The missing poster boys and girls

You knew you had made it big when fans start decorating their walls with your latest photographs. But is today’s generation following the same trend? With people downloading wallpapers, do posters still garner the same attention that they used to?
From SRK to Hrithik to Sachin, about a decade back when technology had not leaped out of our imagination to reality, everyone was seen on the walls. These days, though there has been no decrease in star power, you don’t see many posters of celebrities. The trend now is to have digital wallpapers on computer screens and cellphones, instead of the walls of your room. “A few years back when computer and Internet were not that common, we saw our favourite stars on posters. We also used to carry their photographs in our wallets. Now people do not need such things,” says Abhinav, a marketing professional.

Young people now have their own laptop, so they keep their favourite star as a wallpaper on their desktop or on their mobile phones which they carry everywhere. “Digital wallpapers are available at almost negligible cost and can be changed at one’s will. Those are really big plus points,” says Akiesh, a student.

Earlier, these options were not available. So the easiest choice was pasting a poster on the wall. Now there are much easier options available. With sites like Twitter allowing the public to follow minute to minute happenings of celebrities, there is so much more you can do to show your love for your favourite star. “The concept of fan following and love for the celebrities remains the same, only the ways to express them have become different because of technology,” says Robin, a professional.

But yes, there is some charm in having that poster in your room which not only describes your love for a particular person but is also a life-long memory. “I have a huge life-size photo of John Abraham in my room,” says Ankita, a student. “I keep it because I am a huge fan of his,” she adds.