Poonam Pandey Talks About Her Love for Social Media [Interview]

Whether you are her fan or not, you just can't ignore the fact that she is one of India's most active celeb on social media. She might be having less fans than BigB or Shah Rukh Khan, but none of them generate as much buzz as she does on Twitter.

That is Poonam Pandey for you.

And not just buzz, she has her own legion of die hard fans! All earned in just a little more than one year.

So when I was told that I would be interviewing Poonam Pandey over phone, I was all eager to know how she has managed to build such a vibrant community around her. Following is the transcript from the interview.

There are so many social media platforms out there like Facebook and YouTube, but Twitter seems to be your favorite. Any specific reason?

I love to interact with my fans and I personally believe that Twitter is the biggest platform to interact with them. It's very simple to use and communicating with people is very easy. Also, the 140 character limit keeps the conversations short and simple. And it's fun!

Do you have a set schedule in mind that decides which photos to upload when?

No.. no.. no! I don't plan about what photos to upload at what time. Things are not planned at all. They just go with the flow. Remember the bathing pictures I uploaded? They were totally unplanned and were being uploaded in real-time. Basically, I upload them whenever I feel like.

What kind of responses do you get whenever you upload any photo? Your @mentions tab must be getting flooded with replies and Retweets.

Well you have to check that for yourself on Twitter! Wonderful responses I get. Bahut mazaa aata hai, bahut funny tweets aate hain (It's a lot of fun, I get very funny tweets). They are really interesting and there's tons and tons of replies that I get. I just enjoy it. But it's not necessary that I get a flood of replies whenever I upload a photo.

Even if it's just a quote, my mentions tab gets filled with replies.

Any favorite tweet that you have come across and would like to share with us?

Actually, before you had called I was going through my fan tweets. Well, there are a few people who constantly tweet asking me to get married to them or else they will do something. And then there are tweets that are so silly, they are really fun to read.

Do you make efforts to meet your fans offline?

No I haven't met them as such apart from the contest that I had organized on Valentine's Day where the winner could meet me. Apart from that, people spot me at various places and then they tweet back saying they had spotted me at a certain place wearing this particular dress. This happens almost every day.

Would you like to organize a Swayamwar or any reality show around you based entirely on social media?

I am just a 20 year old girl! This is not an age for me to enter in a swayamvar. Well I haven't given thought about reality shows on social media yet. Right now, I am focussing more on the promotion of my latest movie.

Has social media reduced your dependence on traditional media channels such as TV and print?

I personally believe that Social media is the biggest platform out there. I won't compare it with TV, but I believe this is the biggest place to interact with all your fans from across the globe.

What would you prefer: trending on Twitter or a front page on Bombay Times?

Well, this is really an interesting question that you have asked. See, to be very honest I would prefer Twitter. As they say in hindi, janmon janmon ka rishta hai. How would you feel if your voice is take away from you? Such is the relationship between me and Twitter. So it will always be Twitter for me.

Do you think the fame that you have attained through social media has brought you work assignments as well?

Yes I have received a lot of offers and have rejected them, more than 30-40. Whichever reality show you name or items numbers in movies, so many offers I have received but I have rejected them. It's not necessary that you grab whatever comes your way. It depends on what you want to take and what you want to leave.

YouTube has deactivated your account for violation of community guidelines. Your thoughts?

Well, the fact that YouTube was incorrect or not to deactivate it doesn't concern me at all because if my fans want to watch my videos they will watch it anyhow. Moreover, those are old videos and they are everywhere now, so deactivating my channel won't affect it.

Which is that one fellow celeb whose tweets you love to read?

Well, to be honest there's no one in particular, and nor would I like to take names. But if you like someone's tweets you follow them. There are some folks who are not necessarily celebs but whatever they write you just like it.

Apart from fans, you must be having trolls as well. Every celeb has. What is your opinion about them?

I don't care about what they talk about. See, I am doing my own thing that I feel like doing. To me, it doesn't matter what they write. I just ignore them. I mean, why to even bother yaar. I don't go out there and judge somebody so who are they to judge me. I am doing my own thing and they are doing their own.

What would Poonam Pandey have done if there were no social media channels?

Yaar why are you talking of such a negative thing? Don't say that, please don't say that. As I said before, the connection between me and social media is very deep. So I can't think of such a thing even in my worst nightmares.

--

Peppy, grounded and a good conversationalist, the interview with Poonam Pandey was a breeze. No wonder she has a passionate fan following.

Want us to interview your favorite social media celeb? Mention their names in the comments below and we would  do all our best to get them interviewed for you.