Live31 generated so much buzz it soon caught the attention of
Kylie Bisutti, winner of the 2009 Victoria’s Secret Model Search. She
had spent several years modeling lingerie for the company, but quit in
2011 because of her Christian faith. On Dec. 21, she tweeted Eklund: “I
stopped being a Victoria’s Secret Model to become a Proverbs 31 wife!”
When Alex Eklund updated his Facebook status on Nov. 30, he had no idea it would make him a social media star.
Eklund was studying in the Baylor University library when he noticed a
theme among his friends’ status updates. During the airing of the
annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show on CBS, girls posted updates like
“I’m going to have to hit the gym after this” and “I’m going to starve
myself for a week.” Although Eklund assumed his friends didn’t mean the
statements seriously, they still made him uneasy.
“There was an underlying sense of insecurity which I sensed throughout the entire thing,” he said.
On a whim, Eklund posted in response, “I’d rather have a Proverbs 31 woman than a Victoria’s Secret model.”
Almost instantly, Eklund’s post went viral. Both negative and
positive comments piled up on his wall as friends, friends of friends
and total strangers reposted his comment. During the next few days,
Eklund discovered the power of social media to capture an audience,
cultivate a following and spread a message.
Some people, like Eklund, stumble on the social networks’ ability to
create overnight celebrities and scramble to make use of their instant
audience. Others, like former Victoria’s Secret model Kylie Bisutti,
leverage their social media presence to help strengthen their brand. And
sometimes, the two strategies overlap. Continue at Christina Darnell
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