How much interest can Alysa Liu revive in figure skating in the US?

[Mathman]

I think that the big test will come next season. Will it be necessary for Alysa to continue her figure skating reign -- maybe winning another world championship -- for her sudden spectacular spurt of fame to prove a lasting benefit to the sport? Or will she continue as a class A celebrity even if she doesn't?

 

[noskates]

Saw an interview with her after the ESPYS and she said she's working on her programs for next year. Didn't take any time off after SOI. That's a good sign that she's taking competition seriously.

 

[Anna K.]

Saw an interview with her after the ESPYS and she said she's working on her programs for next year. Didn't take any time off after SOI. That's a good sign that she's taking competition seriously.

She doesn't take her social media presence seriously though Well, maybe she takes it too seriously and that's the reason why she completely neglects her social media content but anyway. She has already lost 50k subscribers in two months and, if the rate goes like that, it may seriously affect both her celebrity status and her role as a promoter of figure skating. Because a modern celebrity is a social media influencer to start with.

The context: her Instagram account kept growing steadily by 1-2 k per day even after Olympics until Alysa confessed in an interview that she had stopped posting on Instagram herself. So, according to her, the account is now run by the person who supervises her work with sponsors. After that, her followers started unsubscribing by 1-2 k per day and her follower number has already dropped from 8.4 to 8.3

 

[decafjava]

She doesn't take her social media presence seriously though Well, maybe she takes it too seriously and that's the reason why she completely neglects her social media content but anyway. She has already lost 50k subscribers in two months and, if the rate goes like that, it may seriously affect both her celebrity status and her role as a promoter of figure skating. Because a modern celebrity is a social media influencer to start with.

The context: her Instagram account kept growing steadily by 1-2 k per day even after Olympics until Alysa confessed in an interview that she had stopped posting on Instagram herself. So, according to her, the account is now run by the person who supervises her work with sponsors. After that, her followers started unsubscribing by 1-2 k per day and her follower number has already dropped from 8.4 to 8.3

Well she has posted some "personal" stuff like picking strawberries and I think she is more into posting the fun stuff on tiktok - again not very often. This is not a completely a bad thing given the stupid comments on her posts for example.

 

[yfan1]

Followers dropping after most of the 'heat' of a celebrity vanishes is normal. Quite a lot of those followers were likely bots to begin.

 

[noskates]

I guess it's all in your frame of reference or maybe your age. I personally don't agree that the number of followers on social media is directly equated to your celebrity - at least not in the US. There are some very famous sports people who occasionally post on social media and yet are considered huge celebrities in their sport and outside their sport. For example - Travis Kelce (even before he was with Taylor Swift!) Simone Biles (who posts about her new house and her husband - not her sport) Tom Brady (who posts pictures of his kids - not football) And I could name many more but I think you get the gist of it. This is just my opinion but I think if you're between the ages of 10 and 30, social media is probably very important. After that - not so much! To keep the interest in figure skating going, Alyssa and other US skaters have to keep winning and the media (TV, magazines, talk shows, etc) have to have renewed focus on figure skating. Alyssa's gold medal is a major step in that direction. It doesn't surprise me at all that she's not focused on social media - kind of goes with a lot of what she's been saying since she returned to figure skating.

 

[decafjava]

Just to add to what I wrote above as I follow Alysa and probably at least 200+ skating related accounts from skaters, fan accounts etc. Some posts like a funny one she posted outside a fast food joint called "Alysa's" which was her own photoshop as she admitted in her comments. Alysa does engage with comments of people she knows like fellow team members etc. but on one else.

 

[moonvine]

Good term! I have this discussion with people on cruise ships. Many of us like dead tree books. Many like tablets. I am sold on dead tree books.
I read lots of history books....I like to go forward, back, bend page corners, even underline....used books are cheep. And you can pack dead tree books in your checked bags.

But they weigh so much. I can fit hundreds, probably thousands, of books on my phone, and I can go forward and back. I can't bend a page corner or underline but I can bookmark and highlight.

 

[Anna K.]

Followers dropping after most of the 'heat' of a celebrity vanishes is normal.

True. Except the "heat" of a celebrity includes every single time when their social media content trends.

I think if you're between the ages of 10 and 30, social media is probably very important.

Which is the exact demographic group whose interest brought Alysa mainstream.

Just to add to what I wrote above as I follow Alysa and probably at least 200+ skating related accounts from skaters, fan accounts etc.

Right, this situation was very obvious during the SOI tour: Alysa didn't post but there were heaps of Alysa-related content - all kinds of content, fun, cute, skating-related, personal, whatever, I even stopped bringing it over to Alysa's fanfest thread because there was too much of it - all posted by a range of small accounts. Like, everybody posting about Alysa except Alysa herself.
Apparently, it doesn't make much difference for a die-hard fan from where to get a daily dose of Alysa.
The question that should make a difference for Alysa though is: are her sponsors and partners happy with this situation?

 

[yfan1]

No it doesn't. There are big events, and there are small events. ESPY is a very small event - almost entirely US-centric - compared to the Olympics with multiple celebs watching.

 

[Mathman]

All of this discussion makes me a little sad, to be honest. Do we really think that the sport of figure skating benefits by an A-list celebrity walking around with a Gucci bag?

I think that in general sports stars are sports stars because of their accomplishments on the field of play. IMHO the key is, will Alysa continue to pile up the skating trophies (as Usain Bolt piled up the victories at 100 meters)? Or will her legacy be, she used to be cool, who's next?

 

[yfan1]

Do we really think that the sport of figure skating benefits by an A-list celebrity walking around with a Gucci bag?

No.

That in general was my position on this thread.

Eteri Tutberidze used to carry around a Louis Vuitton handbag. I don't feel anyone cares about her because of that reason.

 

[noskates]

I absolutely disagree that the 10-30 crowd brought Alyssa into the mainstream. Did you go to SOI? If so, did you look at what appeared to be the average person in attendance? It was pretty mixed in St. Louis and, for once, included a lot of men in the crowd and most definitely women over the age of 30. And walking around with an LV bag is kind of a silly statement. She's gaining fans because (1) she's an American and won a gold medal at the Olympics; (2) she's unapologetically herself; and (3) she's very likeable and seemingly approachable and gives an interesting interview. Oh, and (4) she's quite talented. People for the most part like her! The latter point alone wouldn't be enough. In this age and time where regular TV exposure is held to a minimum when it comes to competitions, and you have to pay to see entire comps, anything positive that calls attention to figure skating is a bonus. I'm kind of baffled why a lot of posters are being fairly negative toward Alyssa and her future. What's up with that?

 

[Arigato]

I'm kind of baffled why a lot of posters are being fairly negative toward Alyssa and her future. What's up with that?

They're pissed off she won without skating to really, really old Michael Jackson music.

 

[Mathman]

I'm kind of baffled why a lot of posters are being fairly negative toward Alyssa and her future. What's up with that?

I don't think that anyone is being negative towards Alysa. I do, however, see some pushback against the notion that the way to measure the value of athletes' contributions to their sports is by how many Instagram followers they have.

 

[Mathman]

By the way, I think that the significance of Alysa's Espy award for "best breakthrough athlete" is that figure skating was recognized as a "real sport" and she won in competition with both men and woman making their "breakthroughs" in a variety of athletic disciplines. Since 2007 the Espy winners in this category represented rugby, basketball, skiing, basketball, American football, basketball, American football, baseball, baseball, American football, American football, basketball, basketball, baseball, American football, American football, American football.

Similarly, I think that the poll of international sportswriters who listed Yuzuru Hanyu among the top athletes of the last hundred years -- that's huge to see a figure skater assailing the fortress reserved for association football players for men, tennis players for women.

 

[skylark]

I absolutely disagree that the 10-30 crowd brought Alyssa into the mainstream. Did you go to SOI? If so, did you look at what appeared to be the average person in attendance? It was pretty mixed in St. Louis and, for once, included a lot of men in the crowd and most definitely women over the age of 30. And walking around with an LV bag is kind of a silly statement..... She's gaining fans because (1) she's an American and won a gold medal at the Olympics; (2) she's unapologetically herself; and (3) she's very likeable and seemingly approachable and gives an interesting interview. Oh, and (4) she's quite talented. People for the most part like her! The latter point alone wouldn't be enough. In this age and time where regular TV exposure is held to a minimum when it comes to competitions, and you have to pay to see entire comps, anything positive that calls attention to figure skating is a bonus. I'm kind of baffled why a lot of posters are being fairly negative toward Alyssa and her future. What's up with that?

A lot of people like to criticize and take the "opposite" view.

I've been wanting to bring up an article I read before the Olympics. The writer's theme was that in the USA, it's historically been the Women's (or Ladies') single skaters in figure skating who have really amped up the attention and enthusiasm from fans. Nathan, Ilia, Jason are great, but they haven't, so far, amped up the attention like Kristi, Tara, and Michelle did.

So that article was written before Alysa skyrocketed. I thought it was a valid point. And it speaks exactly to the question of this thread.

"How much interest can Alysa Liu revive in figure skating in the US?"

Just look at how much she's already done to revive it. The negative answers in this thread are behind the times.

She's gaining fans because (1) she's an American and won a gold medal at the Olympics; (2) she's unapologetically herself; and (3) she's very likeable and seemingly approachable and gives an interesting interview. Oh, and (4) she's quite talented.

that's the ball game! If this wave doesn't last as long as the Kristi, Tara, Michelle wave did, it's probably as much the fan environment has changed, not the response to Alysa.

 

[Anna K.]

I don't think that anyone is being negative towards Alysa. I do, however, see some pushback against the notion that the way to measure the value of athletes' contributions to their sports is by how many Instagram followers they have.

Allright, I got it. So, your notion is that the exposure of an athlete to the public has nothing to do with athlete's contribution to the sport and hence shouldn't be discussed on this thread. Oh, wait, the exposure has to do when it's television or dead tree but not Instagram because Instagram wasn't here in the eighties.
No problem with that. There are other platforms where I can discuss it if I feel interested

 

[Mathman]

Tthat's the ball game! If this wave doesn't last as long as the Kristi, Tara, Michelle wave did, it's probably as much the fan environment has changed, not the response to Alysa.

There is also the "chicken or the egg" question. Kristi, Michelle and Tara were big because figure skating was big. Plus, Kristi, after winning the Olympic gold medal, went to and won Worlds that year and then embarked on a stellar ten-year reign as a pro skater,with Stars on Ice and in non-trivial pro competitions like the World Pro.

Michelle, after winning the Olympic silver medal in 1998 went on to win 4 more world championships. Tara's career was briefer (and her impact on the sport was smaller than for Kristi and Michelle).

In the decades since we have witnessed a steady decline of interest in figure skating in the U.S. To me, this is simply a case of, tastes in entertainment change. Now Alysa steps into the eye of the perfect storm. Will the force of her personality, her general "coolness," and a hip PR flurry be enough to turn things around? Or will she have to skate for it?

 

[mayiko]

She doesn't take her social media presence seriously though Well, maybe she takes it too seriously and that's the reason why she completely neglects her social media content but anyway. She has already lost 50k subscribers in two months and, if the rate goes like that, it may seriously affect both her celebrity status and her role as a promoter of figure skating. Because a modern celebrity is a social media influencer to start with.

The context: her Instagram account kept growing steadily by 1-2 k per day even after Olympics until Alysa confessed in an interview that she had stopped posting on Instagram herself. So, according to her, the account is now run by the person who supervises her work with sponsors. After that, her followers started unsubscribing by 1-2 k per day and her follower number has already dropped from 8.4 to 8.3

Alysa has a history with social media when she became famous at 13, including threats, comments about her growing body and general creepy stuff. She has set boundaries to protect her mental health. This is one of the reasons why she did so well at the Olympics.