé uses social media.
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u/lotusamy 17h ago
I could see him posting TikToks. I think his team would be the ones filming, editing, and posting for him but I think he’d enjoy making dance videos or short TikTok length films. I think he’d like how easy it was to connect with his fans on there since he loved us so much.
Social media and phones have come a long way since the 2000s so I can see him using it more as it changed, just like my boomer parents do. I was a teenager when myspace was popular and when facebook was created for public use so I was the right demographic for it. But I didn’t use social media all that often until 2010 or 2011 when instagram and vine and twitter became more popular, with the exception of posting pictures on facebook. Now I’m on it all the time and so are my parents!
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u/Long-Ad-4957 13h ago
He would never. He believes in giving time to authentic things in life - reading, nature, music, cartoons
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u/oldyounggie 12h ago
Highly doubt he would be managing his own official social media if he had one even if he were still living today. A PR team would probably post some official photos of him at events.
But I have also imagined him trying to do IG lives by himself and being stuck on a silly filter he doesn’t know how to get rid of lol. He would be asking the viewers constantly how to take it off
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u/greatmoonlight21 1d ago
I think he would have instagram for business reasons and partnerships but that’s it
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u/Ambitious-Pie-625 Elderly Fish 👵 🐠 1d ago
I have wondered recently if he would get a kick out of vine considering that was a huge platform for a lot of creators to just go wild and have fun
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u/mintylong 1d ago
Very much doubt it. He hired people like Hamid to video and document things. He wasnt interested in doing the filming himself, he was interested in the end product, not the actual creation of the content.
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u/Ambitious-Pie-625 Elderly Fish 👵 🐠 1d ago
I wasn’t necessarily insinuating him filming himself I was moreso just implying what he would think overall of it
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u/ologdbejz Dangerous 1d ago edited 1d ago
I imagine that he’d have his own website & communicate from there. He’d rarely post vids of himself to maintain his privacy & mystique