The Twilight Saga has certainly made its impact on pop culture. There's hardly a day that goes by when Perez doesn't dig up some juicy dirt on cast members, the leak of the New Moon trailer created quite a stir, and if trending topics are any indication, Twilight's certainly been a recurring meme on Twitter as well.
We're living in pretty remarkable times though, because as we all turn to the web to dish about our favorite movies, television shows, and Hollywood drama, the very same stars that we chatter on about are also doing so, right alongside us. Stars are more than hip to the power of social media for their own personal branding, which is why they've embraced Twitter to communicate directly with their fans, and are constantly working on savvy social initiatives to make the most of, and possibly extend, their 15 minutes.
Peter Facinelli and Billy Burke, stars of Twilight and its next two chapters — New Moon and Eclipse, are two prime examples of celebrity social media users with business on the brain. Both stars are making names for themselves in Hollywood, but they're also making their stamp on the Twittersphere, and using their own custom iPhone branded apps to reinforce the fan connection. In fact, you could say that both of them have crafted strong online and mobile presences that make them incredibly accessible to their fans.
Since Facinelli and Burke seem to have really embraced the social space, we thought it would make for an interesting discussion to chat with the New Moon stars about their iPhone apps, developed by 211(me), why they've turned to the social web, how they feel about directly connecting with fans, and what they hope to gain by using the web as their own personal media outlet.
Facinelli, Burke, and 211(me)'s CEO Robert DeFranco will be joining us today at 3pm ET for a candid and casual discussion on all things social media, as well as some New Moon disclosures and Eclipse news. We hope you'll tune in for the live webcast on mashable.com/chat (note: we will open the chat up at 3pm ET). In the meantime, we've included some additional information to get you up to speed on the stars' bios and social media presence.
Peter Facinelli
Facinelli is currently filming the third Twilight installment, Eclipse, in Vancouver and using Twitter to talk about behind-the-scenes action from the set. Facinelli's also posting exclusive video and photo content to his own branded iPhone app.
The Peter Facinelli LiveStream [iTunes $1.99] app houses a hodgepodge of video, photos, and music, provides fans with quick access to his Twitter updates and gives them a way to tweet within the app, and uses Facebook Connect for iPhone so fans can leave video comments, ask questions, and participate in a fan chat.
Billy Burke
Like Facinelli, Burke tweets and uses his iPhone app, also built by 211(me), to share exclusive content while making Eclipse. The Twitter noob may be fresh to the Twittersphere, but he's certainly embraced the platform for the occasional witty tweet, and he's definitely not afraid to poke fun at his own naiveté, update on personal and family adventures, and reply to fan inquires.
His iPhone app, Billy Burke Live [iTunes $1.99], is an extension of his Twitter presence and includes photos, videos, fan chat, Facebook and Twitter integration, and personal video and audio updates from his life as a Twilight star.
Live chat at 3pm ET