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The Power of Two

Top row, from left, Brian and Jamie Stelter; Gary Janetti and Brad Goreski; John Legend and Chrissy Teigen. Middle row, from left, Lena Dunham and Jack Antonoff; Bill and Melinda Gates; Carmelo and La La Anthony. Bottom row, from left, Colette Butler and ShayCarl; Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge; Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.Credit...Louisa Bertman

Ah, synergy: such a ‘90s term. In the age of social media, however, the concept has taken on new life, as the power couples of social media — romantic pairings in which each member enjoys professional prominence, as well as an army of followers online — have discovered co-branding opportunities of Twitter and Instagram.

It’s a far cry from the pre-Facebook era, when a “power couple” was typically only deemed as such after accruing enough party photographs, arm in arm, at black-tie benefits, to the point that it eventually scored a mention in a newspaper or magazine as a union to be reckoned with. Thousands of fans, if not millions, follow their every 140-character utterance, so power players who romantically merge their personal brands can now jump-start the process, leveraging their influence on social media to frame themselves as a public unit, a powerfully synchronous commodity.

Thanks to the limitless opportunities for self-promotion that exist on Twitter, Facebook and other sites, each member of a power couple can now serve as the other’s best publicist, pumping his or her partner’s latest television appearance, award or book signing, all in the spirit of love — hey, when your partner says it, you don’t even have to bother with a humblebrag, right?

But it is not just an issue of cyber-logrolling. Through a strategic use of such platforms, tweet-savvy power couples can position their own relationships as the effective equivalent of an online reality show, enhancing their mutual public image through a clever display of sitcom-ready banter, glamorous travel selfies and quirky relationship details that show off their distinct personality as a unit.

And, of course, such a strategy has its drawbacks, as the golfer Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory; 2.05 million followers) and the tennis player Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki; 669,000) discovered after a high-profile romance that bloomed and then imploded on Twitter. After their breakup in May, which some commentators suggested may have begun when Ms. Wozniacki, 24, tweeted an unflattering photo of Mr. McIlroy, now 25, napping on his bed with his mouth agape, the recent British Open and P.G.A. Championship winner told reporters glumly that he planned to stay off social media “for the foreseeable future” to heal his wounds. (He didn’t last long.)

Ms. Wozniacki was forced to swap out her Twitter avatar, from a shot of the two of them high-fiving on the fairway, settling on a campy shot of her posing as a witch stirring a caldron, which some observers interpreted as a jokey attempt to put a hex on her ex. Social media, at least, served as a nice forum to strike back.

Before long, she was Instagraming see-what-you-missed-out-on shots of herself in a tiny blue bikini, frolicking on a Miami beach with Serena Williams and cheekily alluding to her one-inch height advantage over her former boyfriend on Instagram (“Out and about in Istanbul. It’s been 3 years since I have worn heels on a normal day out. #feelsgood #looksgood #shopping #highheels #sun” she wrote on July 17).

The following is an admittedly unscientific look at some of leading power couples of the moment — drawn from the news media, entertainment, politics, sports and high-tech — where each member also happens to be a star of social media in his or her own right, and how they use the reach of social media to ensure that one plus one equals three. (Twitter and Instagram followers are as of Wednesday afternoon.)

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian

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Credit...Mike Coppola/Getty Images; Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

WHO THEY ARE Kimye, obviously.

SOCIAL MEDIA FOOTPRINT

kimkardashian, 17.4 million Instagram followers; @kanyewest 10.7 million Twitter followers.

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SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY They are America’s pop-confection answer to Prince William and Princess Kate, and this tabloid-staple duo has mined the outer limits of social media technology to present itself as a royal couple. Mr. West mainly leaves the social media duties to his bride, but Ms. Kardashian’s torrential stream of sumptuous selfies shows them striding down the red carpet of the Met Ball, strolling the banks of the Seine in Alexander McQueen for Vogue and cavorting at the Paris show for Mr. West’s fashion line. The only thing missing is a double coronation. Indeed, their social media documentation of their resplendent private wedding in May might have made Charles and Di blush. His Royal Yeezy, in fact, later complained to reporters that the newlyweds were forced to spend “like four days” of their honeymoon fiddling with the processing on the shots, to make sure they were public ready, after Annie Leibovitz pulled out of the gig. Their efforts paid off: Their signature wedding photo has attracted 2.39 million likes, making it the most “liked” photo in the site’s history.

SAMPLE TWEETS “Kanye’s last Yeezus concert was so much fun with the whole family” — @KimKardashian March 7.

“I love my family.” — @kanyewest, March 26.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen

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Credit...Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for D'USSE

WHO THEY ARE Singer, songwriter (“All of Me,” “Ordinary People”); Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, food blogger.

TWITTER FOOTPRINT

@johnlegend, 5.66 million; @chrissyteigen 502,000.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY When they married in Italy last year, it seemed like a story as old as the Stones: Another pop star lands another supermodel. But the 2010 swimsuit edition’s rookie of the year refused to disappear into her platinum-selling husband’s shadow. With Ms. Teigen forging a second career as a Twitter star — she was hailed as the funniest person on Twitter by KIIS-FM — the two have graduated from the “arm candy” stage to achieve legit pop culture power couple status. Online, she carries the bulk of the life-logging duties, mining their marriage for her best material. Her tweets about her husband’s impersonations of their dog, Pippa (who has his own Twitter handle, @PippaThePup), or his gentle ribbing over her malapropisms (“I just told john I thought ‘for granted’ was one word and I think he mumbled something along the lines of thank god/prenup/easy divorce'”), have raised their profile as a couple, giving us, as The Huffington Post wrote, “an inside look at the glamorous, jet-setting life,” while still proving that “she doesn’t take herself too seriously.”

SAMPLE TWEETS " ‘That’s....John Mayer’ ‘That’s...John Lennon’ ‘Look..Usher’ ‘His wife is the epitome of beauty and brains’ I made one of those up yes” — @chrissyteigen, Jan. 12.

“Chrissy’s in a EA video game (#NFStherun). ... Does that mean she won’t mind me playing Madden so much?” — @johnlegend, Sept. 27, 2011.

Lena Dunham and Jack Antonoff

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Credit...Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

WHO THEY ARE creator and star of HBO’s “Girls”; guitarist and singer for the bands Fun and Bleachers.

TWITTER FOOTPRINT

@lenadunham, 1.67 million; @jackantonoff, 62,600.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY In downtown circles, self-evident shilling is as uncool as stonewash. So it’s little wonder that when two of the city’s reigning ironists, who have been dating since 2012, act to hype each other’s album or book releases (which they do often), they mix in a Bushwick-ready dose of deadpan. “Proud as heck of this guy, who brought down the house at The Troubadour tonight,” she wrote in an Instagram post in March. The accompanying post-concert selfie, however, showed them sprawled on a sofa, looking wan and lifeless, as if suffering the late stages of cholera. The social media side of their relationship, however, goes well beyond mutual self-promotion. With customary tartness, Ms. Dunham entertains fans with smirky dispatches from the home front: “It’s cool to show different sides of yourself.” -@jackantonoff politely telling me I’ve tweeted something dumb,” Ms. Dunham tweeted last September. The overall effect is to remind fans that “Girls” is not a reality show, that the real-life Lena is not doomed to suffer love, like her television alter ego, Hannah Horvath.

SAMPLE TWEETS “sweeter than fiction is here! ... very inspired by @taylorswift13 & LOVE working with her. hear the john hughes in it?” — jackantonoff, Oct. 20, 2013.

“So happy for @taylorswift13 @jackantonoff who wrote my favorite song of the year. You will never guess which one’s my lover.” — @lenadunham, Dec. 12, 2013.

Brian Stelter and Jamie Stelter

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Credit...Rob Kim/Getty Images

WHO THEY ARE Host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” (and a former New York Times reporter); Emmy-nominated traffic anchor for NY1, food blogger, novelist.

TWITTER FOOTPRINT

@brianstelter, 233,000 followers; @JamieStelter, 11,800.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY A Twitter love affair for the ages. Mr. Stelter met his future bride — then Jamie Shupak — on the service (Mr. Stelter first flirted with her via direct message, he has said). They used Twitter to help forge prominent careers (the tireless Mr. Stelter has more than 60,000 tweets to his credit, an average of roughly 25 per day since he joined the service in 2008). And after their engagement last year — they married in February — they asked friends to hold off on going public with the news so they could plan their social media rollout (Mr. Stelter also told people that he checked to make sure @JamieStelter was available on Twitter before he popped the question). Indeed, the couple emblazoned its wedding invitations, and the custom skullcaps for the event, with an official wedding hashtag, #thestelters. Since then, they have shown the boundless energy of young lovers in promoting each other’s latest books, television star turns or shout-outs in the media. Ms. Stelter has even dutifully live-tweeted her husband’s “Reliable Sources” appearances from his account. Their indefatigable efforts on social media seem to be paying off: The Stelters landed on The New York Observer “2014 Media Power Couples” list in January.

SAMPLE TWEETS “We did it! @CNNReliable loved my live-tweeting so much that they asked us back. @brianstelter did a pretty good job hosting, too. #Reliable” — @JamieStelter, Aug. 27, 2013.

“NYC’s Halloween Parade is about to start on NY1. @PatKiernan and @JamieShupak are co-hosting — I’m live-tweeting on Jamie’s account now!” — @brianstelter, Oct. 31, 2013.

Carmelo and La La Anthony

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Credit...Mireya Acierto/Getty Images

WHO THEY ARE New York Knicks forward; former MTV V.J., actress and author of the recent best seller “The Love Playbook: Rules for Love, Sex and Happiness.”

TWITTER FOOTPRINT

@carmeloanthony, 5.23 million; @lala, 3.08 million.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY “Basketball Wives,” the VH1 reality show, may have left a lingering sense of N.B.A. wives as Gucci-clad groupies who learned their interpersonal skills watching Jerry Springer. But La La Anthony has proved an invaluable partner to her husband during his tumultuous New York tenure, using social media to serve as his de facto publicist and bodyguard. After a 2011 trade sent him from the media black hole of Denver to the fishbowl of New York, Ms. Anthony summoned her considerable Twitter chops to deflect criticism aimed at her husband, who was burdened with restoring a hapless franchise to championship glory. Indeed, the Knicks’ publicity department could scarcely be less enthusiastic in pumping his All-Star credentials (“@carmeloanthony Clutch player of the year!!!! @carmeloanthony well deserved”). Their Instagrams and Facebook posts from the front row and the Met Ball, meanwhile, underscored that they have transcended the jock orbit to become latter-day fashionistas and socialites in the city.

SAMPLE TWEETS “If u havent already, get to the movies ASAP & support my wife @lala & the whole cast of Think Like A Man Too. FUNNIEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR! RT” —

@carmeloanthony, June 22.

“62 points!!!!! WHAT!!! @carmeloanthony is on FIRE!!!!! This is unreal!!! Unbelievable!!!!!! I’m so proud #MVP #knicks.” — @lala, Jan. 24.

Brad Goreski and Gary Janetti

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Credit...Peter Kramer/AP Images For Bravo

WHO THEY ARE Celebrity fashion stylist and star of Bravo’s “It’s a Brad, Brad World”; “Family Guy” writer and co-executive producer and co-creator of the PBS comedy “Vicious” and “Will & Grace” executive producer.

TWITTER FOOTPRINT

@mrbradgoreski, 274,000 followers; @GaryJanetti, 154,000.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY It’s not exactly “A Star Is Born,” but the social media interchange between this TV royalty couple reflects the rapid ascent of Mr. Goreski, left, since he escaped Rachel Zoe’s shadow with a hit reality show of his own. Mr. Goreski, a stylist whose clients have included Jessica Alba and Christina Ricci, was still a television bit player at a time when his longtime boyfriend, Mr. Janetti, was already an established power broker in the industry. These days, however, Mr. Goreski has become famous enough to offer more than occasional Twitter boosts to Mr. Janetti’s latest ventures, like his bitchy British sitcom, “Vicious,” starring Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi, broadcast in the United States on PBS. This is not to say that Mr. Janetti, who has provided comic relief on his partner’s show, doesn’t do his part for the couple on social media. Mr. Janetti, who has been called “the funniest guy on Twitter” by the site xoJane, serves up an endless stream of droll epigrams (“If straights don’t let us get married we should stop cutting their hair”), which Mr. Goreski dutifully retweets. It’s just the sort of support Oscar Wilde could have used from Lord Alfred Douglas.

SAMPLE TWEETS “Don’t forget to tune into @Vicious tonight at 1030pm on @pbs! Only two episodes left!! Don’t miss it! #Viciouspbs” — @mrbradgoreski July 27.

“Ugly people sing about breakups and good looking people sing about going to the club” — @GaryJanetti, June 28.

ShayCarl and Colette Butler

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Credit...Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for US-Ireland Alliance

WHO THEY ARE The Shaytards, vloggers, YouTube stars.

TWITTER FOOTPRINT

@shaycarl, 612,000; @katilette, 330,000.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY They are living proof that maybe all it takes is social media to be deemed a power couple. Under the online handle the Shaytards, this Los Angeles-based couple (he was a radio D.J.; she a singer) were early adopters to YouTube vlogging, and they parlayed their saccharine daily dispatches from the home front starring their family of (now) seven into a 2012 appearance on Anderson Cooper’s talk show, as well as a profile in Forbes. They endlessly promote their videos (“Tragic Bike Wreck,” “Baby Boy Getting Teeth!”), which make “7th Heaven” reruns look edgy, on multiple YouTube channels (the “Shaytards” channel alone has attracted more than one billion views), as well as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Google Plus. It would be hard to call them out for social media self-promotion, however, since that has been the basis of their career.

SAMPLE TWEETS “Remodeling the new house takes cute babies and babysitting grandmas!” — @shaycarl, July 19.

“I can’t wait to see @shaycarl on @FoodNetwork while packing for @VidCon Holla!!!” — @katilette, June 22.

Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge

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Credit...Danny Ghitis for The New York Times

WHO THEY ARE Facebook co-founder, publisher and editor in chief of The New Republic; advocate for same-sex marriage and environmental protection, candidate for 19th Congressional district of New York.

TWITTER FOOTPRINT

@chrishughes 37,300;

@SeanEldridge 12,000.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY Promoting the greater good by promoting themselves. These fresh-faced politicos, who married in 2012, were anointed Beltway heavyweights when Mr. Hughes, right, a roommate of Mark Zuckerberg’s at Harvard, tapped his Facebook millions to buy the century-old haute liberal bible that same year. As a couple, they tweet and retweet each other continuously, but only in the most earnest tones and only in service, it seems, of the cause of the moment. Their growing social media profile as a couple has made them a powerful co-branded entity for activism. A few years ago, they made a joint offer on Twitter to donate $10 for everyone who added a like to the Facebook page of Equality NC, a North Carolina-based gay rights organization. Mr. Eldridge, meanwhile, was an enthusiastic champion for Jumo, Mr. Hughes’s short-lived social network for social engagement, on his feed. Similarly, when his husband announced his candidacy for Congress, Mr. Hughes pointed followers to a YouTube video explaining Mr. Eldridge’s positions on core issues.

SAMPLE TWEETS “Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Bday to my love @chrishughes. Help celebrate by supporting his bday fundraising for Acumen” — @SeanEldridge, Nov. 26, 2009.

@motherjones reports on the work my husband @seaneldridge is doing to reform the campaign finance system in NY” — @chrishughes, Oct. 25, 2012.

Bill and Melinda Gates

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Credit...Brian Ach/Getty Images for The Lasker Foundation

WHO THEY ARE Microsoft co-founder; co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

TWITTER FOOTPRINT

@BillGates, 16.9 million;

@melindagates, 534,000.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY The founders of a philanthropic foundation with a $40 billion endowment have leveraged their enormous audience on Twitter and other platforms to transform their image from garden-variety geek zillionaires into issues-first global ambassadors, on the level of a Bono or a George Soros. Theirs is a running dialogue on Twitter, but one remarkably free of the expected tech-world gossip, Instagram selfies from black-tie benefits or spirited plugs for Windows 9. With grave issues like health care, global poverty and education as their focus, the couple’s ample online banter is consistently high-minded, earnest and global in scope — imagine if Dag Hammarskjold had taken to change the world via thumb typing.

SAMPLE TWEETS “Today India is polio-free. @billgates explains why this matters + great video on last polio ward in India ... #endpolio” — @melindagates, June 13.

“Knowing needed vaccines sat on shelves led @melindagates and I to do work in a world beyond reach of market forces.” — @billgates, Sept. 21, 2012.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section E, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Power of Two. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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