Too much information

Beyonce has supposedly changed the lyrics of a song about cheating to reflect her own marriage. What has happened to this famously private pop star? asks Caroline Corcoran.

One afternoon, a year ago, I deleted my Facebook account. And that was that. After years of enthusiastic/ridiculous/sometimes slightly drunken communications, I went cold turkey.

When people ask me why, I simply tell them that I was finding it increasingly strange to watch "friends" live out their dramas via status updates. The sort of seemingly attention-seeking posts that attracted comments such as "What's up hon?" and rows of smiley faces. It started to grate. I mean, if things are genuinely looking bleak, isn't it a bit odd to tell 473 people - some of who you haven't seen since the Spice Girls were at their peak - about it, in the hopes of an emoticon? Wouldn't you rather confide in the one flesh-and-blood friend who will go to the shops for you, still in their pajamas if necessary, to buy cookies? A real person, who will listen and try to help?

That's what I reasoned. What I didn't reckon on, was being proved wrong by Beyonce.

Issues

Recently, Beyonce has reportedly been airing her own "issues" in public. The famously private pop star changed the lyrics of her song Resentment - which is all about cheating - at an Ohio concert, so that the details matched those of her own marriage. Wearing a wedding dress on stage, as part of her On the Run tour, she sang, "Been riding with you for 12 years" - the length of her relationship with Jay-Z - instead of the song's usual six. Speculation about the state of their union has since been rife, following his recent bustup with Beyonce's sister Solange after the Met Ball.

This was, I realized, just a different version of the Facebook status cry for help.

If, like me, your earliest nightclub forays were spent working out how to dance to Destiny's Child's Bills, Bills, Bills, you'll recall that Beyonce used to be an intensely private person. It's easy to forget now - with songs about post-vodka sex, statements about her alleged family fallout and wedding videos on the big screen. But, for a long time, Beyonce didn't even acknowledge that she was in a relationship with Jay-Z. She made records, she thanked the fans, then she closed the door. We were forced to get our gossip fixes from Kim Kardashian and a guy who came seventh on last year's X Factor.

Celebrity love lives

Beyonce is not alone. This summer has brought with it a rush of celebrities, dying to air their love lives in public. Think Ed Sheeran's gossipy song Don't about a pop star ex cheating on him, or anything on Robin Thicke's Paula album - dedicated to his estranged wife.

Of course, musicians have long put their own stories of heartbreak and happiness into their songs. But the recent spate seems different somehow. Hitherto private pop stars are laying their souls bare for all to see, via a series of hints. It's the musical equivalent of telling a Facebook army of former school friends that no, everything is not alright.

Clinical Psychologist Jessamy Hibberd agrees. "Celebrities often talk of the writing of song lyrics being cathartic," she says. "They're no different to you and me, they just have a bigger audience. For some it may be a need for attention, any kind of attention. On good days things are great, bad days things are very bad, but essentially it's looking for support, someone to care and validation. Getting it all out is one way to process how you're feeling."

When Beyonce version 2.0 began to emerge, I felt sad that she had succumbed to this share-all version of fame. But was that fair? In 2014, isn't oversharing what people do when things go wrong? Staying quiet and private is increasingly not an option, because the world is not a quiet or a private place. Keep your cards too close to your chest and you risk losing out.

Public sharing

At 32, Beyonce is part of the first generation to see public sharing as normal. She came to maturity at the same time the Internet did. Its allure as a coping strategy isn't that odd to millions like her - so why should pop stars be excluded? Like many of us, has she decided that instead of internalizing her feelings, she will put them out there and see what comes back?

Choosing to suddenly reveal intimate information to the masses makes sense in a counterintuitive way, says Hibberd, when you consider the impersonal nature of the internet (and, for Beyonce, a live audience). "Humans have evolved to be sensitive to nonverbal cues such as body language, facial expressions, tone of voice and gesture," she explains. "All of this is absent when communicating online and as a result people are often more open."

Sharing your deepest worries with a friend, face to face, creates a natural barrier. Their reactions make us consider how much, or how little, to say. But without that personal contact? You're more likely to press the 'post' button on Facebook, or drop a hint in front of a faceless crowd of thousands in Ohio.

Certainly Beyonce's very public sharing has made me reconsider my harshess. I've even started to feel bad for my former Facebook friends who, after all, are coping just like the rest of the internet generation. Indeed, it's almost enough to make me reach for an emoticon. Remorseful face.

(China Daily 08/02/2014 page24)