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Even if Matthew McConaughey doesn’t win a lead actor Emmy for his role on HBO’s “True Detective,” there may be consolation. He might be asked to accept — then shake — a comically oversized tablet computer emblazoned with Facebook’s logo.

The device, developed by Facebook FB 0.00% and a marketing company, is called the “Mentions Box,” and it’s designed to connect fans on Facebook with their favorite celebrities. Facebook plans to deploy it at events where celebrities are in attendance. The celebrities, Facebook hopes, will look into the tablet’s camera and provide video responses to questions posted on Facebook.

At the Emmy’s, Facebook is teaming up with “Access Hollywood,” whose host will walk around and hand it to people like McConaughey. The entertainment and celebrity news show has been promoting the Mentions Box all week on its show.

Mashable says the device is similar to a Q&A station that Facebook’s Instagram business ran at the Golden Globes in January.

Here’s how it will work at the Emmy’s: Fans go to Access Hollywood’s Facebook page and ask questions of their favorite stars. (McConaughey is one of about two dozen listed.) Billy Bush, who hosts the show, will roam the floor with the rectangular piece of plastic, which looks something like a Fisher-Price toy. He’ll hand it to celebrities, who are supposed to shake the device and then answer a question using the built-in screen and video camera.

It’s unclear why the shaking is necessary. It’s also seemingly unclear why the process can’t just happen on a regular old smartphone. The device’s creator, Washington-based iStrategyLabs, explains on its website:

“After many discussions, brainstorms, and rapid prototyping efforts focused on how to best represent the Facebook platform in physical space, we landed on something between a Magic 8-Ball in function and an Etch-A-Sketch in form,”

Translation: Shaking is funny and giant tablets turn celebrities into walking Facebook billboards.
Why might Facebook be doing this? The company has been pushing hard to convince celebrities to post content on the platform. That’s one area where Twitter has had an historic advantage over the social network. Celebrities have been drawn to the autonomy they enjoy on Twitter, where it is easy to reach their fans with one tweet. On Facebook, they must post content that cuts through a mysterious algorithm that controls the dissemination of content in unpredictable ways.

Why celebrities would want to submit themselves to the potentially humiliating act of holding up what looks like a child’s toy to answer a question on Facebook is simple: audience. Facebook has, on average, 829 million users a day. The audience tuning into the Emmys is about 2.5% the size of Facebook’s. It’s one reason celebrities have embraced social-media stunts, like the Samsung-driven selfie at the Oscars and the ice-bucket challenge that swept Facebook and Twitter this week.
Access Hollywood says it’s looking for “fun, smart, clever, cute, interesting and creative” questions for A-listers like McConaughey, supermodel Heidi Klum and the show’s host, Seth Meyers. So far, more than 30 people have posted questions or comments, and they are slim pickings.

One question for McConaughey asks whether he was on an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries” years ago. “I could swear it was him!” the fan exclaims.
Maybe McConaughey can clear that up this weekend.

the source