This Play Style is all about people and their personal stories. Socialites gravitate toward others as a means to develop themselves. They are curious about who someone is and how they will behave mixed with other personalities or in varying circumstances. By socializing and forming relationships, fans of this Play Style go through a process of their own personal growth and self-discovery.
While there are a variety of ways that this Play Style comes to life, the most unifying theme is the connections between people. Roleplaying and storytelling are standard tools for the Socialite, as they bring people together through a shared narrative. Humor and comedy are prevalent within this Play Style, as well as drama, for the same reasons.
Naturally, social media is the Socialite's wish come true, the answer to their hope for constant human interaction. This Play Style demonstrates the medium's real potential – connecting fans to discuss and share their passion. Through online content, Socialites can get closer to their favorite characters, relive memorable interactions, and share experiences that foster a sense of community.
Socialites enjoy interactions between characters in a story, but they enjoy experiencing them with friends and family even more. Fans will capture and share standout moments and relive them with peers through many formats: compilations, supercuts, storyboards, and more. Various online forums like Reddit and Facebook allow for in-depth conversation around this type of content.
In Master of None, Aziz Ansari and his co-stars present viewers with scene after scene of relatable human moments. But what makes the show so distinctive is nothing ever happens to just one character, the relationships and interactions between people drive the plot. The very human dynamics resonate so profoundly with fans that they capture their favorite moments to share with the community online in a format befitting of a back-and-forth.
At face value, Overwatch, an online shooting game, doesn't appear to be for Socialites. In actuality, the game necessitates collaboration between people to play effectively. With such a strong emphasis on communication, there’s a lot of room for naturally occurring comedy, as well as orchestrated humor. YouTuber Dabacabb has grown a following by creating countless videos which compile funny moments and silly interactions between characters.
In La La Land, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone sing and dance alongside stunning backdrops that each capture the mood and state of their romance. Fans latch onto these highly specific moments and relate their own romantic experiences to them. Some will even edit videos that curate their favorite scenes in an artistic and personally expressive way, then share them via #lalalandedit, where the community can relive the moments through a new lens together.
When the entertainment stops, Socialites keep the party going. Fans of this Play Style are most likely to energize groups of people, and they often accomplish this through fun and games. Socialites will facilitate interactive group activities online and off, all within the theme of their favorite movie, video game, or TV show. The goal of these is always just shared fun, plain and simple.
Disney•Pixar’s Coco appeals to an audience young and old who understand the importance of letting loose and just having a little bit of fun. The film’s music and lyrics appeal to this Socialite desire and brings audiences together. After watching the movie and experiencing the soundtrack, fans turn to YouTube to participate in Coco-inspired games and karaoke-like video challenges such as "Finish The Lyrics."
The sitcom New Girl creates a social atmosphere that's ideal for party viewing: it’s a show about a group of roommates and their relationships with one another, as well as the outsiders who find themselves inside the friend group’s orbit. Many fans of the show will watch in the company of friends and turn the experience into a drinking game, where people take a swig or shot anytime a character does something that’s “so them."
Persona 5 is a role-playing game that places a heavy emphasis on relationship development and dialogue, much like a soap opera. What enables all of this is a visual dialogue menu, which helps players navigate various interactions in the game. The interface is so notable that it's taken on a life of its own, where fans create mashups featuring the menu juxtaposed with images from other types of entertainment, one particularly popular example being this Seinfeld still.
Socialites observe other people, fictional or not, to learn from and inform their own identity. Online, this plays out in a very public way. Fans find characters that speak to them and self-identify with them to their peers, through everything from graphics to cosplay. To better understand the world around them, Socialites will even categorize their friends and family based on their personality likeness to other characters.
OITNB introduces viewers to a wide range of inmates that they get to know over time. Each one has a distinct personality which informs their interactions with other characters in various prison scenarios. The added complexities of race wars, gang relations, and romance lead to an elaborate web of connections. Cheat sheets like this one help fans keep track of the characters and consequently self-identify with them.
Fans of the game Life Is Strange love it for the realistic and relatable characters. It's common to see audiences cosplay, then share photos with peers on specific forums, like Facebook Groups. However, Socialites are much more likely to take it to the next level and arrange real-life LIS meetups. Here, fans can create personalized social scenarios where characters interact in ways not necessarily featured in the game, then share the resulting photos online.
Girls Trip features four friends who, after years separated, reconnect to party like their younger selves. Dina is the wild one, Lisa's a mom, Sasha is the gossiper, and Ryan is a boss. On social media, fans publicly self-identify with these characters. One Socialite even recreated a movie poster featuring their kids, reminding us of a timeless truth... that children are a proxy for parents' self-expression, as being a parent makes up a significant part of their publicly portrayed identity.
There are countless case studies for the Socialite Play Style, both online and off. The most successful are those best at connecting fans to a story's characters or connecting them with other fans for shared experiences. They provide a memorable interaction with another like-minded Socialite or a deepened understanding of another person.
The hit show Riverdale is thriving thanks to its actors, and more specifically, their lively social presence. The cast extends its interactions with each other to a young Socialite audience, sharing pranks via Instagram Stories or even becoming "Instagram Official." All of these one-off interactions coalesce into a more holistic experience, where the lines between social dynamics on and off set blur. And the magic is that all of these interactions feel completely organic, which is precisely how CW wants it to feel.
In 2017, Despicable Me 3 launched a campaign that dove deep into its hero character, Gru, and took fans on a journey of connections. By partnering with DNA testing service 23andMe, fans could learn more about Gru and his familial origins through his Genetic Journey. This partnership was part of an even more extensive campaign, including a variety of fun Socialite activations, featuring everything from a karaoke YouTube challenge to branded Tic Tacs.
A Way Out is a unique cooperative adventure game for the PS4. Thanks to its dynamic split-screen feature, players can experience the story collaboratively and while in the same room. To demonstrate this promise to Socialites, EA had Conan O’Brien and the Clueless Gamer team live stream their playthrough of the game. The result is fun, engaging, and gives insight into what makes the game special (couch co-op) while using a format that itself is communal.
Chuck Lorre's latest sitcom, Disjointed, features a diverse and entertaining cast of characters who manage a weed dispensary. To tap into the genre's Socialite audience, Netflix hosted a pop-up event at a local LA dispensary, remodeled to look exactly like the dispensary from the show. Fans could visit, hang out, and even purchase a variety of Netflix show-branded strains like ‘Banana Stand Kush,' inspired by Arrested Development and “VodKush,” inspired by Chelsea Handler.
